Fund Helps Love for Comstock Live On
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
August 21, 2018
COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP — Several years ago, Josh Whitfield and his sister, Mandy Hanson, were sitting around a bonfire just chatting when they touched on a subject that fired up the normally easy-going Comstock High School graduate.
Whitfield had started helping coach the girls soccer team and realized that to be involved in sports, Comstock athletes had to “pay to play.”
“It takes a lot to get him riled up, to get him angry or upset,” Hanson said. “He was talking about, ‘Can you believe it? You have to pay to play sports at Comstock.’
“I was like, that’s crazy. He was getting so upset talking about it. Some of these girls paid to play but then couldn’t afford the right equipment.”
Whitfield, a 2000 grad and four-year multi-sport athlete at Comstock, said he wished he had enough money to help out.
That opportunity would come out of the saddest of circumstances. But as his loved ones continue to heal from Whitfield’s untimely death in 2015, they’ve created an opportunity for his memory to impact the Comstock athletic community for years to come.
That May, while playing golf with friends, including Hanson’s husband Mike, Whitfield said he did not feel well and left the group on the second hole.
“Of course, the guys razzed him about it because it wasn’t like Josh to leave in the middle of a round of golf,” his sister said.
When Whitfield’s mother, Becky, called him at home later, he told her he was having trouble breathing. He called 9-1-1 and his dad, Vic, drove to his son’s house just as the EMTs arrived.
Whitfield did not survive, dying from a double lung collapse. He was just 33 years old.
Two of his buddies, Eric Stewart and Chad Howard, wanted to do something to keep Whitfield’s memory alive.
“We were all struggling a lot,” Stewart said. “Josh had an extremely tight-knit group of friends. It was really hard for a lot of us. We were talking about ways to spin positive out of grief.
“We were like, ‘What can we do to honor his memory, to keep his name alive?’
We thought it would mean something to his family. We knew it would mean something to Comstock, because Comstock is in a tough place right now.”
The buddies had the idea for a fundraiser to help a few Comstock athletes pay to play. They were hoping to raise at least $1,500 through an alumni soccer game.
They were stunned to raise $5,000.
‘Spinning positive out of grief’
Over three years, the group – which has gone from the two friends to a committee of 14 – has raised more than $52,000 and so far donated more than $27,000 of it to various athletic causes in Comstock.
“It started with Eric and Chad, who asked how they could help and wanted to set up an alumni soccer game to help offset the pay-to-play fees,” Comstock athletic director Justin Ansel said. “Initially, I wasn’t sure how big this would be or how sustainable this would be.
“Unfortunately, this entire thing was started by a tragedy. It’s a testament how, at Josh’s young age, how people rallied around him for this. It’s just special how the community comes together to remember Josh. We are thankful for what this organization does for our student-athletes.”
The fund has supplied about $5,000 for pay-to-play scholarships, helping more than 350 middle and high school athletes with activity fees and physical exam fees. But those have not been the group’s only focus.
“For example, someone might say I can’t pay the $75 for Rocket Football,” Stewart said. “We will approve that and send the check in to Rocket Football.
“We also do grants to teams and organizations focused on Comstock. We did Eastwood Little League through a $5,000 grant last year. We’re really excited to sponsor the First Day Shoe Fund. We bought all the kids in Comstock shoes. We know that a healthy lifestyle, teamwork, all are bred through athletics.”
This year, the group will have extra money available.
“As it happens, Comstock has a new superintendent this year in Jeff Thoenes,” Ansel said. “One of his first actions as superintendent was to remove our activity fee barrier so we no longer have this fee for the start of the 2018-19 school year.
“They still plan to fund things like athlete equipment, needs like shoes or shin guards along with a variety of other things.”
Without the pay-to-play expenditures, Stewart said, “Our goal now is to really push toward those youth athletic programs: AYSO, Little League, youth football, youth golf camps, soccer camps. We’re creating feeders to the high school that otherwise don’t really exist at Comstock.”
With Comstock’s entry a few years ago into the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference, teams travel more than 40 miles to many games. At first, the school transported athletes to the games, but parents took them home.
“Now the fund pays to bring kids home,” Stewart said. “Parents in poverty can’t drive that far to pick up their kids. That’s not OK, and we wanted to fix that.”
Continuing to grow
Once the original fund hit $5,000, Stewart and Howard did not want the sole responsibility of doling out the money.
“We said we need to vet this through a group of people,” Stewart said.
So they formed the non-profit Josh Whitfield Memorial Athletic Fund.
