'I look forward to every day': Sports helps York County coach get through health scare
A lot of people look at Dave Schreiner's schedule and call him crazy. He calls himself fortunate.
It goes to show there are different ways to interpret coaching three sports at two schools in two states on top of a full-time teaching job.
Schreiner wouldn't have it any other way.
"I still love working with the kids," he said. "I get a lot of satisfaction in hoping I can help the kids get better at volleyball, basketball, track and help them be successful. It’s a job not a lot of people want to do but I find gratifying.
"I look forward to every day."
Schreiner is going into his ninth season as the girls' basketball coach at Susquehannock High School. He led the Warriors to a District 3 Class 5A title and state semifinal appearance two years ago and has guided the program to four division titles. He's also a business teacher and department head, girls' volleyball coach and track coach at Hereford High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. He guided the volleyball program to eight consecutive regional titles before a loss in the title game this season.
The 60-year-old doesn't see himself slowing down soon.
But this past spring, he faced much more than the prospect of his coaching career coming to a halt.
Schreiner was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March and underwent surgery for it in May.
He's been cancer-free since August.
Just in time for the start of volleyball season.
It's probably unfair to say that Schreiner looks at life completely different now. He's still the same even-keeled and quietly intense coach he's always been. He said he's gone into this year "attacking things like I always do."
But nothing is completely the same after you go through what he did.
"It's life-changing," Schreiner said. "You start thinking, 'Am I going to be able to do all the things I wanted to do?'"
Being told you have cancer
This spring was not the first time Schreiner's life was affected by cancer.
He watched both his mother and sister die after long battles with it.
That doesn't mean he was prepared to receive the news himself. As someone who always considered himself healthy, he was stunned when the results were given to him shorty after the conclusion of last basketball season.
"Before you're told that ... I watched my mom go through cancer and saw what it did to her. I watched my sister go through cancer and saw what it did to her," Schreiner said with tears forming in his eyes for the first time during a 20-minute interview at a Susquehannock practice last Wednesday. "I never knew what it felt like to be told it ...
He paused for a moment.
"It's tough .... it's tough."
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Prior to this spring, Schreiner hadn't undergone a PSA test — which screens for prostate cancer — since 2014, so it's likely he had the cancer in some form for two or three years. A Maryland resident, he decided to switch from a doctor in Pennsylvania to one nearby in north Baltimore County, who suggested he get his prostate checked in addition to a normal physical.
His Gleason Scores all came out to 8 or 9 on a scale to 10. A grade of 6 or above indicates cancer.
He quickly started looking at his options.
Schreiner's former principal at Hereford had died after a five-year battle with prostate cancer. And a lot of the research he did in the immediate aftermath of his diagnosis detailed five-year survival rates for the disease.
That wasn't good enough for him.
"I wasn't looking to live five years. I was looking to live 30 years," Schreiner said. "You go through all this stuff. I wasn’t done working yet. I wasn’t done coaching and teaching. I wanted to still do those things."
A body scan showed the cancer hadn't yet spread to his bones, a major positive for Schreiner and his family. After meeting with a doctor at Johns Hopkins, it was recommended he have surgery to remove his prostate as soon as possible.
After having the procedure on May 21, he had to wait three months to get his blood checked to confirm that there was no PSA remaining in his body. If any cancer remained, he would need to look into radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
He received the call that he was cancer-free on one of the first days of volleyball tryouts.
"They know how I am and that I'd want to know right away," Schreiner said. "Since then I've been able to breathe a little bit and get back to normal thinking without all that cancer stuff.
"I think a lot of people wondered whether I would be able to come back (to coaching) or be willing. If I had to have radiation, I'd be looking at missing a lot of school time."
Of course, missing time with work and sports doesn't seem like a big deal when you're going through cancer. But for Schreiner, getting back to teaching and coaching meant everything.
It's a big part of who he is.
Making every day great
Every Wednesday, Hereford High School does an activity during the morning announcements called "Make it a great day or not," where students talk about being positive and making the choice to make a difference in someone's life.
