By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com

Dave Hirschy has faced a lot of opponents over the years as a basketball coach at Plymouth, Bucyrus, Wynford and Willard. Now many of those same coaches are coming together to battle on behalf of Hirschy and his wife Kathy.

Hirschy, a Willard graduate, had returned to his alma mater and coached the boys basketball program for five years. He stepped down from that post to be at Kathy’s side after she was diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The coaches – many from Crawford and surrounding counties – include Dane Kennedy, Joe Balogh, David Sheldon, Tim Birie Joe Bedingfield, Jeemy Bliss and Jason Robinson. They have coached with or against Hirschy, but have now come together for a benefit dinner and raffle.

“We were talking about everything Hirsch is going through,” said Kennedy. “We got all the other guys involved. It’s been meeting a lot of Sundays to get things organized.”

Hirschy left his dream job of coaching the Flashes in 2013 after his wife was diagnosed at the age of 46.

“Considering what she has, we’re making every day count. It definitely changes life,” Hirschy said. “All things considered, she’s doing pretty well.”

Hirschy mentioned that while most people are aware of the devastating aspect of memory loss, they often overlook the physical atrophy that comes with the condition. But he was even quicker to note how much the effort his friends in the coaching fraternity mean to him.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me personally,” Hirschy said. ”It really shows their character and what they’re made of.”

Hirschy said the public usually only knows of coaches what they see from them on game night. This, he said, is an indication of their generosity and friendship.

“It can never be repaid,” Hirschy said.

The dinner is at 4 p.m. Saturday evening at the Youth Building on the Crawford County Fairgrounds. Tickets are $50 and will be sold at the door. The dinners are pork chop and chicken and will be served at 5:30.

More than 50 items will be raffled off during the dinner and raffle tickets are $10.

All proceeds from Saturday’s dinner will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and the Dave Hirschy Family. Additional information is available online at www.august1st.org.