SAN MARCOS (KXAN) — Texas State gained a new, key recruit for the football program on Tuesday. 14-year-old Mathiaz Rocha is officially a Bobcats football player.
Rocha, a San Marcos native, signed an official Letter of Intent and spent the day hanging out with Texas State players, cheerleaders and head coach Jake Spavital.
In 2015, Rocha was diagnosed with Psuedotumor Cerebri, a condition that mimics a brain tumor due to spinal pressure in the brain.
The day was set up as part of Texas State’s Team IMPACT program to improve the quality of life for children facing serious chronic illnesses.
While Rocha and his family were overcome with emotions, it also meant so much to the Bobcat program.
“To be able to sit there and help him out, watch the smile on a kid’s face and to see the tears of joy, I think that’s the ultimate goal is to help some people out and to see this whole story and the community get involved with it. To see the players and cheerleaders come out, I think it’s a really good deal for everybody,” Spavital said.
“There’s times where, if I was in his shoes, I would’ve given up a long time ago, but he’s not giving up, he’s still fighting. He’s going to show that to himself, to us and to the world,” Mathiaz’s aunt Tracy Mata said.
