Scott Keyes
Sports Scene
It’s often difficult to identify the non-statistical factors that make a team successful — that’s why they’re called intangibles. Some alchemy of attitude, luck, and leadership comes into play, and then there are factors that are even harder to parse.
Still, it can be said with some certainty that the mere presence of an able body on a team can lift morale, build confidence, and embrace an opportunity of togetherness.
The Heritage girls basketball team was one win away from making it to the Class A final this past winter, in part because of the arrival of Aubree Snow, who was forced to set out the first 10 games of the season after transferring from Nouvel Catholic Central in the fall.
The Hawks upset Midland Dow in the districts, upset Davison to win a regional title, and lost to Dexter in the quarterfinals by a mere two points.
The impact goes well beyond the numbers, which, in Aubree’s case, were awfully impressive in their own right.
This spring, Aubree has been equally impressive on the soccer field for the Hawks, scoring four goals in Heritage’s wins over Powers Catholic and Bay City Western to start the season.
All this is incredible considering that less than two years ago, as an eighth grader at St. Thomas Aquinas, Aubree and her friends and family were involved in the fight of Aubree’s life.
“Who would have ever thought that two years ago I was given a new lease on life and given a second chance,” Aubree said. “I beat cancer, and I am more determined than ever before. If I can beat cancer, I can overcome anything.”
November 15, 2010, is a day that Mary Batcke, Aubree’s mom, will remember for the rest of her life.
“Aubree was having stomach problems, and prior to that she was coughing and having a fever, so as a mom you are thinking nothing of it,” Mary said. “I remember that Sunday, Aubree was really sluggish at AAU practice and you could just tell she wasn’t herself. Her stomach was still in so much pain, so the next step was to go to Urgent Care because we knew something was wrong.”
At Urgent Care, nurses drew Aubree’s blood and the results were all over the charts. Her blood counts didn’t match. No one at the time knew what was going on, and later the family was urged to travel to Hurley Medical Center in Flint to seek answers.
After extensive testing, the grim diagnosis wasn’t exactly what the family was ready for.
“They took me in a huge room to tell me my daughter had cancer,” Mary said. “I was almost like, you have some nerve to tell me this kind of news. At the moment I felt helpless, but I knew I had to suck it up for Aubree’s sake. To tell that kind of news to a 13-year-old little girl was probably the hardest thing I think I have ever had to do in life.”
Aubree was diagnosed with ALM leukemia.
Leukemia is a cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and lymphatic system. According to the National Cancer Institute, there will be nearly 50,000 new cases of the disease this year. The average age of diagnosis is 66 years old. About 10 percent of diagnoses are for people, like Aubree, under 20.
Luckily for Aubree, a bone marrow transplant wasn’t needed, but nearly eight months of extensive chemotherapy loomed ahead of her.
“Once the doctors told us what was ahead of us, they moved us to Detroit Children’s Hospital in order for Aubree to start treatment right away,” Mary said. “You try and be tough for your child, but let me tell you she was tough for both us. My girl is a fighter.”
Big changes at home
Aubree’s treatment changed her family’s life dramatically. Mary had to miss a lot of time from work to take her back and forth to Detroit every two weeks for treatment. Aubree’s little brother Avery spent most of the time while Aubree was undergoing treatment with his father John Paul Schneiderhan.
“Avery was a trooper through this whole ordeal,” Schneiderhan said. “Aubree’s strength and courage allowed Avery a comfort zone. She showed him great courage and strength.”
Chemotherapy is never a pleasant experience — perhaps the understatement of the year — but Aubree’s regimen was particularly concentrated and grueling. She was put on a two-week cycle: Week 2 had limited chemo, but the first week, Aubree would undergo treatment, which in her case meant that a cocktail of toxic drugs were pumped into her system for eight hours a day.
“Nothing’s ever as challenging as chemotherapy,” said Aubree said “There’s nothing really to compare it to. It’s like the worst thing you can ever do. You’re stuck just wherever you are at the time feeling terrible.”
