True Champions

OKLAHOMA CITY -- It's long been a compulsory part of Sherri Coale's programs that her players participate in community service initiatives.

Whether it's reading to students at an elementary school, helping build a Habitat for Humanity project, driving for Meals on Wheels, or working one of the various causes the Sooners often take part, it's essential for her team to give back.

But there is one occasion each year where the line between which side is really "giving back" gets blurry.

Just before the start of the Big 12 Conference's regular season in January, when classes are on break and most of the day is occupied by basketball and thoughts of defending a championship, the OU women's basketball team visited The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Photo Gallery

It was a return visit as part of Special Spectators, a program where children with life-threatening illnesses visit college athletes and get a behind-the-scenes look at a game day. Three patients of the Jimmy Everest Cancer Center were guests during Oklahoma's romp of Central Arkansas on Dec. 20. On this day, however, Coale and the Sooners took a walk in the shoes of those who look up to them both figuratively and literally.

"I think for Division I student-athletes, it's a wake up to reality and it's a definite influence on their perspective," OU head coach Sherri Coale said about the visit. "Sometimes, you can get so bogged down in the things you're doing and think that basketball is the end all every day.

"I think our guys get a sense of reward on one hand, playing with them and interacting. I think they also walk away, count their blessings and have a renewed perspective.

"So, it's the age-old cliché, `You give to get.' "The opportunities to go and give a little bit of time versus the rewards that come back are multiplied."

And it doesn't matter if you are from Depew, Chicago, Red Rock, San Jose, Findlay or Los Angeles; the Sooners agree that the visit is more than worthwhile.

Sometimes it's the motivation some get from knowing that even the biggest challenges in life can be overcome.

"They are the most amazing people I've ever met," freshman Carlee Roethlisberger said. "They are fighting every day just for one more. You almost can't bear to leave because it's so inspiring."

Or it's about how some redefine which parts of your life are most important.

"It's crazy," sophomore Nyeshia Stevenson said, "to think that a normal day is to undergo treatments at a hospital. To be home, to be with your friends, to play sports -- what we take for granted is so rare for someone else. You definitely find a new sense of reality."

Or simply, as Jenna Plumley said: "These kids are my heroes."

It's not just the players taken aback from the virtues of an abnormal lifestyle. Even Coale, who's visited the same hospital more times than she can count on hands, still finds her emotions difficult to control.

"I cry every time. Every time. I don't know if it's the motherly instinct -- I look around thinking that any one of those children could be my mine -- or just that pure inspiration that comes from seeing a five-year-old who has endured 12 surgeries or another who is about to go back into the hospital for a bone marrow transplant."

"Our guys met one of the kids here who was a Special Spectator at a game in December who's about to go back into the hospital for eight weeks and they were talking on the way home about how long eight weeks in the hospital would be.

"Eight weeks. You know, we get bent out of shape if we miss one practice. What if you are removed from your entire surroundings -- not just what you love to do and your home -- for every day for eight weeks? That's a long time, particularly for a kid who is 10 or 11 years old."

"It was a big reality check for all of us, I think."

That's why Coale makes it a point to take each one of her teams to The Children's Hospital. Just as much as four years competing on a hardwood court or earning a college degree can be a compelling influence on how today's student-athlete grows into tomorrow's adult, so too can one afternoon of interaction with the toughest of the tiniest of our society.

"To go out and see what other people in the world are fighting," Coale said, "and the odds are stacked against them and their level of perseverance and their mindset -- it is always amazing to me the attitude and disposition of those kids.

"They are the happiest kids you would ever meet."

The children who met the OU's women's basketball team had their spirits lifted for a day. The coaches and players were lifted for a lifetime.

And when they're winning trophies in March, they will remember who the true champions are.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors