“It’s been a journey. It’s probably the hardest training I’m ever going to do, the highest level of competition I’ve ever been at, but you do what you have to do. You take one day, actually one minute, at a time. I wake up, go outside and thank the person up above that I have another day to see the sunshine, take a breath of fresh air and have a second chance at life.” --Hatboro-Horsham field hockey/lacrosse coach Marie Schmucker (Spring of 2008)
DOWNINGTOWN – The scoreboard clock in Downingtown West’s Kottmeyer Stadium showed 22 minutes and counting down as Marie Schmucker made the trek to the sidelines for Wednesday’s preseason scrimmage against the Whippets.
The Hatboro-Horsham field hockey coach arrived quietly and without fanfare, and Schmucker would have wanted it no other way as – clipboard in hand – she assumed the role of head coach for the first time since the fall of 2007.
Schmucker, a week removed from surgery, gingerly hugged each of her assistant coaches and then called her team together in the striking circle.
“Girls, come over here, so I can say hi, and then we’re going to get down to business,” she said in a subdued voice that bore no resemblance to the loud, almost raspy voice that had been her trademark in years past.
“(Assistant coach) Krista Greene and my other two assistants said, ‘Tell us what you want to say, and we’ll yell it,’” the Hatters’ coach said. “We’re all complimenting each other. I have to be smart. I have to take care of Marie.”
In many ways, it’s business as usual for Schmucker, who immediately began giving tips for playing on turf, but ‘business as usual’ will never feel quite the same for the veteran coach, who at long last is on the homestretch of an 18-month battle with breast cancer.
“A year ago I was bald (as the result of chemotherapy) and on my back, and now I’m lucky to be alive,” she said. “I’m lucky to be able to do this and have the coaching staff I have.
“It’s good. I think it will be a great year. There was a lot of excitement today.”
That excitement was especially evident amongst the seniors who had been coached by Schmucker prior to her illness.
“We didn’t really know whether she would be back,” senior co-captain Lauren Purvis said. “To have her here is really exciting.
“People take their lives for granted a lot of times. You don’t think anything bad will happen to you, but you deal with what you’ve got and work with what you have. She’s been doing a great job of making the best out of her situation.”
There’s no mistaking that Schmucker has been an inspiration to both her coaches and her players.
“A lot of the girls looked up to her to begin with, and to see how resilient she’s been and how strong she’s been - now she’s back,” assistant coach Sarah Wallace said. “Everybody’s excited, and I think it’s taught us a lot of life lessons.”
“It’s amazing,” senior co-captain Sarah Tustin said. “Even during the preseason, it got hard at times, and then you’d think, ‘Schmucker has been through breast cancer, and she can still come back and coach and be herself.’ It doesn’t seem like it fazed her at all. She came back today, and it didn’t even seem like she was sick.
“A lot of the girls on the team are young. They don’t know Schmucker yet. I think it’s going to be hard this season, but it’s definitely going to be good. We need to get back to that tradition she upheld. We definitely missed her.”
Schmucker’s battle with breast cancer began on Feb. 5, 2008, when an MRI - taken as the result of the veteran coach’s persistence – revealed she had cancer on her chest wall. It had also spread to a pair of lymph glands.
On Feb. 21, Schmucker underwent major surgery that included a bi-lateral double mastectomy and the start of reconstructive surgery. A stint of chemotherapy began April 15 and ended in early August, and that was followed almost immediately by six weeks of radiation five days a week.
A four-month healing period was followed by another surgery on April 16 and culminated with the final major surgery last week on Aug. 17.
“It has been a journey, a process,” Schmucker said. “I’ve had enough. I’m done. I’m closing that chapter in the book, and I’m going forward.”
Schmucker eased into things slowly at Monday’s scrimmage, and her pre-game talk was relatively brief.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked her players. “I’m ready to play.
“You probably won’t hear me much today. I’m going to sit back and observe and give you some tips. Just remember you’re out here for a purpose. We’re here to learn lifelong lessons. It’s not always about winning or losing, but when you step on the field, it’s about being the best person you can be.”
Schmucker goes on to stress sportsmanship.
“No pushing, no talking back to officials,” she said. “I have zero tolerance for that. You’re representing Hatboro-Horsham.”
Assistant coach Krista Greene, who took over the helm last year, was not surprised to see Schmucker take charge.
“She has never seen a lot of these girls play, but she’s a natural coach,” Greene said. “I was prepared to be in charge today just in case she wasn’t feeling well, but she stepped right in, which I’m happy to see.”
Not far away, Schmucker is in mid-season form.
“Stick down, stick down, stick on the ground, stick on the ground – that’s it,” the Hatters’ coach exhorts her players and then goes into a coaching lesson with a defensive player who just came off the field.
“You were this far from your girl,” Schmucker indicates to her player. “I want you to tell me if she has bad breath. That’s how close I want you to be to her.”
Purvis smiles as she watches her coach in action.
“This is what I expected – she doesn’t like to waste time,” the Penn State-bound senior said. “She loves to coach, and she’s been wanting to get back for a long time.
“She’s jumping right in, which is good. I’m glad she’s back.”
“It’s totally what I expected,” Wallace added. “She’s not one to be down. She’s just being herself. It’s exciting seeing her on the sidelines.
“You can tell she’s really happy, and we’re just happy to see her back.”
Schmucker admits her coaching instincts kicked in rather quickly.
“Sue Purvis said to me, ‘It’s kind of like riding a bike – you don’t forget,’” Schmucker said of the former Springfield-Delco coach. “It was interesting. I just got right back in there.
“Every minute is precious because you want to constantly help the girls.”
And the life lessons Schmucker is teaching these days might be taken just a little more seriously by her players because of the experience their coach lived through the past 18 months.
“She was the healthiest lady ever,” Purvis said. “When we found out she had cancer, we were like, ‘To her? That’s not possible.’ No one really believed it, but she has such a strong will - we knew she would get through it.
“She’s always positive, she’s always happy – even when she’s not feeling good.”
“It was such a shock at first when we found out,” said Greene. “She’s always been so healthy, and she always took such good care of herself.
“We knew if anybody could get through it, it would be her. We just rallied together. The girls have been so supportive of her – always asking how she was doing and sending her cards and letters.”
Schmucker acknowledged that the tremendous outpouring of support carried her during her difficult days.
“From the cards, the phone calls – kids I never knew I was important in their life sent me cards,” she said. “You really have an impact as a teacher and a coach.
“I always said if I could reach one or two kids, that’s a great thing, but this was overwhelming.”
On Monday, after a long, long journey, Schmucker was back in her element, coaching young people and teaching them life lessons.
“You put it out there that you’re healthy and strong, and that’s how it’s going to be the rest of your life, but you never know,” she said. “Every day that I wake up is a good day. That’s how I look at it.
And Monday at Downingtown West’s Kottmeyer Stadium was a very good day for Schmucker, for her players, for everyone.
To view photos of Monday's scrimmage, visit the Photo Gallery.
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