Hard Times

There are nights when Michael Schnyder hardly sleeps. They are followed by tiring days filled with worry. Always the worries.

Schnyder doesn’t like his pager to go off, because it could be news he doesn’t want to hear, news he could barely handle.

So he takes refuge on the basketball court, playing for Glendale College, to escape the hardships of his life and to fulfill someone’s wishes.

“It’s been very difficult on him,” Coach Brian Beauchemin said.

Schnyder is taking care of his ill mother while mourning the death of his father.

It’s more than a 20-year-old should have to endure, but Schnyder doesn’t complain.

“She took care of me when I was a kid, so I’m taking care of her now,” Schnyder said. “It’s all about love.”

Schnyder’s 59-year-old mother, Annie Slaughter, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three years ago. The disease attacked her nervous system ferociously, crippling her legs and speech. She uses a wheelchair, but is otherwise bedridden.

A nurse looks after Slaughter when Schnyder is not home, and one of his five older brothers also helps. The others moved from the family’s South Central L.A. home long ago. With no other relatives in the area, his mother’s care falls heavily on Schnyder.

Things were much easier for Schnyder until April, when he went to the backyard one day to talk to his father.

“He was working under a car,” Schnyder said. “He wasn’t moving.”

Schnyder tried to get a response, but it was no use. Leo Schnyder, who had looked after his ailing wife, was dead at 62 from a heart attack.

“It was pretty shocking,” Schnyder said.

Schnyder picked up the pieces over the summer and returned for his sophomore year at Glendale. He drives to school or, when the car won’t cooperate, takes a bus. The days can be long, especially when there’s a game and he had a restless night.

“She’ll be calling me over all night sometimes,” Schnyder said of his mother.

Somehow, Schnyder can play basketball--and well.

A 6-foot-1 point guard from Fremont High, he leads the Vaqueros with a 17.6 scoring average and ranks second in the Western State Conference in assists with a 5.7 average. He’s even more productive in Southern Division games, averaging 20.1 points, second-best in the division.

He scored a career-best 32 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists in Glendale’s 77-52 victory over Canyons on Jan. 27 and was selected WSC Southern Division player of the week after scoring 21 points to help the Vaqueros defeat Bakersfield, 71-57, last Saturday.

With Schnyder providing the spark, the Vaqueros (18-9, 6-3 in conference play) are chasing a playoff berth entering a key division game at first-place Valley (19-10, 8-1) today at 5:30 p.m.

Because of Schnyder’s circumstances, Beauchemin has allowed him to leave practices early or miss them completely, not exactly a prescription for team discipline. But if Beauchemin has learned anything in 22 years of coaching, it’s to deal with the predicaments of junior college players.

“Despite all those problems at home, he hasn’t missed any games,” Beauchemin said. “He got beeped one time during a game because there was an emergency at home, but he got beeped back and things were OK.

“There’s going to be different situations with a team and you have to make adjustments to your rules.”

Schnyder makes adjustments all the time, but one thing he never considered was quitting school because of his personal struggles.

“I’m finishing up for my dad,” Schnyder said. “Ever since I was 9, he put me in little traveling teams. When I play, I think about him.”

And hoping the pager doesn’t go off.