The board of directors is made up of Josh’s friends and family, and funds are distributed through the Comstock Community Center.
The committee sponsors three fundraisers each year: a golf outing, an alumni soccer game and a holiday party in December. It also accepts donations through its website (www.jwmaf.org).
The golf outing in June includes about “a quarter of the field with Whitfields,” Stewart said. “It’s always bittersweet when we get together for that reason, but I think it’s a good avenue to go through some of those things. Oftentimes it’s like a support group.”
The soccer tournament is set for Sept. 21 at the school.
“It started out as an alumni soccer game, and then we had people who weren’t alumni that wanted to play,” Hanson said. “We said of course.
“It’s just getting out there and having fun. Last year, the oldest was mid-40s and the youngest just graduated.”
Said Stewart: “We usually get about 50 who sign up. It’s a hoot. It’s a good time. Everybody’s getting older, but it’s fun to relive the glory days.”
The holiday party last December was held at Kalamazoo’s Tibbs Brewing Company, which donated a portion of the sales to the fund.
Hanson and brother Matt Whitfield are members of the committee, which meets once a month to review applications.
“A couple committee members work in Comstock schools, so they see what’s going on and they see a need,” Hanson said. “The committee generally takes a vote. If the applicant meets what we’ve set forth in the guidelines, then we do grant them the money.”
Applicants also can apply through the website, but must be connected to Comstock athletics.
All committee members are volunteers, with 100 percent of any money raised going into the fund.
Besides Stewart, Howard, Hanson and Matt Whitfield, board members are
Sara Howard, Alyssa Stewart, Rolly Taylor, Travis and Marie Law, Tyler and Shannon Howard, Loreen Hospodar, Katy Seward and Mason Everett.
“It is amazing,” Hanson said. “It’s truly an honor. I think to myself, my gosh, Josh would be so humbled to know that this is happening because of him.
“I think secretly he’s laughin’ and lovin’ it up there.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Josh Whitfield in 2015, shortly before his death. (Top middle) Friend Eric Stewart, left, and Comstock athletic director Justin Ansel. (Middle) From top, Josh Whitfield playing wiffle ball, Josh and brother Matt Whitfield, and Josh and Stewart. (Below) Mandy Hanson, right, with daughter Madi. (Hanson photo by Pam Shebest; other photos submitted by Eric Stewart or Mandy Hanson.)
Frankfort Hoops Staff Bolstered by Past Stars Giving Back in Banktson, Kreski
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
July 18, 2023
Veteran Frankfort girls basketball coach Tim Reznich will have a couple of true superstars on his bench this winter.
They don’t have MHSAA eligibility remaining, but they should really help the Panthers. They’ve used up their college eligibility as well.
They are Lindsey (Pettit) Banktson, a 2008 graduate of Portland High School and all-state forward, and Presley (Hudson) Kreski, a 2014 product of Wayland High School and all-state guard. And, they are now serving as assistant coaches for Frankfort.
Banktson has been on Reznich’s bench 10 years, and Kreski is headed for her first at Frankfort. Kreski has been on women’s basketball coaching staffs at Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University since her playing days.
“I have always felt very fortunate in my situation at Frankfort,” Reznich said. “I have felt like we have always been able to provide our players with the resources and opportunities to excel at basketball, if that is what they wanted to do.
“When Lindsey came those resources increased, and now adding Presley to the mix just brings everything over the top,” he continued. “Our players are already starting to realize it.”
Kreski, who will be teaching health and physical education at Frankfort, and Banktson, now a physician assistant with Crystal Lake Clinic, are excited to work together and with Reznich this winter as he begins his 22nd season at the helm of the Panthers.
“I’ve loved coaching with Rez the past 10 seasons and am just as excited for season number 11,” said Banktson, who went on to play basketball and softball at Ferris State University. “Every year, the night before our first day of practice, is always like Christmas Eve for me.
“I can’t sleep and I can’t wait for my alarm to go off to head to the gym to start our 2-a-days,” she continued. “I am so grateful to coach with Rez and learn from him.”
Kreske too is eager to work with Rez after getting involved with the Panthers in summer ball.
After Wayland, Kreski went on to an illustrious playing career Central Michigan where she won the NCAA 3-point contest in 2019. She also played with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA before playing professionally overseas in Poland.
“I am really excited to be at Frankfort and helping the team out,” Kreski said. “The girls work really hard and want to get better.
“Tim is a great coach, and I am looking forward to working with him and sharing my knowledge of the game as well as learning from him.”
