Why he fights: Aldrich's battle with cancer begins with unforgettable City View comeback
The City View Lady Mustangs manifested a Hollywood ending Friday, but to a story that nobody wanted to be told.
It was Thursday evening when the news began to spread.
Heath Aldrich had cancer.
The 39-year-old City View athletic director, head football coach and head girls basketball coach was hospitalized and waiting for a bed to become available at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where the disease is more prominently treated.
The news was a gut punch for many, including Aldrich’s girls basketball team.
“I was really upset,” senior Emarei Brandon said. “I’ve been with him for six years. He’s the only coach we’ve ever had in high school. I couldn’t believe it.”
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The diagnosis
Just two days earlier, Aldrich was sitting on the bench, coaching the Lady Mustangs to a 47-28 victory against Bowie, setting the table for a huge showdown with Holliday on Friday. A win would pull the Lady Mustangs even atop the District 7-3A standings.
But something wasn’t right on that Tuesday night.
The fact Aldrich was sitting on the bench was one indicator. Typically, he’s pacing the sidelines, working the referees and shouting directions to his players.
He didn’t have the energy to do that.
Not to mention, he woke up Tuesday morning to find his skin had turned yellow.
Over the next 48 hours, Aldrich went through several tests that revealed a mass on his pancreas.
Cancer.
The mere mention of the word sends shockwaves, not just through the patient, but everyone associated with that person.
And it didn’t take long for a reaction.
Instant support
Within minutes of the news being announced on social media, family friends jumped into action.
A Go Fund Me page was started by family friend Leslee Ponder, and the donations started pouring in. As of this writing, $33,834 had been raised for Aldrich, his wife, Mikel, and their two children, including 8-year-old daughter Blayke and 6-year-old son Harlyn.
The City View basketball teams visited Holliday on Friday. During the girls and boys games, buckets were passed around for donations.
More than $3,000 were given with the Holliday Booster Club pledging to match that donation.
That show of generosity has inspired other local schools to hold their own donation nights for Aldrich. Henrietta, Rider, WFHS and several other area schools have scheduled similar charitable nights for Aldrich in the near future.
Multiple T-shirts have been created with the funds from purchases going directly to the family.
The outpouring of support has humbled Aldrich.
“First I want to thank the community for all the prayers,” Aldrich said through text message. “The outpouring of support is something I could never have imagined or even begin to describe. It’s something only God could do.
“The love from friends, coaches, current players and ex-players has been overwhelming and means so much to me. For those that continue to pray, please pray for my mom as she starts a new chemotherapy, Lexsey McLemore and Jacob Johnson at Millsap. Jehova Rapha.”
Why he fights
Aldrich is at the beginning of his own battle. And from the start, has deflected and asked for prayers for his mother, McLemore and Johnson, who all have their own fight with cancer.
“It’s because he’s just a genuinely great guy,” said Holliday softball coach and longtime friend Billy Arbogast, who like Aldrich, was a member of City View’s first graduating class in 2003.
This is why representing City View is such a big deal to Aldrich. He loves his alma mater.
Aldrich was the quarterbacks coach at Wichita Falls High with a chance to climb the ranks there under head coach Grant Freeman, when he decided he wanted to return to City View as the head girls basketball coach and offensive coordinator in 2020.
Three years later, Aldrich was chosen as the school’s athletic coordinator and head football coach.
“This is my home,” Aldrich said in June 2023 after accepting the position. “This school and community and the people have been good to me since I was a kid. I appreciate the opportunity and everything this community has given to me, and I want to pay it all back to the kids going here now.”
He’s proven those words weren’t just lip service. Aldrich has confirmed that quote with his actions.
And it started almost immediately when he made the unique decision to remain the head coach of the girls basketball program, too.
“He didn’t have to keep being their coach,” City View assistant principal and assistant girls basketball coach Carl Pennington said. “It is hard being an athletic director, head football coach and head girls basketball coach. But he wanted it for these seniors as much as anything because he had them since eighth grade. He wanted to ride out with them.”
That fact isn’t lost on seniors Brandon, Amani McKinney and Kyra Taylor.
“It just shows how much he really loves us just like he always told us,” Taylor said. “He told us from day one that he was always going to be there for us. He’s told us that since junior high, since we were playing travel ball.
“And after he got that head football job and he still decided to stay with us, it just showed how much he really wants to be here for all of us.”
Playing for Coach A
Expectations were high for the Lady Mustangs this season. Many believed they could overtake defending state champion Holliday and win District 7-3A.
That goal hit a speed bump when they opened district with a loss to Jacksboro. Yet, the Lady Mustangs had won four straight games and sat just a game back of Holliday in second place entering Friday.
City View’s chances of pulling even with the Lady Eagles in the district standings didn’t look good when it trailed 44-35 after three quarters. The Lady Mustangs had been horrendous at the free-throw line and struggled to get stops on defense.
No one would have blamed them for losing this game. Holliday has a great team, and the Lady Mustangs clearly have their coach at the forefront of their minds.
But then that lead started to dwindle.
The Lady Mustangs got within 46-44 with 4:30 left in the game. Freshman Nia Jefferson gave City View its first lead, 50-48, when she knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:15 remaining.
They were still in front with less than a minute left, and the emotions were already overtaking some Lady Mustangs.
“They were already losing it. Some of them were starting to cry,” said Pennington, who stepped in as interim head coach in Aldrich’s absence. “I had to tell them ‘I need you for another minute. Don’t lose it, yet.’”
The Lady Mustangs never relinquished that lead, building on it for a 54-49 victory.
And the emotions of the past 24 hours washed over them as the City View faithful began chanting, “Aldrich! Aldrich! Aldrich!”
“Our driving focus was to win for Aldrich,” McKinney said through tears. “It was overwhelming, you know? It was a tough battle, but we won for him. We fought for him.”
The team had a FaceTime call with Aldrich after the game. He hadn’t watched it, although Arbogast offered to set him up with Holliday’s Hudl feed, but he kept up with score updates online.
“They’re a resilient and athletic group that can get on a big run at any time to change a game,” Aldrich said through text message. “I’m so proud of them and the way they have attacked this week. I’m so thankful for Coach Pennington, coach (Jaimie) Hickey and coach (Josh) Thetford for the job they have done.”
The fight ahead
Aldrich was transferred to UT Southwestern on Sunday to begin treatment.
According to Facebook posts by his wife, Mikel, he’s been in good spirits. Even Friday night, while the Lady Mustangs were playing, she reported listening to him singing in the shower.
There’s no doubt the fight ahead will be a tough one, but Aldrich would want to deflect the attention away from himself again.
Pray for his mother, Gayla, starting her own bout with cancer.
Pray for Windthorst junior Lexsey McLemore, who went into remission in November after battling leukemia.
Pray for Millsap head football coach Jacob Johnson, who started his own battle with leukemia last summer.
In that spirit, let’s not stop there. Cancer has hit Wichita Falls area coaches hard in the past two years.
Pray for WFHS grad and Hirschi coach Rahsaan Bell, who is fighting colorectal cancer for the second time.
Pray for the family of late Burkburnett coach Brad Boyd, whose own battle with cancer ended last month.
And pray for those who have chosen to keep their battle with this awful disease away from the public eye.
As for the Lady Mustangs, they will dedicate their season to their coach, hoping he joins them on the sidelines soon.
But they should know, win or lose, he is proud to be their coach. He chose to be their coach.
And while they’re battling on the court for him, he’s fighting a vicious opponent for them.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: City View coach Heath Aldrich begins his fight with pancreatic cancer
