Women's Basketball | 2/8/2016 9:05:00 PM
Press Conference Video | Team IMPACT ABILENE – Hannah Snyder, a seventh-grader from Albany Junior High School who is courageously battling cerebral palsy and epilepsy, officially joined the Abilene Christian women's basketball team during Monday's special Draft Day celebration initiated by
Team IMPACT at Moody Coliseum.
Snyder was joined in the festivities by her parents, Robert and Heather, and younger brother Trey. The entire women's basketball team led by head coach
Julie Goodenough also was in attendance in addition to many other Wildcat student-athletes, coaches and staff members.
"It's a privilege for our team to be matched with Hannah," said Goodenough whose team is off to a phenomenal 19-3 start. "Hannah was looking for some role models and we were looking for a little sister to love on so it's been a lot of fun for us to get to know her.
"She's a warrior who has fought more battles than anyone on our team can even imagine fighting. But every time we see her she smiles real big and she gives great hugs. She's really been an inspiration to us because she faces adversity with a smile and courage … an that's what we try and teach our players each day and now they get to see it lived out in a seventh-grader."
The Wildcats were introduced to 14-year-old Hannah through Team IMPACT, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses through the power of team. Team IMPACT children are drafted onto college athletic teams, local to where they live, and to the greatest extent possible, become a member of the team from Draft Day through to Graduation.
"Hannah's joining our team has been good for the program," said junior
Suzzy Dimba. "She's brought so much light and joy to us throughout the season and we always enjoy seeing and getting to know her better and her family."
Hannah suffered a brain clot before she was born that damaged the right hemisphere and caused a stroke. The damage to the brain also afflicted her with cerebral palsy, which is a permanent condition marked by impaired muscle coordination. She has had surgeries on her foot and hand plus several injections to release tightness, and this summer she received an electronic walk aid, which sends signals to the nerves in her leg.
Hannah also suffers from epilepsy, and despite undergoing brain surgery in 2011 to help with her seizures she still experiences them on occasion and they can cause memory loss. Two days after this surgery she endured a second stroke that impaired her vision.
Because of these and a variety of other ailments, Hannah's routine changes daily and every day can often be a puzzle as she tries to confront specific challenges. She visits nine doctors in addition to working weekly with counselors and physical therapists, but through it all Hannah and her family understands God has a special plan for her and she's determined to live the same kind of life girls her age are accustomed to.
Hannah likes to play tennis and swim, and enjoys many kinds of dance from ballet to tap and jazz. She also is involved with her local 4-H organization showing pigs, and she and her family lives with two cats and four dogs.
Hannah enjoys watching Melissa McCarthy movies, and her favorite singers include Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. Grey's Anatomy and NCIS are her favorite TV shows, and she enjoys cheering for the Texas Rangers. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is listed as her favorite athlete.
"This is definitely a God thing because Hannah is the uniquely perfect match for our team," said Goodenough. "She loves purple, and likes pizza and steak, and swimming and dancing, and Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift just like my players do. She feels like she's one of our own.
"This is a young woman after my own heart because she also shows pigs and hogs just like I did when I was a young girl. It was one of my favorite extra curricular activities."
The motto of ACU women's basketball is, 'Godly Women Striving for Excellence,' and this season the coaches and student-athletes have more than lived up to their already high expectations. Winning 19 of their first 22 games is only one way the Wildcats have experienced excellence. But the team additionally posted a 3.5 grade-point average during the fall of 2015, and had two players nominated for Academic All-America.
The Wildcats also have been admired campus ambassadors within their community whether they're donating part of their day at Disability Resources, Inc., pausing to help raise money for a teammate's cancer-stricken mother, or welcoming onto their roster an incredibly special 14-year-old girl who now finds herself in the company of some tremendous and hard-working role models.
"Hannah has a lot of anxieties," said Hannah's mother, Heather, "and Team IMPACT and the ACU girls have help her overcome a lot of that anxiety … This has been good for Hannah. She's come a long way since she first met the team. Before I don't think she would have sit up her, but she's formed some friendships with these girls who are amazing influences and we've enjoyed following their winning season. It's been wonderful."
Whether or not Hannah can attend the Wildcats' five remaining home basketball games, she will have her named added to the team's online roster and on the game day programs for the remainder of this season and the years to follow as an honorary member of the team.
Hannah will wear No. 42.
The Wildcats play their next home game Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. vs. Sam Houston State.
Established in 2011, Team IMPACT has already matched over 850 children with collegiate teams at over 300 institutions in 45 states, improving the quality of life of hundreds of courageous children and touching the lives of over 25,000 student athletes.
For more information go to
GoTeamImpact.org.
