Thousands of Valley youth sports athletes are looking for answers after families say the head of the league took their money and left no scheduled games this weekend.
Nine-year-old Keyoni was hoping to show off his skills on the gridiron this weekend but when his mom, Sharee De Leon, looked online for the schedule, there was nothing posted.
She was not the only one wondering when her son was going to play.
“I have coaches reaching out to me, two games maybe so far this season, and we’re in week six this week,” explained De Leon.
Her son plays on a team organized by a franchise league of National Youth Sports.
The tackle football league organizes teams with thousands of youth athletes who all pay north of $150 to play football.
Several parents reached out to ABC15 saying they don’t know when or if they’ll play another game.
And there’s been little information as to why - other than some parents getting a text message from the head of NYS in the Valley saying he’s sick and plans to step down.
“If that is the case, there should be someone backing up your whole organization, that the kids are accounted for on every Saturday, every game,” said De Leon.
Some parents have been told they can play additional games if they shell out extra money for field and medics fees and in addition to paying the referees.
”I think the first red flag is the call from the refs is that they haven’t been paid in weeks,” said Frank Buessing.
Buessing is a volunteer who says he merged his Southeast Valley league with NYS for better competition.
“I’d like the organization to come through for us to finish out the season basically do what they promised and finish the season,” he said.
We reached out to the head of the NYS league (James Vieth) by email, text, and voicemail but haven’t heard back. The NYS national organization released the following statement Monday, days after this story originally aired:
"For nearly 20 years James Vieth has been part of the youth sports community in Arizona through his affiliation with NYS and AYF. We do not know or understand the chain of events that led to his company being unable to provide games for his tackle football league operated through his company, JEV Enterprises. NYS Corporate is in communication with many coaches, the referee association, school districts and an AYF representative. There is a collaborative effort to overcome the many obstacles and to get the players playing, the parents cheering and the coaches coaching, once again.
National Youth Sports continues to operate co-ed, recreational, youth sports programs in Arizona, and other areas of the country, that are unaffected by these recent events, and will continue to pursue the company mission to strengthen the individual, the family, and the community through participation in youth sports."
Attorney Chris Dutkiewicz told ABC15 Saturday that he has been hired by the head of the youth football program. He also shared "confirmation of an impending bankruptcy."
Some families plan to meet next week to try and organize games for the rest of the fall season. That meeting is scheduled for Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. in the auditorium at Mountain View High School in Mesa. All organization leaders, board members and head coaches are invited to attend.
“It’s just not fair for our youth, our coaches and staff,” said De Leon.
