Teen Struggles To Balance Anxiety With Desire To Play Football

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah – A 13-year-old boy is fighting to join a lower level football team after a youth football organization assigned him to the more competitive level.

Tyki Delgado-Herrin said he has played in the Ute Conference football league for the last four years. After tryouts this year, he said the coaches told him he would be playing on the A-team. Tyki said he was uncomfortable playing at that level.

“They expect a lot from me. I get a lot of anxiety and that from it,” he said. “I’m more comfortable on the B-team. The A-team just is a lot of pressure and I just don’t like it as much.”

He said he asked to be moved to the B-team, but he said the coaches refused.

“I am very not okay with this,” said his mother, Holly Delgado-Herrin. 

She said she had gone as far as getting a note from Tyki’s doctor recommending he be moved to the B-team, but she said the coaches would not move him. She said Tyki had been dealing with anxiety since the death of his father and just wants him to feel less pressure. She said the coaches have given her two options – play for the A-team or turn in his pads.

League officials declined to talk about the situation, referring KSL to their attorney, Chase Andrizzi. He said they have been in touch with the family, are learning more about the situation, and are figuring out where to go from here.