Frankfort is coming off a District championship in 2022 and a District title loss to eventual Division 4 champion Glen Lake in 2023.
Reznich says the Panthers have already noted keys to success just by being around Kreski and Banktson. Reznich, who guided Frankfort to back-to-back Class D championships in 2005 and 2006, admits he may have softened up a bit on his players over the years. Conditioning will be a top priority this year.
“They (Kreski and Banktson) have the first-hand experience of the benefits of pushing yourself hard and not cutting corners,” Reznich said. “Our players will be in the best shape of their lives when those two are finished with them.”
And Banktson is happy to pass on her high school experience to the Panthers. She graduated in 2008 as the Lansing State Journal’s “Female Prep Athlete of the Year” after shining in three sports and leading Portland to the season’s final weekend in two.
“As a player, high school athletics taught me a lot about hard work and dedication,” she said. “High school sports taught me that you have to put in the extra work if you want to be great.
“You have to be in the gym getting extra shots outside of practice, you have to be at the field getting extra reps on the weekends,” she continued. “If you work hard and give everything you’ve got to develop your game, you will be successful.”
Kreski recalls fondly her high school days working hard and having fun with her friends and teammates, along with making deep runs in the tournament.
“High school sports is the truest form of competition,” Kreski said. “It starts with a community who supports everyone from a young age and involves all the friends and family you grew up with.
“High school sports help guide young people into leaders, teaching them how to work hard and be disciplined.”
Kreski led CMU to Sweet 16 her junior year. She is the all-time leading scorer at CMU (2,309) and career assist leader (643). Central won the Mid-American Conference three times during her days with the Chippewas. She married Gage Kreski after that chapter of her career was done.
Banktson met her husband Max Banktson at Ferris State, where he played football. They moved to Frankfort, where Max was born and raised. They have a 3-year-old son named Briggs and a 6-month old daughter named Landyn.
Both Reznich and Banktson express respect and appreciation for their coaching together. They’ve been on the same page with game plans and scouting reports, and they expect it will continued with Kreski aboard.
“Rez and I really work well together,” Banktson said. “He has always respected me as a player and coach and has given me so much autonomy with our teams.
“He is always open to my input when it comes to running certain drills in practice, putting in new offenses, or adding defensive schemes,” she continued. “He trusts me to handle our subbing during games.”
Reznich agrees.
“I have always appreciated Lindsey’s perspective on what the girls are doing on the court,” he said. “It is going to be a lot of fun and exciting to add Presley’s ideas.
“We have always treated the regular season as practice for the tournament, making adjustments and tweaking things,” he continued. “I can’t wait to see the end product this year.”
Banktson was a three-sport, four-year varsity player at Portland earning a combined 12 varsity letters in basketball, softball and volleyball. She helped the Raiders win league, District and Regional titles. Her teams reached MHSAA Semifinals for softball twice and basketball once.
It doesn’t take much to get her back in game mode.
“I can still remember the feeling of adrenaline getting ready in the locker room with my teammates, running out to our warm up music, and battling on the court each game,” she said. “I am thankful for my teammates who, when on the court, were so unselfish. We just wanted to win.”
She hopes to continue to instill greatness in the Panthers.
“I always tell the girls, ‘We were tough’ — not just physically but mentally,” she said. “We had a type of swagger – we played like we knew the bullseyes were on our back, and every game we had to fight to stay at the top.
“We took pride in wearing that Portland Raider jersey,” she continued. “I just want to instill that same mental toughness and swagger into my girls here at Frankfort.”
Having a pair of women who played now coaching and serving as mentors is beneficial on a personal level as well.
“I feel like I can relate to players on a personal level,” Banktson said. “I always try to be a good role model for them and someone they can come to with anything.
“I’m their biggest cheerleader but also not afraid to hold them accountable and help steer them down the right paths of life.”
And Banktson has learned how she might have coached herself.
“I would push myself to continue to work on my right hand, because everyone in the gym knows I’m a lefty,” she said with a smile.
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PHOTOS (Top) Lindsey Banktson plays at Portland in 2008 and stands for a celebratory photo with Frankfort’s District champion last season. Presley Kreski plays for Wayland in 2014 and more recently served on Central Michigan's coaching staff. (Middle) Kreski directs the offense during her time at CMU. (Below) The Banktson family: From left, Landyn, Max, Lindsey and Briggs. (Photos of Banktson courtesy of Lindsey Banktson. CMU photo courtesy of CMU sports information. Wayland photo courtesy of Joel Bissell, MLive.com)