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June 9, 2009

Fighting on

Cancer can’t keep Rasnick from pitch

By JED LOCKETT

TAZEWELL, Va. — One year ago, T.J. Rasnick was facing an uncertain future. He was receiving treatment for synovial sarcoma, a form of cancer that was found near his right hamstring. He missed his junior season on the soccer field with the Tazewell Bulldogs and did not know if he would play again.

What a difference a year makes.

Tuesday at Tazewell High School, Rasnick signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Emory & Henry.

“It’s just a blessing to be able to stand here and be ready to go to college in the fall,” he said. “I know my family is very proud there. I’m just glad they can be here and go through all this with me because I know it’s been tough on them too. It’s just a blessing.”

Even though Rasnick received the diagnosis on March 11, 2008, he never relinquished hope that he would be able to continue his athletic career.

“You just keep your faith in God and you can do anything,” he said. “There’s not one day that I changed what I wanted to do or my goals. It’s always been the same. You’ve just got a never-say-die attitude.”

It was a far cry from a hospital bed at Wake Forest or an appointment at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Rasnick still goes to Bethesda for a monthly checkup, but he is healthy.

“I’m doing well,” he said. “I’m just taking my medicine. I go to NIH about once a month. I’m doing well.”

Rasnick had a choice between playing college football, college soccer, or placing his athletic pursuits on the back burner and focusing on his studies. In the end, he decided that the soccer team at Emory & Henry was where he wanted to be.

“Emory & Henry seemed like a really good fit for me and the soccer team, I just felt like I fit in with that soccer family, the coaches, and...out of everywhere I’ve been, everywhere I’ve looked at it just seemed like the best fit for me,” he said.

“I looked at playing football a lot of places. I looked at playing soccer a lot of places. I took visits to places like Duke, Wofford, Tennessee. I’ve been to quite a few colleges, William & Mary.

“But when it came down to it, Emory & Henry was the place for me to be.”

In his final season, Rasnick reached the 100-goal milestone for his career — despite sitting out his junior season. He had 24 goals in his final season with Tazewell, playing in just 12 games.

He hopes he will be able to make a contribution to the Wasps right away.

“I hope to go there and compete for a spot this year,” Rasnick said. “But there’s a great freshman class coming in. I think there’s 16 freshmen coming in. So it’s going to be competition every day. But I hope to go over there and compete for a spot right off.”

He knows that competition for playing time will be tough.

“I know they’ve got a really good striker returning from last year,” Rasnick said. “He was their leading scorer. He’s a really good player. So I’ll go over there and see what I can do.”

Rasnick has been comfortable with a soccer ball since he was very young. His parents had to become comfortable with the game.

“It’s funny. The first sport I ever played was soccer,” Rasnick said. “I was 3 years old and they needed another coach for the last rec league team. So my mom and dad went to the public library and checked out a book on soccer and it’s just kind-of built ever since.”

Rasnick’s family has been the biggest influence on his athletic career.

“He and all my family, they’ve took me everywhere, travel sports, rec sports, high school sports,” he said. “I went to the All-American combine for football in San Antonio, Texas. I’ve been to Rhode Island playing soccer tournaments. I wouldn’t be half of where I was if it wasn’t for them.”

The biggest influence of any of these family members has been his father Tim, who began coaching him as a toddler and continued through high school. It was not always easy, but he enjoyed it.

“I guess sometimes it’s kind-of hard,” T.J. said. “You have to go home with the coach, so it’s a never-ending process. But, yeah, it’s been a blessing. I think we’ve had a lot of fun times being able to be together. I’m glad we could share that.”

T.J. will study pre-med in college, a major that was influenced by his personal experience.

“I’ve been indecisive about what I’ve wanted to do for so long,” T.J. said. “But I just feel like kind-of after everything I’ve been through you need people to help you out and I feel like I can do that.

“Maybe come back to Tazewell, Tazewell needs good doctors.”

That, in turn, influenced his decision to attend Emory & Henry.

“They’ve got such a good program over there at Emory & Henry,” T.J. said. “You can go there and go through their pre-med program and write your ticket to medical school. I think that would be a good thing for me to do.”

Throughout his long and arduous journey, T.J. relied heavily on his faith in a higher power.

“If you put your faith in God, you can do anything,” he said. “You just push every day. You live every day. You just do everything you can and as long as you keep your faith in God you just keep going.

“It was never ‘I can’t do this.’ It was always, ‘Nothing’s ever changed.’ It’s always been the same from day one.”

That, to T.J. is the moral of his story.

“Just never give up,” he said. “Just keep fighting every day, keep your faith in God and you’ll be just fine. You can do anything.”

— Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com

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