Miguel Rivas desperately needed help finding a helmet that fit one of his high school football players at San Pasqual Valley in California/Arizona. His mission was a great success.
The player arrived early to practice as soon as the custom lid arrived because he was so excited!
I find such joy in this kind of viral moment. People on social media rallied behind a random small-town high school football player they will (probably) never meet to make sure he has an equal opportunity to play the greatest game to ever exist. It could literally change his life.
San Pasqual Valley High School needed an extra, extra, extra large football helmet.
Rivas serves as the head football coach at San Pasqual Valley High School. It is located right on the border of two different states and two different countries in the town of Winterhaven.
Located just a few miles from Yuma, Arizona, more than 40% of the student population at San Pasqual Valley is of Native American descent. And get this —
If you were to go just two and a half miles east, you would cross the border into Arizona. If you were to go just 12.5 miles southeast, you would cross the border into Mexico.
San Pasqual Valley High School is located so close to Arizona that its athletic department is actually a member of the Arizona Interscholastic Association. The Warriors compete against other high schools from the state of Arizona in sports even though they are based in California.
One high school football player has a big head!
Coach Rivas did not share the name of his offensive lineman in need of a new helmet. Only his measurements.
The giant offensive lineman stands at 6-foot-5, 320 pounds as a sophomore! He is pictured here:
— Miguel Rivas (@Coach_Rivas3) August 5, 2025
When it came time to get the big fella fitted for a uniform, there was just one major issue. San Pasqual Valley did not have a helmet that fit his massive head.
He needs an X-X-XL. And to put that size into perspective, an XL Schutt football helmet typically fits a head circumference of 23.5 to 25 inches. Now add two additional Xs.
This kind of thing is not that uncommon in high school football. I had a friend in high school who needed a two-X lid. Shoutout to Howard Xu!
Smaller programs often need to borrow and/or source helmets from other schools and/or find a custom helmet for a player in need of a larger size so Coach Rivas sent out a request for help on social media.
I do not know the details of how it all came together, but the mission was a great success! San Pasqual Valley received its brand-new Vicis helmet just in time for practice earlier this week.
This kind of thing is what makes sports so special. Social media rallied around this big-headed young man to make sure that he can play high school football. Nobody wanted to see him on the sideline because he didn’t have a helmet that fit. Social media does some good sometimes!