Full Court Courage: Davey's Fight, Faith, and Family

Full Court Courage

Davey’s Fight, Faith, and Family

James Collier

The Ashland Beacon

Fighter… that was the word displayed across the green shirt worn by Dave Anderson during a golf scramble at Riverbend Golf Course Saturday afternoon in support of his battle with cancer. But Anderson’s battle is not one he is fighting alone, as over 100 supporters joined together to raise money for his continued recovery from bile duct cancer.

“It’s one of those five percenters that you’ve never heard of,” Anderson explained. “It started in the bile duct system and the body kind of fought it and flushed it into the lymph nodes, and then they moved it between other lymph nodes. But the scan said every one of them had decreased more than 50%. It's one of those that we can get into remission and then just watch it the rest of my life and pray it never comes back.”

Anderson learned of his diagnosis earlier this year, but his will to beat the disease was all for two of the most important people in his life.

“I’ve got a two-year-old son and a wife at home,” Anderson said. “I want to watch Brady grow up and I want to be in the stands rooting him on and yelling at referees and umpires. That’s a huge motivation. Then sitting at home or sitting in a hospital bed watching the postseason going on knowing you were in Rupp Arena last year working the State Tournament and now, you are in a hospital bed 12 months later. That’s a drive to get healthy and get better and get back.”

But the army of supporters for Anderson’s recovery extends well beyond his natural family. He’s considered one of the top officials in the state and represents his region well with appearances in several state title games, and everyone wanted to pitch in any way they could.

“He got sick, and I went to see him in the hospital, and I came in the next day and I said, we have to do something for him,” Gavin Ramsey said. “Matt (Tussey) and his family own the golf course, so we had a connection there. Eight or ten of us got together and decided to just do a golf scramble. Everybody loves to play golf and this thing just took off. We had to turn people away. Obviously, you can only have so many people playing golf at one time.”

The event featured 22 teams consisting of fellow referees, coaches, players, and members of the community who just wanted to help the man simply known as Davey. The event raised $7,000 for Anderson and his family, but Ramsey said the event was about more than just the monetary gift.

“It’s not just about the money,” Ramsey said. “It's about Davey. He has a job and is still able to work and he’s doing good. But it's about the community coming together to help support him.”

Although the local support has been massive for Anderson, a phone call he received a few months back—thanks to a longtime friend and fellow referee—gave Anderson a new supporter who works on the biggest stage in college basketball.

“Mike Webster, who I started refereeing and umpiring with 20 years ago, told me to be looking for a phone call with a Virginia number and to make sure to answer the phone,” Anderson said. “It was Doug Sirmon, and I knew who that was from seeing him call UK games, and he just wanted to talk about me."

Anderson continued: “I was like, you’ve called Final Fours and National Title games, and you want to talk about my little career? He will be on the road headed to call his next Big 12 game and he calls and talks to me, and we pray together. He’s had a great journey with the Lord, and I’ve gotten a lot closer to God during this, too. I’ll forever be grateful.”

Sirmon was assigned to the 2025 NCAA National Championship game in San Antonio, but once he made a connection with Anderson, he never lost touch.

“Mike Webster lives in Lexington and is a fellow official that I’ve known for 20 years,” Sirmon said. “He called me and told me what Dave was going through and asked if I could reach out and send him a card. I told him to forget that noise and to give me his phone number. I reached out to him several months ago and we’ve talked about every week since.”

Saturday afternoon, however, was a first for the Virginia Beach native, as he decided to travel to Kentucky for an event other than a game at Rupp Arena.

“Today was the first time that I’ve actually met him in person, and what an ambassador for Christ and our profession as well,” Sirmon said. “It was wonderful. Just to see the smile on his face with all that he’s going through. It makes me become a stronger person, a stronger Christian, and a stronger official. Just to see his family and his little boy here and to see the smile on his face and know that is not fearful.”

Sirmon addressed the participants prior to the event and called Anderson a “heavyweight prize fighter even though he might only weigh 150 pounds soaking wet.”

Ashland Kittens’ former bench boss Bill Bradley joined the event as soon as he heard about the opportunity to help a well-respected man of his sport.

“There are all kinds of teams here,” Bradley said. “There’s a team from the FOP, we have a team, and of course, the referees and the coaches. Davey was one of those refs that you could talk to, and he would give you a little leeway. Great ref and a great person, and I jumped all over it when I had the chance to come here and play.”

Nathan Sutton, who worked alongside Anderson for many years, said his colleague and friend has had an impact on everyone he has been with.

“Davey isn’t just a basketball referee,” Sutton said. “Davey does basketball, baseball, football, volleyball. He’s done them all. He’s impacted so many student-athletes’ lives in the region. The thing is, if you’ve been to an athletic event, you have probably seen Davey or know Davey, and you’ve probably yelled at Davey. But he’s just an unbelievable guy. A great referee, but that’s number two or three down the list. He’s just an unbelievable guy. There are guys here from all walks of life who just want to support him, and that just speaks volumes to who he is.”

Maurio McKissick joined the Kentucky referee ranks from West Virginia several years ago and said he was blessed to have Anderson as a colleague on the court.

“I’d do anything for Davey,” McKissick said. “I love him to death. He’s been a good friend since I came over here to Kentucky and started refereeing with him. It’s been fun. Davey has the biggest heart of anybody. Everybody knows him, and they would do anything for the guy.”

Nearly every official from the area joined the event in support of their fellow umpire and referee, which reflected the bond that the brotherhood of officiating creates.

“People don’t understand, when you go on the court, sometimes the only people that you have rooting for you are those two guys on the court,” Sirmon joked. “It's a special fraternity, and to see the turnout in such a short amount of time to support Dave and his family—that just tells you what we are about.”

Anderson said he was blown away by the show of support during the event Saturday afternoon.

“You expect your referee buddies to call and check in, but to see all the outsiders that you could have a negative impact on [as a referee] and instead, it's all been positive. Those are very emotional—to have those people reach out.”

Anderson has had to endure wins and losses throughout his journey thus far, but he refuses to stop fighting.

“I took two rounds [of treatment] and I thought I was on my way,” he said. “I had said I thought I would be back by the end of baseball season. Sure enough, the side effects took over and I got sick and was put in the hospital. I lost a lot of weight and then it was a battle. I got out and went back to work and got back to eating well and started back at the gym, and I got great results from the first CAT scan. It was very emotional to see the results of that first CAT scan and to know that this stuff is working. I waited five months on it, and to know that we had a significant decrease in the lymph nodes—which is where the cancer is—so, by the time we get to August and football season, Lord willing, it has done even more, and we are on our way.”

Even though Anderson still has a long journey ahead toward remission, he is already looking at how he can give back to someone else in the future.

“I’m going to have a really good story to tell and I’m going to be a positive light for a lot of people when they see me back on the floor,” Anderson said with a smile. “I’ve done some middle school volleyball and people are just thrilled to see me there. I’m excited this week to get to do baseball and to see the look on people’s faces and then hopefully get back for football and basketball. Those are going to be good stories to tell, and if I can get back to the State Championships, that’s going to be an even better story to tell because I beat cancer and I got back to doing what I was doing before I got sick.”

Ramsey, who works as the local assigner for baseball, told Anderson to be ready for mixed reactions of joy in his return to the field—but not to expect any slack from the people on the other side of the fence.

“It’s killing him [not being out there], but he’s going to work two baseball games this week,” Ramsey said. “Everybody loves Davey, but I told him that if I put him out on a game this week and you blow a call, people are still going to yell at you.”