COACH AN INSPIRATION
Tendevold carries on despite brain cancer.
Adam Tendevold is more than the head coach of the LeBoldus Golden Suns wrestling team.
Tendevold’s ongoing battle with brain cancer has served as an inspiration for the 14 members of the school’s wrestling squad. He still has issues, but Tendevold responds to each of the challenges by returning to work as a Century 21 realtor and the team’s volunteer coach.
“It’s just incredible and I can’t believe what he’s doing,’’ said Isaac Ziegler, a Grade 12 wrestler with the Golden Suns. “He’s had brain cancer for how many years? They tell him that it’s terminal and he just keeps doing what he’s doing. If I was in his position, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. I would be on my couch just sulking in all of the dreadfulness.
“He looks at it from a different angle,’’ Ziegler added. “He wakes up and says he doesn’t care if he’s going to die today: ‘I’m going to go out and have the happiest time of my life.’ That’s what he does.’’
That attitude has rubbed off on his wrestlers, who are competing today and Saturday at the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association wrestling championships at the University of Regina’s Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport.
“He is so inspirational because he goes through every day without any problems,’’ said Chilombo Mwela, a Grade 12 wrestler. “Even if there are problems, he handles them very calmly. He doesn’t panic like most people would.’’
Tendevold’s attitude toward living with brain cancer has been shaped over time.
In October 2002, Tendevold and his wife, Pam, were married. In April of the following year, Tendevold suffered a concussion while wrestling during a practice with the University of Regina Cougars. It was during a CT scan that doctors first discovered the brain tumour. Tendevold underwent surgery in June and the prognosis wasn’t good.
“I went through chemo and radiation and the tumour kept coming back,’’ said the 34-year-old Tendevold. “I was pretty much told in June that I would be dead by Christmas and there wasn’t anything else that they could do. I said that I would stop chemo then because if I was going to die, I wanted to die feeling healthy. I’ve just been sticking around.’’
The tumour is recurrent, which has forced Tendevold to undergo many surgeries. Shortly after the current wrestling season started, Tendevold was hospitalized after suffering a seizure at home.
“I went to the hospital, they did a scan and the tumour was back and it was huge,’’ said Tendevold, who is in his third season as the Golden Suns’ coach. “I had surgery within two weeks. I recovered really well this time and I was right back into coaching.’’
Getting back into it meant more than coaching. Tendevold and his wife have five children — Natalya (10), Lexie (nine), Porter (eight), Katya (six) and Hector (four).
“At first I was told that I wouldn’t be able to father children because of the treatments I went through,’’ Tendevold said. “Then my wife got pregnant and a-notso-tactful nurse and social worker questioned if the baby was mine. I do get along with my wife. She got pregnant again and this one looks like me so obviously I can.’’
Finding time to coach a wrestling team and having a large family would be an achievement for Tendevold. His issues with brain cancer make what he’s doing for the wrestlers even more impressive.
“He sacrifices a lot to spend time to be with us,’’ said Mackenzie Hawkins, another Grade 12 wrestler at LeBoldus. “As soon as he was out of the hospital, he was here. He sacrificed his own recovery time for us. It’s really motivating.’’
Tendevold began coaching at LeBoldus when the former coach went on maternity leave. Tendevold has remained with the team despite his battles with the disease. He doesn’t cover the scars and he even uses his issues while coaching the wrestlers.
“A lot of people are uncomfortable at first,’’ Tendevold said. “Then they see how I have really just accepted it and I don’t let it stop me from doing what I want to do.
“I joke about it a lot. I tell (the wrestlers) not to cuss because cussing hurts my cancer. I’m used to it now because it has been 12 years. With the scars on my head, I get questioned a lot so I’m quite used to it.’’
Watching how Tendevold handles his health issues has had an impact on LeBoldus’s wrestlers.
“I like to think that I’m wrestling for myself and him too,’’ Ziegler said. “It’s not just myself. It’s everyone on this team that is trying to win gold medals for him and to do our best.
“He’s providing us with all of his knowledge and giving his time and effort for us. The least we can do is try to win our matches. It reflects well on him because it shows he’s putting in the time and effort for us to win these matches.’’
Tendevold appreciates the efforts of his wrestlers. He gains even more satisfaction in watching them grow within the sport.
“I really like real estate and I enjoy what I do,’’ Tendevold said. “I really, really enjoy coaching wrestling and it has been fantastic for me.
“With wrestling, it’s not so much teaching the technique, it’s getting the students to believe in themselves and that’s what I really like. I like seeing the growth once they know what they can be. Then they go out and do it. It’s the best part and that’s when sports really helps later in life, when you know that you can do hard things.’’
Tendevold sets an example as a person dealing with challenges.
“I feel like it makes him want to live every day and be really active in different things so that he can say he lived a good life,’’ Mwela said. “It’s not like he’s afraid of it. He’s really open about it, so that’s really good.’’