Family First

 

The Soul of Olympia chapter of A Hero’s Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp captures the stories of people who make up Olympia. They are the essence of life at camp. The amazing people you get to meet and become like family with. One such amazing person that I have come to know from week 5 basketball is Jackson Kingshot. Jackson is in the Sports Admin program at Laurentian. A classmate of his Parker Churchward interviewed Jackson for the school newsletter. I saw the article and was moved to ask Jackson and Parker if it would be OK to submit their article for my Tuesdays With Dave blog. A little long for a blog but inspiring to read. 

 

 Here’s his hero’s journey. Thanks Jackson…. And Parker.

 

 

I grew up in Brantford, Ontario with my mom and dad, and my younger sister Jordan. Growing up I played a bunch of different sports, but baseball has always been my favourite. I started playing at the age of 5. I played for my hometown team the Brantford Red Sox as well as the Paris Phillies. I played a bunch of different positions early on, but eventually settled into being a pitcher. I loved being on the mound.

 

 Growing up, my parents were my biggest supporters, but it was my mom who motivated me to be the best. She was my biggest role model. This was because not only was she a great mom, but she also coached both high school and Team Ontario basketball.  When I was younger, I was always on the bench at her games. Seeing her passion, determination and leadership firsthand was inspiring. Even though her sport was basketball, she made me want to be the best baseball player I could possibly be.

 

I was a pretty good rep player as a kid but once I started high school, I wanted to take my game to the next level. I had dreams of playing NCAA Baseball. When I was in grade nine, I tried out for the Fieldhouse Pirates, a team in the Canadian Premier Baseball League (CPBL). Considering it was my first year trying out for the team I didn’t go in with high expectations. 

I went to the tryout because I knew it would help me get better regardless of what happened. To my surprise I was signed to a contract with the team after the first tryout. I was so pumped to have the opportunity to play baseball at this level.  

 

For the next three years playing for Fieldhouse, I had games or practices 6 days a week. Weekdays my parents would take me to Burlington where we practiced, which was a 45-minute drive from home. On the weekends we played all over Ontario. Balancing this with school, high school sports and a social life was super tough. I was so grateful for my parents through it all. Driving me to every practice and cheering me on at every game. They gave me the opportunity to play the sport I love at a high level.

 

 

When I was in grade 12, I decided I wasn’t going to play for Fieldhouse anymore. At this stage in my baseball career my chances of playing D1 were looking slim and playing for Fieldhouse was a huge commitment. I still played baseball, just not in the CPBL. I decided to focus more of my time on family and friends. It also gave me the chance to play more high school sports like basketball and volleyball. I had always planned to do a 5^th year at high school but decided to apply to a few schools just to keep my options open. In the spring my dad took me to Sudbury to tour Laurentian University. I loved the school so much, as soon as I got back in the car with my dad at the end of the day I said, ‘that’s where I’m going to school.” I accepted their offer the next day.

 

It was a few short weeks later when everything changed for my family and me. We found out that my mom had been diagnosed with stage 3B cervical cancer. An incredibly rare form of cancer with a survival rate of just 29%. There are only around 100 women diagnosed with this type of cancer in all of North America every year. She started radiation treatment and chemotherapy immediately. I was shocked by the news. I couldn’t imagine living in a world without my mom. My parents were gone at my mom’s appointments almost every day and my sister and I found ourselves catching rides to and from school with different people all the time. 

Most nights we’d come home to an empty house. It was tough. 

 

My sister who was just 13 at the time was devastated by the news. I think she had a hard time understanding what was really going on and the magnitude of it all. Nonetheless, looking after her became my number one priority. We had always been close, but this really brought us together and now we’re closer than ever. With my mom being a teacher and a coach at my high school, everyone heard about it very quickly. This was a blessing and a curse. I was so lucky that my friends, my teammates and just about everyone at my high school was so supportive, but at the same time it was like I couldn’t get away from it. 

At this point I was so torn as to whether or not I should still go Laurentian. I had already accepted my offer, but I wanted to be home so I could spend time with my family. With the support and encouragement of my parents, I decided I would still go to school in the fall. I did however decide that I would not play baseball for the school team. Family and academics were going to be my main focus.

 

I had a great summer of spending as much time as possible with my family, and in September I reluctantly moved up to Sudbury. It was really hard being away from my mom, but we facetimed almost every day which helped. A few weeks into the school year, my new buddies and I went to watch the baseball team play. After watching them play I realized how much I missed the game. Playing baseball is something I’ve loved to do for as long as I can remember and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t playing. After watching the game, I talked to my parents and my close friends about how badly I wanted to play, but I was so torn. Ultimately it was my mom who convinced me that I should do what I love. I reached out to the team’s coach one morning and he told me to come for a tryout that night. I didn’t have any of my gear at school with me, so I was freaking out. I called my Dad and he told me not to worry about it.

My dad drove 4 hours up to Sudbury that same day to bring me my gear in time for the tryout. How many dads would do that? He’s the man. 

 

I was pretty nervous for the tryout. I hadn’t played in over a month and I felt like all the guys on the team were thinking “who the hell is this guy and why does he think he can just walk on to the team part-way through the season?” Having my dad there to watch definitely helped calm my nerves and I played pretty well. After the tryout the coach said I’d be traveling with the team that weekend to play Queens and the University of Toronto. Being the new guy, I didn’t expect to play. I figured they brought me along for the extra body and so I could get to know the guys better, but on Saturday I got to pitch against U of T.

I pitched 2 scoreless innings with my mom and dad there to watch.

 

Around this time my mom had just finished her first round of treatments and was starting to go back to work part time. The doctors advised her not to, but she loves teaching and coaching so much she couldn’t stay away any longer. She came to our games that were close to home which I really appreciated. My dad on the other hand came to every single game, whether it was 5 minutes or 5 hours from our house. Like most parents, they were my biggest fans. Luckily the baseball season wasn’t too long, and my coach was really understanding as well. I was able to miss a practice here and there to go home and visit my family. We ended up having a great season and finished 3^rd in Ontario. 

 

As my mom continued to go through her treatments she kept getting better and better. Her resilience and positivity throughout the entire process was so inspiring. She makes me want to be the best athlete and the best person I can possibly be. I’m now in my third year at Laurentian and have played two great seasons for the Voyageurs. My mom has been cancer free for over a year and now only has to go for appointments once a week. I’m forever grateful for the health of my mom as well as the rest of my family and friends. I can’t wait to play baseball again and build off of two great seasons with the Voyageurs once the pandemic is over.

 

Interviewed and Written By: Parker Churchward

Laurentian Sports Administration 

 

 

The link to the blog is TuesdayswithDave.blogspot.com

This blog is about the journey of the writing of the book A Hero's Journey: From Little Norway to Olympia Sports Camp. The blog will contain excerpts from the book and my personal thoughts on what the place and the people that make up Olympia's journey is all about. The title comes from the great book Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom. The blog's title is recognizing Dave Grace as Camp Director, but all content is my own.