In March of 2005, Henryville HS won its second of back to back
boys' basketball sectional championships and we got to go to Franklin Community
school and practice. That is where the
regional was going to be held that March.
But we also got to go and attend a coaches meeting where the host school
goes over all sorts of details about the regional and the coaches can speak to
each other if they desire exchanging game tapes and stories about how bad their
team is despite winning the sectional.
At that time I was the JV coach for Henryville HS and Jack Brooks was the varsity coach. The head coach at South Decatur at the time was Shane Billingsley. I am going to let you in on a little secret in the coaching world. Some coaches believe they are bigger than the game and will "big time" you when you are "just a JV coach" however, most do not do this. Shane Billingsley was not and is not that way. He approached me and told me we had something in common and that was we were members of HickoryHusker.com. It is a paid basketball website where the entire community of Indiana can discuss issues about the greatest sport there is.
Coach Billingsley and I talked for about 15 minutes and I was impressed with his sincerity as well as his humility. We became friends from there and emailed, texted and have spoken often. It was later when I found out about his son Ayden. Ayden who is 4 1/2 now is one of the sweetest little boys you will ever meet. He has that interest in the world that you have before you are battle tested and have grown cynical (see many adults). There is one thing different, however, about Ayden and that is he has DNA Depletion Syndrome or Mitochondrial Disease. Every 30 minutes a child is born with a mitochondrial disease.
From Ayden's webswite: What is Mitochondrial Disease? Mitochondria is responsible for 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When they fail, less and less energy is generated within the cell. Cell injury and even death follow. If this process is repeated throughout the body, whole systems begin to fail, and the life of the person is severely compromised. This disease usually affects children. This disease usually affects the cells of the brain, heart, liver, skeletal muscles, kidneys, and respiratory system.
There are three forms of DNA depletion:
1. Congenital: Severe lactic acidosis. Death due to respiratory failure usually occurs prior to one year of age.
2. Infantile: Weakness appears and worsens in the first year of life. Respiratory failure occurs in the first few years of life.
3. Hepatopathy: Enlarged liver and intractable liver failure. Death is typical in the first year.
You can visit Ayden's website at
Ayden's Army to find out more about Ayden and
joining his Army and his 2012 fundraiser coming up with dinner (free will
offering) and dancing ($5). This will all
take place at St.Mary's Perish Hall in North Vernon, IN. There is also a silent auction and you can go
to his site for online bidding as well.
On Friday and Saturday nights are when coaches are often seen, but there is a culture of bonding that exists with some coaches. Not all want to be involved as much, but many coaches know that they share common problems, successes, and issues. Most, if not all, are more than willing to help each other with game tapes, open practices, and other things, but when you can help a fellow coach/good human being like Shane Billingsley and especially little Ayden, you do it.
