Breathe Easy Play Hard's Foundation's Dr. Janis Schaeffer recently caught up with the Women's National Basketball Association's (WNBA) Ashley Battle to talk about how the pro player wins with asthma in the New York Liberty locker room prior to a game. At the top of her game and getting better all the time, the engaging Battle speaks up by setting an example for young people with asthma that nothing can stop them from reaching their goal of being the best they can be. |
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Now 26 years old, forward Ashley Battle, one of the WNBA's best all-around defensive players, was living in Pittsburgh and just six years old when she was first diagnosed with asthma.
At the top of her game and getting better all the time, the engaging Battle speaks up by setting an example for young people with asthma that nothing can stop them from reaching their goal of being the best they can be.
Young Ashley wasn't playing sports when she first went to the doctor. It's just that, when she exerted herself through running, she felt chest tightness and shortness of breath. Battle was told don't worry, she'd outgrow it all.
For a period of time, her symptoms were pretty much limited to exercise-induced asthma. While she liked to play softball for fun, her first love was definitely basketball. Initially treated with a daily maintenance medication as a still very young athlete, she was instructed to use an inhaler before playing sports.
The strategy seemed to do the trick for a while. Battle actually felt that she performed well and had no breathing problems --- so she stopped taking her medicine altogether.
Battle's love and passion for basketball throughout high school and her desire to play professionally led to a full athletic scholarship at the University of Connecticut, where she played on three National Collegiate Association of America (NCAA) championship teams.
During her first year at UCONN, she began to once again experience breathing difficulties after just five to ten minutes of intense workout on the court. Ashley also felt very tired, much more tired than her teammates seemed to feel, after her workouts. Discovering a "below level breathing test" during an evaluation by a physician, she realized her struggle to win with asthma had re-surfaced.
This time around, Battle really took the threat--and ramifications to her health--to heart. "Asthma became a condition that, if I allowed it to, could prevent me from reaching my dream of playing pro basketball. There was no way I was going to let that happen."
"Now I take my prescribed inhaler consistently 15-20 minutes before a game," says Battle. "If I know we're in for a long or particularly strenuous practice session, I'm ready for it as well."
"It really does the trick," she adds. "And, what's great is that there have never been any side effects."
On the rare occasions when Battle has forgotten her inhaler, she can quickly tell the difference. "It's like night and day. My whole body is working on overdrive after running for five minutes."
It's estimated that one out of four elite competitive athletes have asthma so it should come as no surprise that Battle has Liberty teammates and friends on other WNBA teams with the chronic condition.
"Got to go now," she says excitedly, "meeting my mom, who drives down from Pittsburgh for a lot of my games."
Battle's parting advice for young people with asthma based on her own life experience?
"If you treat your doctor, your parents and your coaches like they are your teammates -- and you follow your treatment plan -- you'll win with asthma in sports and in your life."
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