BOB ETTINGER
Sports are supposed to be entertaining. At their best, they’re inspiring.
As a sports writer, I get to see things every day that make me smile. It’s a cool feeling to witness somebody scoring their first goal, getting their first bit of playing time at the varsity level or having a career-highlight game. There’s something special about the smiles those moments bring to the faces of the athletes, and it makes me proud to be able to tell the stories of those kids each night.
But, after I’ve shut down my computer at the Star Beacon and gone home for the night, those feelings are often replaced with disgust. As I search the Internet for the day’s professional and college sports headlines, I am dumbfounded at how low athletes can sink. The latest arrest reports and stories of the latest star players complaining about money, playing time or touches on the ball leave me cold.
Sometimes it pays to keep reading.
Tuesday night, after what was a great night covering the Northeastern Conference girls cross country meet, I headed home, expecting more of the same. I logged into ESPN’s website, half reading, half scanning, ready to be disappointed. Sure enough, those headlines were there.
Then, as I was about to close down the site and pick up the latest novel by Nicholas Sparks, a picture of the Columbia University women’s soccer team caught my eye. So I clicked on the link, not sure what I was about to read.
And for the next 10 minutes or so, I was stunned. I read Graham Hays’ story about a 6-year-old girl named Ashley Gankiewicz and her connection to the Columbia University women’s soccer team.
Gankiewicz is afflicted with neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition marked by rapid and unpredictable tumor growth. Through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation — a foundation that helps college athletic teams to adopt young kids with brain tumors — the Lions had befriended Gankiewicz, making her an honorary member of their team.
Though shy at first, Gankiewicz quickly became just another one of the girls. And in that process, she touched 20 college girls in a remarkable way — to the point she calls all 20 of them her sisters.
That story left me thirsting for more. So I clicked on a link to another story — this one by Lauren Reynolds — about how the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation was inspired.
It was about Jaclyn Murphy, a 12-year-old who was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a childhood brain cancer, at the age of 10. It told of her connection to Northwestern women’s lacrosse team.
The relationship between Murphy and the Wildcats began with a media guide signed by every member of the team. It grew into something much, much deeper. Upon meeting the team in person and telling them her story, Murphy made a lasting impression.
The Wildcats rallied around their new friend, sharing text messages and phone calls. The team sent Murphy CDs. They wore wrist bands with the letter “J” on them. Murphy was given a jersey and coach Kelly Amonte Hiller made Murphy a member of the team.
Northwestern went on to win its first NCAA championship that year. Murphy was in attendance and celebrated on the field with the Wildcats afterward. The players credited Murphy as a big reason why they won. Senior Lindsay Finocchiaro even gave Murphy the watch she earned for winning the title.
The relationship led to a national controversy when the team wore flip flops to the White House to meet President Bush. The Wildcats quickly turned the PR nightmare into a positive and auctioned off the shoes they wore to raise money to help the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.
It also led to the Brain Tumor Awareness College Lax Challenge between the University of Massachusetts (where former NU assistant Alexis Venechanos is now the head coach) and Northwestern, played at Yorktown High School in Yorktown, N.Y., Murphy’s hometown, to benefit the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The game is now an annual event.
Murphy, also a lacrosse player, has now watched the Wildcats win four consecutive national championships.
It’s clear, through the words of those authors, just how much Gankiewicz and Murphy have been touched by the athletes in those two programs. It led me to search out the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation website and try to find more on the stories that had touched me so deeply.
There, I found a video taken from the Big Ten Network’s “Big Ten Short Stories” program about Murphy and the Wildcats. I barely could see the video — and had to watch it a second time — because the tears in my eyes made it hard to see.
It touched me to see that people so young — in the cases of Gankiewicz and Murphy — could inspire college kids to do so much. It’s not every day a college athlete will take time from studies, social activities and practice to touch the lives of someone in such a way.
On the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Web site, I read about a number of other kids who were similarly touched by college athletic teams all around the country — UMass has three teams involved in the program, including Venechanos’ lacrosse team. One high school lacrosse team even adopted a kid.
This — posted on the Friends of Jaclyn site — is what two athletes on New Trier High School girls lacrosse team wrote about 7-year-old Ainsley.
“Since we met you Ainsley, I’ve always carried the thought of you on my shoulder like a guardian angel,” Carly Tschantz, an All-American on the team, wrote. “On the field, I never took my ‘Ainsley’ bracelet off, even when we were supposed to; instead, I put a sweatband over it so you would always be with me on and off the field. You inspired me through so many tough times, and whenever I saw you at games, Carbos, or the banquet, everything else didn’t matter.
“You not only affected this whole team and helped us win a state championship, you taught me how to live life to its fullest. You’re the little sister I always wanted, and this summer we will be dancing to a lot of Hannah Montana; I promise.”
“The day our team met Ainsley, our eyes were opened and we all learned the true meaning of ‘unbreakable spirit’,” Ginny Gummersall, an All-American who will continue playing at Boston College, wrote.
“Although she is just a tiny little girl, she has a giant-sized heart and a soul that is both joyous and wise. How could a little girl so bubbly and full of life be dealing with cancer?
“And if she can do what she does, most definitely the rest of us can deal with anything. For Ainsley, and because of Ainsley, I aspire to celebrate every single day for what it is and never take even one small special moment for granted. In this way, Ainsley is our true angel and we dedicate this magical season to her.”
New Trier won a state championship with little Ainsley in attendance.
Young people don’t have to write those kinds of things. They don’t have to care that much about someone they barely know. These kids are special. They have all opened their hearts to other kids in need.
And Ashley Gankiewicz, Jaclyn Murphy and little Ainsley are all the better for it — as are the teams they’ve touched and the people, like myself, that have learned of these stories.
Sometimes it pays to keep reading.
Ettinger is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at bettinger@starbeacon.com. To read more about the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation or watch the Big Ten Network special about Jaclyn Murphy and the Northwestern lacrosse team or learn more about any of the other children touched by the foundation, visit www.friendsofjaclyn.org. To read the espn.com stories on Murphy and Ashley Gankiewicz, visit www.espn.go.com and search for writers Lauren Reynolds and Graham Hays.