It's a message Schreiner tries to uphold every day.
And the one he tried to use when letting people know he was sick.
With so much stress and uncertainty in his life leading up to his surgery, Schreiner thought it would be too difficult to tell all of his students and players that he had cancer. On the morning of his procedure, he wrote a Facebook status about what he was going through, and had his friend and colleague, Brett Baier, read a letter to his students.
On social media, the support was instantaneous and came from parents and players dating back 20 years. In the classroom, the response was extremely emotional.
"It was somber," said Baier, who works under Schreiner in the business education department at Hereford. "One of his volleyball players was in a class and started crying. One of the officers for our (business club) — a pretty tough, sassy kid — he started getting really choked up. He asked me every day how Dave was doing. Sometimes you don't realize how much the kids care."
Added 2019 Susquehannock grad and three-year starting point guard Jayla Galbreath: "I didn't find out until he put something on Facebook and everyone saw it. I started reaching out to girls like, 'Did you know?' Nobody really knew until he was going through the procedure.
"I was super relieved when I found out he was OK. I can't imagine the program without coach Dave. He's the core piece."
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As Baier put it, Schreiner had enough sick days saved up over 20 years to take the rest of the school year off following his surgery. But that wasn't acceptable for the longtime coach. He missed three weeks and was back in time to give end-of-the-year exams.
During that time off, he said he received a hand-written letter from every one of his close to 150 students at Hereford.
His first appearance back at the Maryland school was a student-faculty volleyball game that he coached on June 1.
"He got the biggest applause of anybody," Baier said. "We tried to pick up roles and help him after his diagnosis, but he felt obligated and didn't want to let anybody down. He gives so much of himself to the school and the community and he's very revered by the students and faculty."
An Ohio native who played point guard at Division II Winona State in Minnesota, Schreiner has earned plenty of respect at both Hereford and Susquehannock, which are just 16 miles apart.
Baier spoke about Schreiner arriving at school 5:30 in the morning every day and serving as an adviser for multiples clubs in addition to his coaching gigs. Susquehannock athletic director Brad Keeney said that even when Susquehannock was on its state-playoff run in 2017, most of his conversations with Schreiner revolved around how players were doing personally and socially rather than how they were playing.
"Rarely do we talk about basketball, it's typically about the kids and how we can help them," Keeney said. "He's really good at building families and teaching kids how to be successful at life. If you talk to any of his players, they'll tell you they wouldn't be where they are without him."
Galbreath added that Schreiner knows how to inspire and motivate his players without raising his voice.
She remembers the night she scored her 1,000th career point last season. Schreiner hugged her and quietly told her: "It took us four years, but we made it. We made it."
"He's low-key and he's not a screamer, but he's dedicated and he gets a lot out of his players," said Galbreath, who now plays for York College. "I had a rough start with the program and he was always there for me. He really formed my work ethic and got me prepared for college."
Why sports are important
Susquehannock has started its 2019-20 season, which seems to be a rebuilding one following the graduation of Galbreath and current St. Joseph's player Jaden Walker, the last remaining standouts from the 2017 District 3 title team. Still, Schreiner seems as locked in and excited as ever.
He said his biggest takeaway from the past year is learning not to skip doctor's appointments. He's planning to get his blood checked every three months for the next year, at which point he'll move to every six months.
Married with a daughter and a son, he's cherishing all the family time he gets. He spoke with excitement about traveling to Columbus for the Penn State-Ohio State football game with his 24-year-old son Keaton to cheer for his home-state Buckeyes.
And while having cancer reminded him there's more than life to sports, it also taught him why he's still so involved in athletics.
"Sports are very important, but you have to keep things in perspective," he said. "Basketball is very important to these kids, it’s very important for me to help these kids be successful. I need to make sure I keep it in perspective. You’ve got to keep the wins and losses in perspective and keep working hard."
He took a short pause as tears filled his eyes for the second time.
"Because it’s sports that will help you get through times like mine. And that’s what it is."