Hughes Springs, TX Teen Baseball Coach Bryson Belk, 19, Dies Following Accident, Leaving Youth Sports Community in Mourning

The small town of Hughes Springs, Texas, is mourning the sudden loss of Bryson Belk, a 19-year-old multi-sport athlete and youth sports volunteer who passed away on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. Funeral services are pending with Reeder-Davis Funeral Home in Hughes Springs. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed.

Bryson wore jersey number 7 and stood 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 206 pounds. He played varsity football, basketball, and baseball at Hughes Springs High School and had gone on to attend Tyler Junior College, where he was enrolled as a member of the Class of 2024.

Most recently, he was working at Diamond C Trailers in Mount Pleasant, Texas, a job he had held since June 2025, following an earlier stint at 259 Elite Wood Products LLC.

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From Little League Diamonds to Coaching the Next Generation

Those who knew Bryson remember him as someone shaped by sports from a very early age. He came up through the Hughes Springs Youth Sports Association as a Little League player, spending years refining his skills and his passion for baseball.

When he aged out of competitive youth play, he did not walk away from the game. He stayed, choosing instead to give back by becoming an umpire and, more recently, stepping into a coaching role for a 12-under baseball team. He was on the field mentoring those younger kids right up until his death.

The Hughes Springs Youth Sports Association shared a heartfelt tribute, describing Bryson as someone who made a lasting impact on both the youth and adults around him.

His presence extended well beyond baseball, touching lives through basketball and through the quiet, consistent work of being a positive role model. He was the kind of person who showed up, invested time, and genuinely cared about helping younger kids grow, not just as athletes but as people.

A Young Man Who Lit Up Every Room He Entered

Beyond the field and the gym, Bryson was remembered by family and friends as someone full of energy and life. His aunt, Mandy Williams Gammill, wrote a moving tribute on social media, recalling the way he would run through the house screaming and jump on her bed just to get a reaction out of her.

In her grief, she wrote that she would give anything to hear that chaos again, acknowledging that her nephew somehow managed to leave her completely speechless. She closed by telling him she would love him forever.

His uncle, Tra Young, shared a tribute of his own, telling Bryson to soar on wings like the eagles and to save him a seat, saying he wanted to hear about everything his nephew was seeing in heaven.

At the time of his passing, Bryson had 555 Facebook friends and a small but meaningful Hudl profile with 39 public highlight views across his athletic career. He had 4 followers and was following 13 others on the platform, a modest digital footprint that stood in contrast to the very real and wide reach of his influence on the people around him.

Hughes Springs is a tight-knit community in East Texas where high school sports carry real weight and young people like Bryson become known and loved across generations. His loss is being felt not just by his immediate family but by coaches, teammates, parents of the kids he coached, and people throughout the community who watched him grow from a Little Leaguer into a young man worth admiring.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Reeder-Davis Funeral Home, located at 1213 Hanes Boulevard South in Hughes Springs. The family has not yet announced service details. He was 19 years old.