Nicholson's drive to survive: A reflection of hard work

There is a place where time is no longer measured in seconds and minutes. No outside sound penetrates this world. And no matter how many people you can see, only one person is really there.

It is a world in which an athlete is alone, focused on goals and ignorant of pain. For every muscle that cramps or joint that aches, there is a desire to be the best that drives the athlete to keep going and do it all again the next day.

Flash forward many years into the future, and the athlete faces a new challenge.

Rather than straining to take a few more seconds off a mile run or bench press those last few reps, the battle is to control limbs that rebel against tasks as simple as walking and writing. Vision that was once sharp now blurs, even with the thickest glasses. Hearing worsens, bones weaken and memory fails. The struggle becomes not one of wins and losses, but one of quality of life and dignity.

Tina Nicholson has lived most of her life in the world of the young athlete. A star guard for both Downingtown High School and Penn State, Nicholson learned to push herself through the pain and exhaustion as she chased success at higher levels of competition.

"My four years here were good. In the beginning of the season it was pretty tough," Nicholson said. "I remember the first game (of this season), I thought about my first game in the (Bryce) Jordan Center and it brought tears to my eyes."

But in the athlete's world there is never enough. Each accomplishment opens new doors and new challenges. So instead of settling into retirement, Nicholson has found a new goal for herself: professional basketball.

Nicholson is still living in the young athlete's world, driving herself as she looks to the April tryouts for the Women's NBA for the opportunity to fulfill the dream of every kid who shoots hoops in the driveway.

But until then, Nicholson is getting the chance to spend time on the other side of the divide between the young and old, between future goals and memories of past greatness. Graduating with a degree in exercise and sports science in May, Nicholson is completing an internship at the Foxdale Village Retirement Community in State College.

Spending five days a week working with elderly patients in a variety of exercise programs, Nicholson uses the energy and enthusiasm she shows on the basketball court to encourage her patients to reach their own goals. For 92-year-old Ann Nygaard, spending as much time as possible out of her wheelchair with the help of a walker is just as important as Nicholson's goals of playing professional basketball.

"Our director said she hadn't seen me walk as far as I did this morning," Nygaard said. "(Nicholson) is fun and she's very competent. She has different exercises that are a little more strenuous, and that's good for us."

As Nicholson walks the halls of Anthony House, Foxdale's skilled care wing, she flashes her famous smile at every patient, whether or not they are able to respond. For every patient slowly slipping away there are those who count themselves among her biggest fans.

"I get questions about the team all the time," Nicholson said. "Every day I hear something about basketball. One man always says, 'I can remember when you did this and that.' It's amazing."

It takes a special balance of strength, patience and good humor to do Nicholson's work. She mentions the various patients who have been deteriorating before her eyes since she began her internship. Nygaard quietly talks about a patient who at first refused to hold Nicholson's hand because she is black. But the smile seldom leaves Nicholson's face. Her mother, Janet, said she is not surprised by her daughter's chosen field.

"She just likes giving to the older people," she said. "She had a very close relationship with her grandmother. Maybe this is her way of giving back."

In addition to giving back to older generations, Nicholson is spending much of her time giving back to the basketball program that launched her into the national spotlight. While her mornings are spent at Foxdale, Nicholson spends her afternoons practicing with the Lady Lions.

"Most kids, it usually takes them a few years to leave a program and turn around and say, 'Hey, that program really did something for me.' There was never a question mark on her part that she would come back and help us right away," Penn State coach Rene Portland said. "She does a terrific job of walking the fine line between being a player and a coach."

Playing both roles means that while Nicholson takes the court every afternoon to keep her skills sharp, she has the added responsibility of improving the play of those around her from her position on the bench during games.

"She always led by example," her mother Janet said. "She can show people what to do, but she can't always tell people."

So each day in practice Nicholson teaches the Lady Lions the best way she can -- she plays. She plays the kind of basketball that made her a three-time All-Big Ten selection and earned her consensus honorable mention All-American recognition.

"She just got finished playing last year, so I think she's been really helpful," freshman guard Helen Darling said. "I think she's right in the middle. She can be a friend off the court, but then she is a coach. I see her doing different things and that's another way I learn from her."

Darling has probably benefited most from having Nicholson on the coaching staff. It was up to Darling to take over for Nicholson at the point guard spot, a lot to ask of a freshman. For Darling, facing Nicholson every day in practice and taking advantage of her experience in the Big Ten has made the transition much easier.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself, trying to fill her shoes in one year, which I know I cannot do," Darling said. "She was up there in assists. That's something I would like to do. She's really smart. She knows basketball."

As successful as Nicholson has been making the transition to coaching, she is not ready to leave her place in the athlete's world for the clipboards and professional clothes of a coach. The WNBA is Nicholson's chance to do both -- the season will be in the summer, allowing Nicholson to remain a part of the coaching staff during the school year. It may seem like a lot to take on at once, but Janet Nicholson said it is typical of her daughter to set her goals high.

"She's real excited about trying out. There's a lot of things she wants to prove. They always use her size against her," she said. "She's just determined and she doesn't like to fail."

For the 5-foot-3 Nicholson, size, or a lack of it, is one of the main roadblocks to a career in professional basketball. No one doubts her talent for passing and running the point, but now Nicholson wants to prove she can shoot just as well. After the Lady Lions' season is over, Nicholson will work with Penn State assistant coach Annie Troyan on her shooting skills with her eye set on the WNBA.

"When I go to the tryouts, I will be peaking at the right time," Nicholson said. "I have to shoot the ball. They know I can pass already. I'm just more focused on playing."

For some people, taking on coaching, playing and pursuing a career outside sports at the same time would seem like a juggling act doomed to failure from the beginning. But Nicholson has her feet planted firmly as she moves from role to role.

She enters the athlete's world, where she has lived for so many years, and trains with the same passion and drive that have carried her this far. In the same day, she can pull herself out of the singularly-focused mindset of an athlete and open her eyes to the perspective of a coach.

"I can see things different now," Nicholson said. "Before Rene and Annie would say something to me, and I didn't always understand. But now I know what they're talking about."

It can be easy to get too attached to the athlete's world. But there comes a time when teams are no longer second families and trophies have collected dust. One of the dangers of the athlete's singular focus is a loss of perspective on life outside sport.

"You can only be in that sport for so long, nobody stays in a sport forever," Janet Nicholson said. "I think she got more balanced. Once she got to college, she just grew up. She's one that can adjust to change if she has to."

Nicholson has been able to take off the blinders of the athlete's world to see her future, on and off the basketball court. She has moved easily between the seemingly disparate worlds of a competitor, a teacher and a healer.

Although there are many different ways to quantify success -- points scored, games won, grades earned or steps taken with the help of a walker -- Nicholson is guided through all her endeavors by the single-minded pursuit of excellence that is the cornerstone of the athlete's world.