Momma’s family
Even her doctor knows fall Friday nights are sacred. Like a defensive lineman sacking a quarterback, cancer consistently knocks Missy Bland down. It just can’t seem to keep her that way.
Without fail Bland, a Hernando High grad, the mother of a former Leopard football player and current junior varsity coach, and a member of the team’s booster club, attended every game this season.
She didn’t miss a single varsity contest. She didn’t miss one junior varsity tilt. She even made the trek to Citra-North Marion three weeks ago, when the Leopards’ 2010 campaign came to a close in a Class 3A, Region II quarterfinal loss, 35-21.
“When I don’t feel like doing anything else,” Bland said, “at 5 o’clock on Friday I know I have to get up.
“… As long as can do it, that’s what I’m going to do. I feel that when you have cancer, you have to focus on something. You have to get your mind set on something.”
Better known as “Momma Bland” to those connected to the football program, the 1986 Hernando graduate was diagnosed with Stage 4 peritoneal carcinoma, a rare form of ovarian cancer, in March 2009.
Aside from a brief period of remission earlier this year, Bland has remained on chemotherapy, placed on a variety of trial treatments in an effort to fight the disease.
Only two months prior to finding out about her medical condition, Bland and her husband had split, adding divorce to an already full plate of adversity.
“It was definitely life-changing,” said her 18-year-old son, Justin. “We were living with my aunt when we first found out. We went from having nothing to what we have now. We’ve had a lot of support through the tough times.
“… There’s definitely a connection (to Hernando). Everybody knows her as Momma Bland. She’s been at Hernando all her life. She’s definitely made a name for herself.”
Staying involved
Justin Bland spent all four years at Hernando with the varsity football team, playing primarily at offensive guard until his graduation in the spring.
But his playing days went all the way back to the Hernando Youth League as a child, and the teammates he grew up with became familiar faces to his mother.
When Justin reached high school, his mother became a football booster, joining the Leopard Quarterback Club.
“She’s been the heartbeat of the booster club for the last five years,” said David Donato, the club’s president. “When you talk about the Energizer Bunny, that’s Missy.”
“There are so many kids out there that don’t have a parent that comes to watch them,” Bland said. “They don’t have a parent worry about what they’re going to eat before the game or worry about them getting a ride home. These are things Justin takes for granted because he’s never going to turn around and I won’t be there.
“… I started and couldn’t stop. It’s just my thing. I’ve never stopped. The booster club has really been there for us and supported us. Justin has never done without anything he needed.”
While her devotion to the program as a parent stood out, she continues to amaze those around her with such a relentless commitment despite not only the end of her son’s prep career but the toll of her personal saga.
“It’s been an emotional ride for all the kids and adults alike that have known Missy,” Donato said. “But she’s been inspirational. She has not let her health problems and personal problems keep her from being at all the games, all the meetings and trying to take a leadership role to help the kids.”
Hernando Head Coach John Palmer noted that Bland has attended every fundraiser and even worked at summer football camps.
“Our kids know Justin, they know Missy,” Palmer said. “They know the plight she’s been in since she’s undergone cancer. It’s very inspirational for the players to see someone keep carrying on. You don’t worry about the aches and pains.
“She’s definitely been an inspiration for not just the players, but the coaches and the people closely related with the program.”
Making a sacrifice
Bland does maintain a blood relation to the Leopards, however. Justin has joined Palmer’s staff as a JV volunteer assistant while holding down a fulltime job with the White Fence Company in Brooksville.
He rejected a handful of scholarship offers from out-of-state schools, opportunities to not only pursue a higher education but continue to play football.
“The biggest thing for me was right when I started looking, my mom got real sick again,” Justin said. “I told (the recruiting schools) from the beginning ‘This is my situation.’ They understood. I wanted to stay here and take care of her. I didn’t want to go off to college and then something happens.”
With the help of Palmer, Justin has found a four-year program at Pasco-Hernando Community College that would allow him to earn his teaching and coaching certification.
“I missed playing the sport, but I enjoy taking care of my mom,” Justin said. “I definitely don’t regret staying home and doing that.
“… I always thought if I wasn’t going to be playing, I wanted to be part of the game. I figured since I’m not going to college, I might as well stick around and give (coaching) a try.”
Bland recognizes the tremendous sacrifice made by her son. In reality, watching him coach now doesn’t change her feelings from watching him play.
“He came in there and did above and beyond what was expected of him,” Bland said. “One of my proudest moments ever was watching him doing that. He loves it. It helped him at a time when he needed something.
“I was still a proud momma on the sideline because he was doing something. I wanted him to be a part of this still because he needed to be a part of this still.”
Now she looks forward to Justin coaching her other son, 13-year-old Bryson, who will be a freshman next year.
As for Justin, his mother’s unfortunate circumstances that have led him to this point have nonetheless heeded a valuable lesson.
“She definitely shows me when I fall down or can’t go anymore, I can succeed,” Justin said. “With anything that’s thrown at me, I can overcome it and keep going.”
A two-way street
As much assistance as Bland has provided to Hernando and its football program – Denato joked that she acts more like a coach than a booster mom – Bland gushed about what others have done for her and Justin.
She pointed to Mary Krabel, her former teacher and now an assistant principal at Hernando, who Bland said has aided her family by finding ways to cover expenses and paying for things such as Thanksgiving dinner.
“I’ve known Missy for a while,” Krabel said. “She’s a nice lady. She’s having some issues. I know she has family to support her, but she does so much for Hernando High. She’s always helping, but she needed someone to help her out.”
Bland also spoke about senior defensive lineman William Alderman, a close friend of Justin’s and “one of the boys I love more than anyone in this world.”
“Her impact on me is motivation,” Alderman said. “I look at how she keeps getting up, how she keeps fighting to live another day, to be there for her family… I love her.”
It was Alderman who approached Bland after the North Marion loss, professing that the team wanted to win for her and failed.
It was a notion she quickly dismissed. After all, for Bland football has become about far more than wins and losses.
“Last year when we had our last game and we lost our district, one of the things I said to them is that ‘I never quit believing. I will never quit believing and if I can fight through everything I’m fighting through, you can fight, too,'” Bland said.
“I’m going to see that program through. I know it’s better and I know it’s going to get better. And my strength comes from the fact that they’re continuing to fight and continuing to succeed.
“… They don’t know what they’ve done for me. Whether I make it to next year, this year meant so much to me. They need somebody to show them they care just like I need them in my life.
“I want them to know that every time they’re there, Miss Bland is going to be there, too.”
