By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com 

          The conspiracy worked.

          Jaime Kaplan thought she was going to spend some time Thursday morning at Stratford celebrating the retiring of the “jersey” of former Eagle tennis standout Link Leskosky (McNure).

          Then she was veered to her home away from home, tennis courts. She knew something was up when she was an alum from a rival.

          “When I saw Chris Wilson,” she said of the FPD grad and longtime family friend who played football at Georgia Southern and coaches track with the Vikings, “I knew something was up. Because he’s from FPD. I knew he wasn’t here to see Link. That’s when I knew something was up.”

          It was.

          About 100 friends, family, former players and coaches, and current coaches, and parents sat in wait to celebrate Kaplan and her 500th win as a high school tennis coach.

          Life, as it does, threw her a surprise.

          It took place on a sun-friendly lunchtime in front of the building amid the tennis complex that bears her name.

          Martina Navratilova and John Smoltz were among those on hand, albeit by video, to offer their congratulations and good wishes, as was long time friend and charity cohort Russell Henley. Former players Jenny Belle Butler, Liza Klyachkin, Samuel and Mark Barrow, and USTA Southern head Matt Olson.

          “If there’s a word in the dictionary for ‘pass it forward’ or ‘pay it forward,’” Navratilova said, “your picture should be next to it.”

          Stratford athletics director Barry Veal presented her a ball under glass from the win over Westfield.

          “As I’ve gotten to know Jaime the last two years, she’s in a very, very small group, in my book, of athletes of her quality that probably have done more off the court than they did on the court. You’re ina very, very small minority.”

          The video included scores of pictures, from Kaplan’s early days to all sorts of teams and former players.

          But the event was much more than a celebration of a wins milestone. It gave those close to Kaplan and chance to get close to Kaplan, and “close” is a relative term.

          For the third time since 2010 – from extramedullary myeloid leukemia and a bone marrow transplant to amyloidosis - Kaplan is a battling a health issue, her most substantial and powerful opponent yet.

          A regular scan connected to amyloidosis treatment in Dec. of 2023 showed a mass on her pancreas. The next test was positive for malignant cells, and adenocarcinoma.

          The next PET scan indicated the disease hadn’t spread, and she had a port installed for chemotherapy, which started just before Christmas.

          The four-part cocktail, so to speak, has different side effects, and it slowed down somebody who doesn’t much slow down. After a somewhat sluggish week, Kaplan returns to a normal week, which includes walking and the bike.

          There was a step back a few days later after the first session that led to a trip to the emergency room, but she rebounded back to her new normal quickly, going eight miles on an exercise bike a few days later.

          The next few sessions were routine and fairly uneventful, although there were assorted little expected hiccups and issues, but nothing serious.

          But she had experienced bouts of pain which suddenly increased drastically, and she had a celia block for pain. It was slower than expected to have the proper impact.

          Along the way, eating and drinking was an exercise in suspense, and Kaplan lost weight.

          Her fourth chemo session was on Feb. 9, to be followed six days later by another visit to Emory for more scans of her pancreas to determine what progress had been made and what was next in the plan.

          The tumor shrank, but less than expected. Then elevated liver enzymes led to cancelling her fourth chemo session, set for Feb. 16, chemo to be replaced by another review three days later.

          She was able to attend – it was a game-time decision – the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony on Feb. 24, a day after chemo.

          But her immune system from the previous years forced her into major preventative measures when indoors and in public, not allowing a hugger to hug or be hugged. And on a day made for hug after hug, she couldn’t.

          “That’s so hard,” she said. “I love to hug people, and that’s like the hardest thing.”

          Kaplan had updated friends on Facebook and the Caringbridge website, but suddenly there was a gap.

          For a reason.

          The tumor on her pancreas proved stubborn, and surgery was no longer an option.

          “The goal is to shrink the tumor as much as possible through these means. Then pray for a miracle - a new treatment to be discovered - a clinical trial.”

          What followed no doubt sent all those on Team Jaime into a daze.

