BV Prep freshman inspires
Zednik doesn’t let limb deficiency stop her
Zednik impresses on varsity team despite limb deficiency
CUMBERLAND — This one particular moment defines the kind of student-athlete Maddax Zednik is, and hopes to continue to be:
Her Blackstone Valley Prep squad happened to be well on its way to suffering yet another loss, this time to Division III host St. Patrick’s School at the UCAP gymnasium last month, but the feisty freshman wouldn’t give in.
The Pride had trailed the superior Padres, 25-8, with only 5:31 left in the game, and you could tell by some of the BVP representatives’ body language they knew the result was eminent.
How? The usual lack of hustle.
Zednik, however, kept bat- tling, mustering a steal and draining a short jumper, netting a 16-foot jumper off another turnover then landing a one-hander off another theft with 23.9 seconds left in regulation.
All told, she closed with six points and five steals – in the final 5:31 alone.
Sure, BVP ended up losing, 27-14, but Zednik’s gutsy refusal to yield left the Padres wondering what had happened to their sure blowout.
“The one thing’s that different about Maddax, something I haven’t seen in a long time, is she’s got an old soul,” BVP coach Jackie Greaves stated at the end of a recent practice inside the Pride’s relatively new gym.
“When I first saw [Maddax Zednik] in tryouts (back in November), I couldn’t believe how she could shoot the ball so fluently without the use of a guide hand. I kept thinking to myself, ‘How in the world has she perfected that shot with only having a shooting hand?’”
— BVP girls basketball coach Jackie Greaves
“She’s a very disciplined young person, not at all typical of a kid nowadays. I haven’t seen that kind of desire, her type of athlete, since I was in high school in North Carolina.
“It’s so refreshing.”
To be accurate, there’s another thing that’s different about the gritty 14-year-old – she was born without half of her right arm, something her mom – registered nurse Sonya Kieon – and the rest of her in the medical field call “limb deficiency.” Handicapped? Disabled? Don’t dare use those words in her presence, or anyone else who knows and loves her.
“When I first saw her in tryouts (back in November), I couldn’t believe how she could shoot the ball so fluently without the use of a guide hand,” Greaves stated. “I kept thinking to myself, ‘How in the world has she perfected that shot with only having a shooting hand.
“I was super-impressed; her field-goal percentage was so high,” she added. “It wasn’t so much that she could do it, but how she did it really well … She was a shoo-in to make the varsity team from the start. Her fundamental basketball skills – including dribbling, passing and shooting were top-three in tryouts alone.
“There’s one thing in particular that really stuck out to me, though … her defense, her heart, her drive. During every drill in tryouts, she did it them all with 110 percent intensity. I mean, she’d even sprint to get some water.
“This kid was meant to be an athlete; she was a leader from the start. These attributes have followed her throughout the season. On top of maintaining quality scores in all of her academic classes, she has continued to give 110 percent at all practice and games.
“When we do something that someone would think involved two hands, she never complains. She literally just powers through and finds a way.”
Sonya mentioned at this same practice session that doctors didn’t inform her of her daughter’s “deficiency” until she was five months pregnant.
“I found out in February of ‘04 that she’d only have half a limb; I was stunned,” she said. “You never think of something like that, like your child will have Down -
(syndrome) or autism or whatever. It happened at five months, about that time they’ll inform you of gender, if you want to know.
“I was at work when they called me, and I sensed something was wrong, but it was obvious they didn’t want to tell me. I just said, ‘Look, I don’t like surprises. Good or bad, tell me now. ,
The anticipation is killing f me.’
“They were trying to be nice, but they said, ‘We think she only has one hand, so we need you to come in to the doctor’s office for a Level 2 ultrasound to check on your daughter.’”
Making matters even worse, Sonya stated, was this: It’s possible a baby being born without a limb or portion of it may affect his or her heart’s chamber functions, so they wanted her to return in two weeks for more tests.
“(One professional’s) exact words were, ‘Sometimes, when a baby is born with a limb deficiency, an issue with the heart goes hand-in-hand,’” she noted with a grin. “It never dawned on me until much later those words she used. I wasn’t focused on that at the time. I was thinking about my little girl, and how emotional I was.”
The good news, not surprisingly, Maddax’s heart was just fine.
As for her daughter’s childhood, Sonya, a St. Raphael Academy student-athlete before graduating in 1991, made it a point to register her in any activity in which she expressed interest, just as her parents had done for her.
“We always played with her when she was younger, and it was obvious when she was five she loved sports,” she said. “She was always very active, so I put her in karate when she was four. She also played organized baseball since age six, and youth soccer. She even placed second in the Cumberland Punt, Pass & Kick competition [sponsored by the National Football League] when she was 12.
“I always considered her an individual; she’s her own person, just loves to play sports,” she continued. “Maddax can do anything she pleases.”
Perhaps nobody knows Zednik as well as former head hoop coach and current BVP athletic director Ed Laskowski, who met her while teaching health and physical education in middle school.
