For Stevenson men’s lacrosse coach Paul Cantabene and Maryland Whipsnakes coach Jim Stagnitta, Callum Robinson was the most genuine, positive, loyal and caring person anyone could come across.
A former Mustangs lacrosse star, Robinson was one of three people recently found dead in Mexico’s Baja California. Robinson, 33, was on a surfing trip with his brother Jake and their friend Jack Carter Rhoad when the three went missing late last month. The three were shot in the head and dumped in a well after attempting to stop the theft of their vehicle’s tires, officials believe.
A native of Perth, Western Australia, Robinson played for Stevenson from 2013 to 2015. He graduated as one of the top defenseman to ever play for the Mustangs, picking up 238 ground balls, causing 123 turnovers and totaling 14 points during his three years in Owings Mills. Robinson also helped Stevenson win the Division III national championship in 2013.
But Cantabene explained that who Robinson was as a human being was far more impactful than his play on the field.
“Cal lived three lifetimes for all of us. He had a life that was unbelievable and he lived it to the utmost,” Cantabene said on Glenn Clark Radio May 8. “[When] he walks into a room, he’s a superhero. He walks in, everybody just sees him, they’re just in awe of him. But then he had this unbelievable gentle aura about him where people just gravitated to him and wanted to be near him. It was that huge smile he had and those huge arms, people just kind of loved him.
“Cal was just as good back to everybody that came to him because he was so positive. He wanted to meet people, he wanted to be part of their lives and he genuinely cared about everybody he met. I think that’s one of the really big things about him that made him so special is that he cared about everybody he met. If you were his friend, you were his friend for life. He was a loyal friend and helped them out and would do anything for them.”
Robinson was a three-time first-team all-conference selection and a three-time All-American. He saved his best for his final season at Stevenson in 2015, when he was the MAC Commonwealth Conference Defensive Player of the Year and the league’s Men’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year. That season, he set career highs in ground balls (91), caused turnovers (52) and points (7).
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds, Robinson had athleticism, size and toughness that made him a perfect fit for what Cantabene was trying to build at Stevenson. Robinson fit in seamlessly with fellow defensemen Parker Bratton and Kyle Holechek on the 2013 national title team.
“Cal was able to intimidate people and get after them with his speed, his size, his physicality,” Cantabene said. “That’s what made him a great player, just how hard he played all the time. I used to yell at officials all the time, ‘You can’t just throw flags on him because he’s big.’ That happened a lot of times. He runs through somebody, that person goes flying. Cal’s just bigger than they were and he’d get penalties for that.”
Robinson played professionally from 2015 to 2020, first with MLL’s Chesapeake Bayhawks, then with MLL’s Atlanta Blaze and lastly with the PLL’s Atlas. As such, he often crossed paths with Jim Stagnitta, the head coach of the PLL’s Whipsnakes since 2018. Robinson and Stagnitta had also faced one another in 2015 when Stevenson played Arcadia, at the time coached by Stagnitta.
Robinson was friends with Stagnitta’s son Matt and left a lasting impression.
“I guess what makes it tough is they’re both very similar. They love life. They’ll smile. They’ll talk to people. They’ll make people feel good,” Stagnitta said on GCR May 9. “My son was showing me texts that Callum would send him just about positivity and enjoying every day. I feel very fortunate because of the relationship he had with my son.
“… He always smiled. He always had a good word. He’s one of those guys that you look at him and go, ‘Does he ever have a bad day?’ To be around him, he lit up every room. I think that he left such an impact on so many people, which is what you hope. That’s your legacy. Unfortunately, it just ended too soon.”
Stagnitta recently saw Robinson when the coach was in California for the Sand Storm Lacrosse Festival. Stagnitta was staying with Robinson in a house in a heavy-traffic area.
“He’s standing out there early in the morning with a cup of coffee in basically his tighty-whities and no shirt on and his hair flowing and people are driving by. He’s smiling and waving,” Stagnitta said. “That was him — not a care in the world, but a smile and a wave to everyone. It was a tough one because I feel like he had such a great impact and relationship personally with my family. I know that was the case not just with my son Matt but really a lot of people.”
For more from Cantabene, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Stagnitta, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Mark Hergan