While Aubree was always confident about her chances of survival — she had excellent care and the numbers were on her side — that doesn’t mean she didn’t despair. Barely able to move, much less attend school, she wasn’t able to finish her eighth grade year. Missing all of the basketball season that winter and her travel soccer season in the spring made her that much more determined to beat the dreaded disease.
Like many cancer patients, Aubree was conflicted: she tried to stay positive, but the truth was that there was no realistic way to do so. Cancer sucks. And sometimes acknowledging that fact instead of employing a manufactured sense of optimism is perfectly fine.
“It was really hard to stay positive,” said Aubree. “While you’re doing it, you’re thinking it’s just never going to end. The most important thing is the support you have from others.”
The only relief she had came from her friends, who helped her get through the painful hours. Her classmates, close friends, and coaches organized a fundraiser soccer game in her honor to help offset medical costs and to bring awareness to Aubree’s situation.
The “Orange Out” was put on by her travel soccer coach Chad Kingsbury. Aubree is close friends with Kingsbury’s stepdaughters Gabby and Alexis Helpap.
“When we all found out that Aubree had cancer, it was a huge shock,” Kingsbury said. “We all thought, ‘What can we do to help her fight this terrible disease?’ People just came together. Everyone can relate to a child that should not have to go through any of those things in a lifetime. It helped that she had the basketball and soccer connections, but it was bigger than that. The whole community stepped forward.”
Along with the requisite nausea and hair loss, Aubree was constantly aware of the PICC line that helped carry the chemo through her veins. However, seeing and hearing about the support of the community and knowing so many people came out in support of her made her days go by more quickly .
“It was unbelievable to see how wonderful everyone was,” said Aubree said. “I don’t know how anyone does this alone.”
After nearly nine months of treatment, the cancer went into remission. Aubree was cleared to play sports again in June of 2011, about nine months after the initial diagnosis. She spent that summer playing with her usual travel teams, gradually building up her strength.
“I just wanted to be back playing sports again,” Aubree said. “I missed so much, but when I finally got back to playing again, it felt like I never left.”
Kingsbury believes it was Aubree’s competitive spirit that allowed her to beat cancer.
“Remembering her at the hospital and even at home going through what she was, hearing the honesty of what her disease was capable of…..She was a “rock” for her friends and even her mother who was always at her side,” Kingsbury said. “This just moves over to the field as well. In Aubree’s mind there is one thing to do and that is win. Field or hospital.”
To watch Aubree return to where she was before cancer is no surprise to anyone, especially Kingsbury. “I don’t think we were surprised. Knowing her, we may even have expected it,” he said.
“Of course there were scary times, but like I said, for Aubree there was not an option for anything else but a clean bill of health. I have coached her for most of her athletic time as a soccer player, and once she was told she could come back, I think everyone was overjoyed. She started out the first season back a bit timid to start, but once she gained back her strength, she was the old Aubree. It was like it never had happened. It was even better when she scored her first goal. I can remember fighting back the tears. She was truly back and doing what she enjoys!”
Jason Nolan, a long-time friend of the family, an assistant coach at Heritage High School, and Aubree’s AAU basketball coach, said that Aubree had the heart of a lion. No matter how bad things might have been, she never let people see her with her guard down.
“Aubree’s determination is what people see in her,” Nolan said. “I wanted her around no matter what, just because of who and what she meant to the team. Having her back on the team — just as a teammate, not even as a player — gave the rest of the team that sense of confidence, that sense of purpose to play for something. Seeing her being able to battle through such a hard time in her life and come back and be successful just continued to fuel the team when she returned.”
As a freshman last year at Nouvel, she played on the junior varsity basketball team and the varsity soccer team her first year back after beating cancer. The Panthers soccer team lost in the regional final a year ago.
More importantly, the Panthers managed the pressure and expectations with grace — plus plenty of pranks to stay loose — and there’s no doubt Aubree had a calming effect on the team. Quiet and low-key, she was the picture of control both on the basketball court and on the soccer field.
Those qualities might be labeled intangibles, but there’s no question in Mary’s mind that they contributed to victories for Nouvel. Aubree’s teammates understood why she didn’t take a single shot or free throw for granted. She knew the alternative.
“Once cancer picks a fight with you and you win,” said Mary, “what’s left to prove?”