          “The surgeon said he has seen patients in my situation live up to two years. Shocking words to hear, yet I would sign up for two years right now if that was something I could do. And who knows what breakthroughs could happen in that time - or a miracle - we all know miracles happen every day.”

          In short: inoperable pancreatic cancer.

          All this time, Kaplan continued to make as many Stratford tennis matches as possible. She had turned over the program to Sandy Burgess, with continued assistance from Ramsey Earnhart, Randy Stephens, and team mom Sherri Douthit.

          Thursday, she went home after the ceremony to rest only to return a few hours later for Stratford’s match against Mount de Sales.

          After all, she’s still Coach Jaime to players.

          She couldn’t roam around the complex as much as normal, nor, again, hug or get close to people. COVID-19 was stressful for Kaplan, who wore a mask long after the pandemic had, in so many words, settled down, but still wears one on occasion.

          She wore an N-95 mask at the Hall of Fame banquet, the day after chemo. Kaplan has to be proactive in how much she can engage with people, and how hard she can push.

          “I think that last week, I listened to my body for the first time ever,” she said. “I wasn’t feeling that great, but we had a match. It was out at River North, we were playing Tattnall.”

          Kaplan took a short nap, and got up to prepare, but her legs weren’t necessarily cooperating.

          “I was walking to put on my shoes and I got about three feet away from my shoes,” she said. “And I turned around and I got back in bed.

          “I could have pushed myself, but I knew that I shouldn’t. The part I’ve got to be careful of is that mentality of when you play sports, and especially professional sports, you push through.”

          After years of pushing through injuries and fatigue, Kaplan has to acquiesce, so as not to sabotage treatment and progress.

          The chemo schedule will continue, with eventually another visit in mid April to see what level the tumor is at. Radiation – a five-day-a-week regimen - is likely to follow.

          Kaplan started work in 2022 with the Southern Tennis Foundation, to go with coaching Stratford and organizing the yearly Kevin Brown/Russell Henley/Five Star charity golf tournament and weekend. She’s been credited with raising $13 million over the years.

          But she has to slow down. And after being a light to others, others are being a light to her, with messages and calls and posts and texts.    

          “The kids are inspiring,” she said. “They don’t know what they do. Then I get beautiful messages from parents.”

          During a one on one of nearly 25 minutes after the ceremony, Kaplan got slightly emotional only a few times, one certainly when discussing one of the day’s conspirators, Link Leskosky.

          Several minutes after Leskosky and her mom Fran shared a few stories, Kaplan got to talking about her former player.

          “She was talking about being a little girl … and how she’d go hit against a backboard at Idle Hour and say, “I’m going to be Jaime Kaplan, I’m going to be Jaime Kaplan,’” the guest of honor said. “That’s what she wanted to be. … She even remembered the first time she ever met me.”

          Which was years after Leskosky saw herself as another Kaplan, and before she would be old enough to actually play for Kaplan at Stratford.

          “I’m like, ‘wow,’” Kaplan said. “It’s like, that wasn’t the point.”

          The ceremony included some proclamations, including Macon-Bibb mayor Lester Miller proclaiming it Jaime Kaplan Day in Macon-Bibb, emotional speeches from Earnhart and Stephens as well as her brother Mike.

          Those closest to Kaplan sat at her table, including her 95-year-old mother Letty. And tissues got an occasional workout throughout the crowd.

          Kaplan talked to the crowd for a little more than 11 minutes after the presentations.

          “I was pretty proud of myself for being able to talk,” she said. “I didn't think that I'd be able to get through that. I mean, the whole the whole thing's been emotional. The beautiful things that people say, it’s just amazing.”

          Once it was over, departure after departure was accompanied by a “love you” to Kaplan, who reciprocated.

          She’s been asked why she doesn’t quit work and travel, change her pace, for however much time she has left.

          Fat chance. While she’s not at her normal speed or activity, Kaplan is still motoring along at a respectable miles per hour, in the city she loves and around people she loves and who love her.

          “I wanna keep doing what I do,” she said. “Helping people is what makes me tick. I don’t think I’d be happy if I just …

          “I know I’ve lived a very blessed life, so I just want to keep doing what I’ve been doing as long as I’m here.”