Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The 2025 Little 4 Boys Athlete of the Year Brandon Romero.

By Ray Hamill — After being named the 2025 Humboldt Sports Little 4 Boys Athlete of the Year last week, Hoopa’s Brandon Romero was quick to pay tribute to one of his teammates.

Romero beat a talented pool of candidates for this year’s award, including teammate Lyle McKinnon.

The talented Hoopa duo were two of only three Little 4 boys to earn all-league honors in three different sports this past year, along with Ferndale’s Prescott Langer, who also starred in rodeo and was the 2024 Humboldt Sports Little 4 Boys Athlete of the Year.

Speaking to Humboldt Sports after being named the L4 athlete of the year, Romero was quick to point out the key role McKinnon played in his and Hoopa’s success over the past 12 months.

“Lyle has had a very big impact on my career,” Romero said. “We met each other in kindergarten and we’ve been good friends ever since. 

“He’s definitely been a big influence on me and this reward is as much his as it is mine.

“He’s been there my whole life and he’s been an inspiring teammate for me my whole life.”

The good news for both recent Hoopa graduates is they’re far from done just yet.

Both standouts and finalists for the L4 athlete of the year award will continue to be teammates on the college fields.

They have been lining out side-by-side for much of their sports career and that will be the case once again next spring when the talented Hoopa duo play baseball for the Shasta Knights.

A busy Romero will also play football at Shasta and says he wants to keep playing as many sports for as long as he can.

Lyle McKinnon was one of three Little 4 athletes to be named all-conference in three different sports this past year.

“I chose Shasta because of the environment there,” he said. “They were really nice, all the coaches, and they showed a lot of interest and showed all the love right from the get-go. They’ve just been very welcoming.”

Romero added that it was a difficult decision to not play basketball in college, something he gave some serious consideration to.

“I fell in love with (the sport) the moment I touched a basketball,” he said.

During his time at Hoopa High, Romero played an impressive 10 seasons of varsity sports, including four years of baseball and three each of football and basketball.

And he’s quick to point out that the success his Warriors teams enjoyed is not the only thing he’ll remember from his days at Hoopa High.

“(What I’ll remember) is my friends and teachers and the people who made me strive to be a better athlete,” he said.