High school football player Charles Youvellas death came under ordinary circumstances during a playoff game. By Richard Obert azcentral sports Tue Nov 12, 2013 5:22 PM There was nothing out of the ordinary about the circumstances of the play that fatally injured a Hopi High School football player in a state playoff game Saturday night, high school officials said. Charles Youvella, 17, a senior at the school located in Keams Canyon, suffered a head injury on an ordinary pass play in which he fell to the ground hard after being tackled, Arizona Interscholastic Association Associate Executive Director Chuck Schmidt said. Youvella collapsed on the field two plays later and died Monday night at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. “If a normal person watched the football film they’d be hard pressed to find anything that happened other than a series of normal plays in a football game,” Arizona Lutheran Athletic Director Doug Meyer said. “After he collapsed 911 was called and he was taken to the hospital in a timely manner. All that was done by the book. Our school to St. Joseph’s can’t be more than a few minutes.” Meyer said the fire station is only about two minutes away from the field at Arizona Lutheran, 6036 S. 27th Ave. in Phoenix, and paramedics arrived quickly. Schmidt said there was no indication of faulty equipment or a history of concussions with Youvella, the son of Hopi Athletic Director Wallace Youvella Jr., a member of the AIA Executive Board. Charles Youvella, who scored Hopi’s only touchdown Saturday in a 60-6 loss to Arizona Lutheran Academy in Phoenix, was described by his coach as “pound for pound” the toughest player he had ever coached. “He had the heart of a lion,” Hopi coach Steve Saban said. “He was 5-5 and 115 pounds wringing wet. But he played 10 times that size.” Saban said Youvella was cognizant while being treated by paramedics and taken by ambulance to St. Joseph’s. “You think he’ll be OK,” Saban said. “It got progressively worse. “It’s tragedy. It’s like a bad dream. I can’t put into words the whole situation. It was unbelievable.” Youvella’s teammate, senior Blake Sekaquaptewa, was on the field with Youvella when the hit occured but didn’t see it happen. Like Saban, he found the unfolding events hard to believe. “Paramedics came over and said it was precautionary,” he said. “It’s hard to believe. It feels like we’re in a dream where we don’t want to be, but it’s true.” A memorial service will be held at the school, located on the Hopi Indian Reservation about four and a half hours northeast of Phoenix, at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Sekaquaptewa, a senior running back like Youvella, said he knew Youvella since the eighth grade. They played on football and basketball teams together since then. “He was a little tough guy,” Sekaquaptewa said. “He’s always been the toughest one on the team.” The pair had connected on a “flea-flicker” pass in the second quarter for Hopi’s lone touchdown. Youvella also had recorded a quarterback sack during the game and was assigned to covering 6-foot-6 Arizona Lutheran wide receiver Brady Cook. “We were celebrating a beautiful season, a great time down there,” Saban said. “The game was just a bonus. Then tragedy happens.” Hopi’s 9-1 regular season was the best record in school history. Saban spoke to azcentral sports Tuesday morning moments before addressing his team. “There’s nothing you can script,” Saban said. “You talk to them from the heart, try to offer being here for them.” Schmidt, the AIA associate executive director, said “catastrophic insurance” is offered and the family is beginning those steps now. The state of Arizona is one of the few states left that carries catastrophic insurance for families of high school football players. The AIA is working with Youvella family with the logistics and determining how insurance will cover costs, as well as the grieving process. “To see the Youvella family come together and support each other has been a true inspiration,” Schmidt said. “Yet on the other side, it’s a situation where a student-athlete died playing the game. The impact of that is immeasurable. “We want to assure that the kids at Hopi and at Arizona Lutheran are OK and assuring that this never happens again if we can do that. It’s something we always strive to do. The question always comes up, ‘Is that even possible?’” Meyer, the Arizona Lutheran athletic director, said he has no idea how the death will impact his school’s players as they move forward in the playoffs. Arizona Lutheran is the top seed in the Division V playoffs. “It’s a tough thing to wrap your brain around,” he said. “We’ll do our best to focus on academics and two hours of practice. It’s going to be in the back of their minds or in the front of their minds for a long time. I don’t know what they’re going to need.” Members of the Arizona Lutheran community rallied to support the Youvella family, arranging for gift cards for food, gas and other needs so the family could be with Charles in the hospital. Meyer estimated community members had raised about $1,500 in that effort. “I’m a dad too,” said Meyer, who served with Wallace Youvella in 2A Conference leadership for about five years. “You think about your sons and what they’re doing in sports. My heart ached trying to put myself in his spot.” The last time a catastrophic injury happened on the field in Arizona was 2005 when 16-year-old Hamilton High School wide receiver Joe Jackson was paralyzed from the waist down during a November scrimmage. Jackson’s injury happened during Coach John Wrenn’s last season as Hamilton’s head coach. A helmet-to-helmet hit injured Jackson’s spine. “You never forget it, and I don’t know if you ever get over it,” said Wrenn, who works in football operations at Arizona State University. “I can remember everything, from when he went down to going to the hospital to facing his parents. “It’s hard for me to imagine what that community is going through right now. “Getting through it for us was unbelievably hard.” Wrenn said he asked the players if they wanted to cancel the playoffs, but Wrenn said the always-positive Jackson told them to keep playing. Hamilton ended up losing to Phoenix Brophy Prep 15-14 in the state championship game. “You think nobody would have to go through this,” Wrenn said. “That situation will never be gone from my mind.” Schmidt said Wallace Youvella, Charles’ father, was not able to talk about his son’s death at this time. A fund has been set up through any Bank of America to help off-sets costs. It is set up through Charles Youvella’s name. People also may send funds to the Charles Youvella Fund, in care of Hopi Jr./Sr. High School, P.O. Box 337, Keams Canyon, AZ 86034. “Like in life, when you’re born, there are no guarantees,” Saban said. “It’s just real unfortunate. Charles was just a great kid. Always positive. ... He had no fear.”
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 00:53:43 +0000
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