The Right Path Selfless Mentors, Hard Work Help Sandberg Carve His Own Identity

This subject easily could have found its way to another section of the newspaper, the one where poor kids without fathers end up making bad news.

David Sandberg wouldn’t let that happen, just as he refused to let his story take on an air of tabloid gossip.

The nephew of Ryne Sandberg, the rich, famous uncle he has never really known, is all about good news. So good, in fact, the danger is in making Sandberg into something he has never asked to be.

All David Sandberg wanted to do was work hard, do his best and be known as David Sandberg.

Which is exactly what he has done. Now, the first question the North Central High School senior hears is no longer one about Ryne Sandberg, NC class of ‘77.

Through determination and dedication, David Sandberg has risen above a down cycle in NC athletics to become an All-Greater Spokane League football player, a state champion wrestler and the league champion in the shot put.

“I’m amazed,” he admitted. “I accomplished more than I expected.”

Less surprised are those who know him.

“You think we’re supposed to impact the kids,” wrestling coach Randy Cloke said. “As the coach, we’re supposed to be the one who makes a difference in the kids’ lives. David has impacted me in my life.”

Filling in for lost father

There are numerous David Sandberg stories, but one that defines his character more than his accomplishments stands out.

The occasion was the North Central wrestling banquet, when seniors have to give a speech - of thanks, of funny stories, of wisdom. Cloke calls it closure.

Sandberg, who did not give up a point in four matches to become the state champion at the macho weight of 190 pounds, had every reason to bask in the spotlight.

“He thanks his mother, his grandparents, then he starts to break down,” Cloke said, the emotion of the moment returning. “He said, ‘Six years ago, the Lord took away my father. I didn’t know why he did that; it was really hard for me to understand why. Now I know he’s in a better place. The Good Lord helped me through this. By taking away my father, he had two other fathers to help raise me. I would like to thank those two people, Coach Cloke and Coach Beard.”’

Working toward success

“Every day, I thank God that I have a chance to work with young people,” said Ron Beard, an assistant NC wrestling coach. “I don’t know if I can take credit for it. I was a part of it, but it was really David. It is just a blessing that I had the opportunity to be part of it.”

When Sandberg arrived at NC he was just another kid trying to find his place. His brother, Michael, a senior, had become the man of the house when Lane Sandberg died in 1992. The family lived below the poverty level.

David Sandberg played freshman football, but he didn’t find his niche until the wrestling coaches out-talked the basketball coaches for his services in the fall.

“David wasn’t one of those kids you looked at right away and said ‘If he works hard, he’ll be a state champion,”’ Cloke said. “You could see that through his hard work, he could become a state champion.”

As a 178-pound freshman, Sandberg took his lumps.

“I remember when he wrestled a state champion from Mead,” Beard said. “The boy just kind of toyed with him through most of the match, but when it was time for the Mead wrestler to go ahead and pin him to get their six points, David wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

Sandberg developed goals from that experience and the first step in reaching them was to work out every morning at 5:30, usually riding to school with Beard or running.

“It’s not what you have,” Cloke said, “it’s what you do with what you have.”

Sandberg has continued that regimen year-round, although the family has moved from near Audubon Park to near Rogers High School.

“I’ve always got to be busy,” he said. “I can’t just stay seated, I have to be moving. I just do it. It’s not hard.”

That’s one reason he switched from baseball to track after his freshman year. Fear of following in the footsteps of his uncle, who recently finished an apparent Hall of Fame baseball career with the Chicago Cubs, didn’t factor into the decision.

“It was just too much standing around,” Sandberg said. “It was just too boring.”

Loose family ties

For a long time, the sport didn’t matter as much as the name.

One year at the state wrestling tournament, Sandberg left the mat after a win and met a reporter, who promptly asked about his uncle.

“I wish they could see me as David Sandberg and not as Ryne’s nephew,” he told Cloke.

The truth is Ryne Sandberg graduated from NC before David was born and has pretty much severed his ties with Spokane. David’s links to Ryne’s career were the same as everyone else’s - newspapers and television.

That did not stop the curious from asking.

“People question me,” he said. “I just tell them our family isn’t as close as people probably think. Then they ask if I’ve met him. Yeah, I’ve met him. He’s pretty cool. Nothing to put him down, he’s a good uncle and all, we’re just really not that close as a family. I don’t think we have been and I don’t think we ever will be because of the miles between each other.”

David’s mother, Sheryl, said, “They’re not (close) and that’s a shame.”

Cloke said, “(Ryne) is missing out.”

Rapport with kids

At a school with more horses, Sandberg might have been a star running back or linebacker and his future might have been played out on a football field instead of with the North Idaho College wrestling program.

Sandberg has never gone to major sports camps, instead working at Camp Lutherhaven, where he progressed from a counselor-in-training to advanced counselor.

“I had a blast,” he said. “I like to be around kids, so I thought that would be fun… . It wore you out. I think that wore me out more than three sports a year.”

That’s the Sandberg few know.

Ask Beard, whose adolescent children encourage each other to eat so they can grow up like David. Or ask Cloke, who looked up to see his 3-year-old in the arms of the district wrestling champion atop of the awards stand.

Leading by example

Beard thinks of two things when the subject is Sandberg.

“We talk in our program about being a star and shining bright,” he said. “Not for recognition but for leadership… . I feel David is a true Northern Light, he is a bright star that shines to help guide other people.”

Beard also said Sandberg accepts the role that comes with athletic success.

“He knows young people look up to him and he’s trying to be an appropriate hero for those kids,” Beard added. “I think it comes from home. He has a very caring, very loving mother. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to know his dad, but I’m sure part of that comes from his dad as well.”

And Michael.

”(Michael) had to grow up faster than I had to because of my dad,” David said. “He took a lot of pressure off of me. I can see that he lives through my success; he can see he’s part of my success. … When other people had their dad to go out and play catch. I didn’t. Mike was there … to do all the father things with me.”

“It wasn’t hard at all,” said Michael. “He’s my brother. I like to do that stuff with him.”

Future looks brighter

North Central’s lack of team success bothers Sandberg, who lives to compete.

“The rush, it’s like a natural high,” he said of competition. “With sports you don’t have to go out and do drugs to get high, you just go out and compete.”

Sandberg, who will receive his diploma next month, hopes the future is brighter for the Indians.

“I think a big part of that is nobody wants to get involved,” he said. “Everybody wants to sit around and complain… . I think what caused everybody not to want to turn out is they’re used to losing. Nobody knows what it’s like to win around here. It’s going to be tough, but I think in years to come, North Central is going to climb up and be on top again.”

Sandberg, admittedly an average student, would rather be remembered as a competitor than a champion.

“If you really want something and you push hard to go after it, anything can happen,” he said. “Even if you didn’t reach the goal, if you don’t feel you have succeeded, you have.”

“Here’s a kid with all the excuses to go the other way, to be in trouble,” Cloke said. “Here’s a kid in financially dire straits. Here’s a kid without a father, who lost him at a very, very trying time in life … and he choose not to go the other way but to be an exceptional citizen. He’s a great kid.

“Not that there aren’t other great kids out there, there are a ton of them, but to get to work with one like David, I’m blessed.”

SANDBERG SCORECARD Wrestling: State champion at 190. Football: All-GSL offensive lineman. Track and field: District shot-put champion.