The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Ansonia coach, stepdaughter prove cancer picked the wrong girls
ANSONIA — Natalie Ramadanovic takes off her Ansonia cap, rubs her bald head and says seven entirely unexpected words.
“It couldn’t come at a better time.”
There’s no good time for cancer. There’s never a good time for cancer. Not now. Not last week. Not next month.
“I know that sounds odd,” she said. “But coming into Jojo’s senior year with so much excitement, it’s the one thing I’ve been looking for since I was told I have cancer.”
Ramadanovic, Ansonia girls assistant basketball coach and stepmom of star player Jojo Sanchez, is a fighter. A look at her Facebook page shows the family wearing black shirts with pink boxing gloves and pink lettering: “Cancer Picked the Wrong Girl.” Another photo shows tiny pink boxing gloves hanging from the car’s rearview mirror.
During the Seymour football game at Ansonia in October, the public-address announcer took a moment to recognize a coach, a volunteer and No. 1 fan who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. There were balloons spelling out her name. There was a large sign. “Coach Nat” was even painted on the grass at the 50-yard line at Nolan Field.
Standing nearby, I thought this must be a special person to merit all this. Late Friday afternoon when we met inside Ansonia’s gym, I found out how special.
Having recently completed her fourth round of chemotherapy, Ramadanovic hasn’t missed a practice or a game. Two weeks ago, she went from chemo to a scrimmage.
That’s a warrior, right?
Jojo nodded her head and softly said “Yeah.”
Selected by GameTimeCT as one of the 25 state players to watch , Sanchez, who has started varsity since the ninth grade, is a combination guard. She can handle the ball. She also isn’t going to lie.
“I like to shoot,” she said, “a lot.”
Sanchez started playing instructional basketball at the Ansonia Armory in the third and fourth grade. She played youth football, often the only girl. She played softball and picked it back up last spring. Yet it is basketball
she instantly and continues to love.
“The way it’s played, the cooperation between you and your teammates,” Sanchez said. “And the friends I made playing made me love it even more.
“When I first got here, it wasn’t interesting to people. Our record got better and people started to come. The energy in the gym was different. It inspired my game more.”
Along with her sister, she would play AAU ball with CBA. Jojo and Jayda, a year ahead in school, would play together at Ansonia. Under head coach Vince DellaVolpe, Ansonia finished 17-6 in 2019 and 2020 before last winter’s COVID-shortened 6-6 season.
“It was a good feeling to have your sister on the court with you,” Jojo said. “At times we bumped heads.”
Jayda plays as a freshman for Albertus Magnus. Jojo is in the process of figuring out where she’ll play next year.
“I definitely want to play in college,” she said.
Ramadanovic played basketball at Bunnell. She married Jojo’s mom, Patricia Crisante, three years ago. They have been together for more than seven.
Knowing Natalie had a basketball background, Patricia asked her to watch Jojo try out for Team Connecticut in the sixth grade. She began coaching Jojo at Ansonia-Derby travel. AAU followed, and now high school.
“I’ve never coached basketball without Jojo on my team,” Natalie said. “Seven years, she has known me since Day 1 coaching.” What’s it like?
“Best thing ever,” Natalie said. “It can be hard to coach your child because you take everything home with you. Every practice, every game, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s fantastic.
“I’m sure other parents who coach their children know it’s difficult to separate. Sometimes I find myself more of a parent on the bench. More of cheering, jumping off my seat and talking stuff I probably shouldn’t talk when she makes a good shot. It’s a fine line. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of it. I know it’s probably harder for her than me. I think we found a good balance.”
In the gym, Natalie is the coach. At home, she’s not the coach. That’s where the balance is found. On the ride home from games or from practice, they talk basketball. If it’s a good game, they’ll usually watch the video while eating dinner.
Asked if she finds herself sometimes telling her stepmom that she doesn’t want to talk hoops, Jojo answers no.
“Even after a bad game, she’s pretty good,” Natalie said breaking into a laugh at what was coming next. “(Jayda), not so much sometimes.”
Moms and dads everywhere can relate.
Cancer ambushed Natalie Ramadanovic in August. She didn’t feel sick. She hadn’t felt anything wrong.
“I literally woke up one day and felt I had an issue,” she said. “Four days later I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Stage 3.”
Stage 3 breast cancer means the cancer has spread beyond the tumor but hasn’t spread to nearby organs. According to medical text, the relative fiveyear survival rate is 86 percent.
Natalie immediately began chemotherapy. She is being treated at Bridgeport Hospital, part of the Yale New Haven Health System. There are six rounds. Since the drugs are strong, each round is three weeks apart. Surgery is scheduled for February, to be followed by radiation.
“Cancer scared the crap out of me,” she said. “I lost my mother to cancer. She was 59. It’s just scary because after you’re done with all this you have that fiveyear waiting period. Scans every three months, hoping it hasn’t come back or gone anywhere else.”
Otherwise healthy at 41, her prognosis is good. Her mental and emotional state is strong. She is a fighter.
“I have a great family, a 3-year-old grandson who keeps me going,” Ramadanovic said. “I have a great village. I have my players, my friends, my family; the town has been behind me.”
The volleyball team honored her. The cheerleaders. Her basketball players wear pink laces in their sneakers. There is pink in their warmups.
“Otherwise, they still bust on me like they normally would, which is exactly what I want,” Ramadanovic said.
There was a head-shaving party among family and friends a few months back. Although Jojo was there, she didn’t take part. This is an emotional time for the kids.
In the weeks following, the players came over for a hat party and arrived with a gift basket that included the cap Ramadanovic wore on Friday.
“We all stand behind her,” Jojo said.
Ramadanovic, who continues to work from home for State Farm Insurance, says there are more good days than bad. The toughest ones are the 10-12 days following chemo. She’ll feel better and then it’s time for another round. Round five starts in the coming week, and chemo will end in January.
“They tell you to maintain as much of your life normally as you can,” Ramadanovic said. “It helps. It helps take your mind off things. When I’m in the gym, I’m not thinking about it. I don’t want to just be the girl who has cancer.”
There is joy to be found with 3-year-old MJ. He’s the son of Jayda’s and Jojo’s older sister, Gianna.
“He’s the little man of the house, the only man of the house,” Natalie said. “He is Jojo’s buddy. She’s more of a sister to him than an aunt. He just loves to watch Jojo and Jayda play.”
The other night during halftime at Seymour, MJ jumped on the court and started dribbling around the ball.
“I’ve learned that there are so many things that are not important that I used to focus on and don’t focus on anymore,” Natalie said. “My family is most important.
“Jojo and my relationship has obviously changed through the years as she got older. After I got sick, our relationship definitely got better. Not that it is a pity thing, but it brought us closer. And that makes me happy.”
What has Josephine Sanchez learned?
“I’ve learned to have her back,” Jojo said. “If she needs something, I’m there for her.”
The COVID-curtailed schedule cut into Sanchez’s career totals. Entering this year, she needed 303 points to reach 1,000 and has added 31 in a 1-1 start.
“I want to be there when Jojo hits her 1,000 mark,” Ramadanovic said. “I’m confident she will. I definitely don’t want to miss that. I already told my surgeon it’s basketball season.”
Surgery will be planned around Ansonia’s schedule. Cancer will have to wait.