Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2015

CALLAN’S LEGACY CONTINUES ... CedarvilleMen’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Estepp ’97 had moved away from basketball, but Don Callan gave him a chance to step back on the court. “I transferred to Cedarville from the University of Kentucky, largely due to Don Callan staying in touch with my dad and offering me a walk-on spot with the JV team,” he noted. Callan touched Estepp’s life again when he was deciding his major. “I was thinking about athletic training,” he recalled. “He said, ‘I always thought you would be a coach.’ God used that to lead me to coaching here.” Estepp’s third interaction with Callan came on a five-week missions trip to the Philippines. “I really got to see his heart for missions and people who need the Lord,” he said. “As head coach of a program that Don Callan essentially built, I try to live up to the standard he set,” Estepp added. “This program should represent Cedarville University and, more importantly, our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that what we do is making a lasting impact in the lives of our players and the people we cross paths with. “We have former players who are missionaries, pastors, coaches, engineers, and teachers. You hope as their former coach they learned something to impact their world for Christ.” “During my interview process, he wanted to make sure I was on the same page about using sports as ministry — that’s who Don Callan is,” commented Teresa (Cooper) Clark ’75, Cedarville’s volleyball coach from 1996–2005. Clark, anAssociate Professor of Kinesiology, is also Cedarville’s Title 9 Coordinator and the NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative. “I serve as a mentor to athletes and a mediator between athletes and faculty,” she explained. Clark had Callan as a professor, and he was the one responsible for hiring her as a coach. “He encouraged all of us as head coaches to be involved with teams through MIS,” she said. “He wanted us to do ministry not just here, but abroad. I ended up taking seven MIS trips with my volleyball teams. He influenced me to influence them to use sports to lead others to Christ.” Three of Clark’s former volleyball players are head coaches — one at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania and two at high schools. Last summer, Kelsey (Jones) Carter ’06 took some of her players from Cedar Cliff Local Schools on a trip to Costa Rica. “Coach changed my mindset that missions should be a goal for my coaching, and I’m so glad. And now the next generation is influencing their athletes to do the same, and that’s exciting,” Clark said. “The greatest thing that happened in my spiritual walk was the day I was hired at Cedarville,” noted Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kirk Martin ’76. “When the people who hire you convey nothing but confidence, it allows you to move forward believing in what you’re doing,” Martin said. “(Coach Callan’s wife) Nedra and he have been phenomenal encouragers.” Callan strongly urged Martin to take his teams overseas through the former MIS. “I’d never been on a missions trip inmy life,”Martin said. “Through his encouragement, I took my team on one every other year for eight years. “When I was hired here, the godly leadership was amazing,” he added. “It wasn’t about basketball but using basketball for Christ.” Among those influenced by Martin, who are now influencing others, are Cedarville assistant coaches Kari (Flunker) Hoffman ’05 and Stacie Travis ’07. “I have former players coaching middle school, high school, and at the collegiate level,” Martin said. “I have one playing professional basketball in Australia, Brittany Smart ’07. Raegan Ryan ’15 went on an Athletes in Action basketball trip to Israel this summer.” “This is what Don would have hoped for us and what I hope my legacy will be,” Martin noted. PATRICK ESTEPP ’97 TERESA CLARK ’75 KIRK MARTIN ’76 10 | Cedarville Magazine