“I had her for three years in class, and she impressed me from the start,” he offered. “I had worked with a lot of adaptive PE people, sports camps for the blind, at Meeting Street School, so I had a lot of experience with kids with assorted disabilities.
“I wanted Maddax to be as comfortable as possible in class, so I’d set up certain modifications to what we were doing in the gym or classroom. We had a very strong fitness focus so we did a lot of fitness-based drills, but – whatever I threw at her – she excelled. It seemed like she’d never use her disability as an excuse to hold her back. She fought through everything.
“And her skill level was so advanced,” he added. “Still, there was one thing we did in the gym – the one-arm hang; that was one of the tests that wasn’t going to set her up for success without a modification, so I worked with her on a physical fitness assessment with certain components.
“Turned out, she ended up having one of the best scores in school for her age and grade, and her confidence soared. That gave her the opportunity to show everyone what she could do in the field of physical fitness, despite the fact some maybe thought she couldn’t.”
Laskowski explained he first saw Zednik play competitively for the middle school soccer team, then basketball, but the very subject herself claimed her first experience with the latter drove to her this “never-saydie” attitude.
“I remember telling my mom that BVP was having open tryouts for the middle school basketball team, and that I was going to go for a couple of afternoons,” she recalled. “That was in fifth grade, and I didn’t make it.”
(Her mom immediately piped up, “I was there, and when she found out, she cried and cried. It was awful.”).
Zednik continued, “Teachers kept telling me, ‘That’s OK, that’s OK. You’ve always got next year’ but I was thinking, ‘No! I want it this year,’ I knew within a day or so that I was going to practice and work hard, and that when I showed up at practice the next year, I was going to make it.”
Laskowski saw her on her next foray into tryouts, stating she made it with ease.
Over her next three years, she also played for the soccer and baseball (that’s right, baseball) squads.
“I spent some time working with Maddax on her swing,” Laskowski said. “Her hand-eye coordination has always been tremendous, but I recall breaking down her swing. I tried to help her decide what side of the plate she should be batting from; that’s always been a top-hand, bottom-hand thing, which one’s the strongest. I also helped her with a few mechanics.”
Laskowski, however, did more than that.
He knew of former Major League Baseball and U.S. Olympic pitcher Jim Abbott, who himself attained great success despite having a limb deficiency, and a friend suggested he read Abbott’s autobiography, “Imperfect.”
“It was so inspiring,” Laskowski said. “I knew some of what he went through, and I marveled at his talent, but what a story, You see what ‘full-bodied’ people can do and what he accomplished. I recall him also having a tremendous football career in high school. I thought it was a story that could benefit Maddax.
“I had a feeling she knew something of him, but when I gave her the book, she seemed so happy that I’d take the time to say, ‘Give it a read.’”
Mentioned Zednik: “I remember that; I was in the seventh grade, and I remember it inspired me a lot, especially because he played baseball. In that world, ev- erybody thought you needed two hands, but he proved you didn’t.”
What followed from her lips shocked even this author: “I had already mastered how he was able to field a grounder or a pop-up. I had tried it on my own, so when I read it, I was doing the same thing. You field the ball with the left hand, and you put it to your chest, then your (right) arm holds the glove in place, the ball slips out into your left hand and you throw it in. At that point, you put the glove back on.
“I actually had tried different methods, but – like Mr. Abbott – I discovered I liked that best.”
According to Laskowski, “nothing she does surprises me. I see what kind of talent she has, and I envision her becoming a multi-sport varsity athlete at the high school, and – who knows? – maybe beyond,” he said. “She’s got that kind of drive, that kind of focus.”
Zednik continues to astonish coaches and teammates alike.
“From the start she amazed me,” offered Greaves assistant, George Carle. “She impressed me with her ability to finish layups, hit jump shots and play aggressive defense. I could not fathom how she was one of our best players (who) came out (for the team) even with her being at a ‘disadvantage.’ I say it that way because one of the things I love about Maddax is she uses no excuses if … she turns the ball over.
“We stress on this team that everything is earned, not given. Maddax gives it her all at every practice, every game. It really makes my heart warm to see how hard she works on and off the court and to see her succeed.
“With the determination she possesses along with her work ethic, the sky’s the limit for Maddax, and I’m glad to be a part of her journey this year.”
Said Greaves: “Maddax has the heart of a warrior. She fights against self-delusion, doubt and ignorance, and inspired me on a daily basis to persevere. She does not let her deficiency limit her in any way, and is the pure definition of the saying, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’
“Thank God. I’m so happy I’m going to have three more years of this kid.”
According to Zednik, her athletic career is still in its infancy.
“I’d like to someday play pro basketball,” she smiled. “I think that story about Mr. Abbott helps me keep everything in perspective – that if he can do it, there’s no reason I can’t. I just have to keep putting everything I have into it.”
“When we do something that someone would think involved two hands, she never complains. She literally just powers through and finds a way.” — Sonya Kieon, Maddax Zednik’s mother