Westerville North boys basketball camp raises funds for alumnus Keegan Hale's ALS battle
The lessons Kiley Gessner learned as a player for the Westerville North boys basketball team are the same ones that led him to want to help his former teammate, Keegan Hale, a fellow 2009 graduate who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2020.
Gessner came up with the Ultimate Warrior event, a two-day basketball skills camp for third- through eighth-graders that ran Dec. 10 and 17 with proceeds donated to the Hale family.
Better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS is “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord,” according to ALS.org.
“I’ve always had the idea to run a camp because I want the kids to give back to the community,” said Gessner, who coaches North’s freshman team. “I thought it was something that we really did well when we were (players). A lot of times, these kids need perspective. When you’re a player, you get so honed in on trying to be a starter and trying to make your game better (that) you kind of lose perspective on what’s going on in the outside world.”
Gessner hopes to find new ways for the camp to help people every year.
“(Hale) always strived to make people better,” said Jacob Thuman, a 2009 graduate who serves as an assistant coach with the Warriors. “We wanted to do something for him because we know if the roles were reversed, he’d be doing the same thing for us without a doubt.”
Hale started feeling symptoms, a numbness in his right hand that eventually worked its way up to his shoulder, in January 2020. He was diagnosed that September, just a couple of months after marrying his wife, Mikie, and four days before finding out that his daughter, Blake, was on the way.
According to ALS.org, 20% survive five years, 10% survive 10 years and 5% survive 20 years or more.
ALS has impacted Hale’s ability to use his hands; he was in a wheelchair when he visited the camp Dec. 17. He watched from the sidelines as campers ran through warmups and spoke to the team in a meeting room just before the camp began.
His speech also is affected by ALS, but his message was clear.
“I really came to realize after getting sick that I didn’t care about my car or my house or my things – all I wanted was to be with loved ones,” Hale said. “I feel like we all should prioritize one another. I personally really have been helped by my faith. I feel like we need to help one another when it comes to faith and having hope in this life and beyond. You need to prioritize people from now through eternity.”
Hale could be angry about his situation, but that’s not his way.
“Yeah, it’s hard on different days,” he said. “But that doesn’t take away all the good that’s happening. I’m more convinced than ever that people are the most important. It was shocking (that Gessner and Thuman) would do this for me. It reminds me of our camaraderie and our friendship that we built early on in high school and doesn’t cease. (I was) taken aback and (am) so grateful.”
Warriors coach Shan Trusley was an assistant coach at North under Thuman’s father, Kevin, when the trio played.
“They were in the same class together, grew up together and played baseball and basketball together since they were little guys,” Trusley said. “We consider ourselves a family. Hopefully they can develop that attitude of service above self – the idea of giving back – and then continue that as adults. Hopefully that rubs off on these (campers). They have that foundation laid where if (they’re) going to be a part of this program, (they’re) going to give back.”
The camp exemplifies the lessons Trusley, Gessner, Thuman and fellow assistant coaches Patrick Acocks, Lawrence Pack, Adam DeChant and Ben Pack are trying to impart on the current team.
“We reached out to people that had come to our summer camp or fall camp before,” Trusley said. “We got tremendous feedback. Kiley came up with the idea and we all sort of worked together to put it into motion and fortunately, we got a good turnout.”
Coming off a 61-24 victory over Canal Winchester on Dec. 16 to improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in OCC-Capital Division play, seniors Carter Reese and Rex Mbouge, junior Eyon Robinson and sophomore Micah Young woke up early Dec. 17 to help move a couch for Neighborhood Bridges, a nonprofit in Westerville that helps families in need. Then, they went to help run the camp.
With the Warriors off until Dec. 28, when they play Casstown Miami East in the Phil Brown Holiday Classic at Otterbein, Trusley and his staff are using the layoff to emphasize their mantra of “service above self,” and Dec. 17 provided a couple of opportunities.
“I feel happy with myself for helping someone else,” Mbouge said. “I didn’t want to wake up early, but I just like helping out people.”
Reese started attending North basketball camps in third grade.
“It shows me that even though basketball is really important, there’s stuff bigger outside of basketball,” he said. “We’re really big on becoming a family and (making) an impact on the community. When we have the younger generation coming (to these camps), they’re looking up to us.
“I know when I was coming to camps when I was little … it really (formed) that bond and made me want to come here.”
@ThisWeekRich
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Westerville North basketball camp raises funds for alumnus' ALS battle
