“Baseball and softball are just games,” declares Brendan Colley. “We can’t let them come before our relationship with God.”

Pursuing God in sport while performing at the highest level has always been the motivation of Brendan and his sister, Caitlin. Now attending Cedarville University—a Christian post-secondary institution in Ohio—on baseball and softball scholarships, respectively, the sibling infielders and senior band members from Toronto’s Yorkminster Citadel look to take the next steps in their athletic and spiritual journey.

SPORT AND SPIRIT

Brendan, 21, recently completed his first semester at the school. Caitlin, 17, started this month following her high-school graduation. While she started attending the school later than her brother, it was Caitlin who discovered Cedarville first.

After finding out about Cedarville through an organization that helps match student athletes with appropriate schools, she connected with Cedarville’s softball coach.

“I was invited to a camp in September 2022,” she says. “Afterward, the coach asked me about my faith and how God has played a role in my life.” She immediately saw Cedarville’s integration of sport and spirit.

That relationship was strengthened as the coach made the trek to Tennessee that November to see Caitlin play in person with her team.

Next, Caitlin and her parents journeyed to Cedarville for a visit in March 2023.

“We saw the chapel, how invested Cedarville was in God and how everything was centred around that,” recalls Caitlin. “When we watched one of the games, afterward, the Cedarville players had a prayer circle with the other team. I thought that was amazing because I’d always wanted to spread the Word of God through softball.”

The coach informed them that the softball program wanted to recruit her, and she would receive a scholarship. Caitlin committed immediately.

Not only that but she and her parents realized that “it was the perfect place for Brendan.”

JOURNEY TO CEDARVILLE

When she returned home, Caitlin told her brother he had to check out the school. Brendan, however, was hesitant.

Graduating in 2020, Brendan spent a year studying at York University in Toronto before enrolling in the music education program at the University of Toronto. During this time, he joined the Toronto Mets, an organization in the Canadian Premier Baseball League, before being recruited for the university baseball team.

“It was a great opportunity, academically and for baseball,” he recalls. Still, Brendan admitted, his dream was to play in the United States. However, despite receiving offers, they didn’t work or feel right.

“I HOPE THAT THROUGH MY ACTIONS AND HOW I PLAY, SOMEONE WILL PICK UP A BIBLE AND GET TO KNOW GOD AND LET HIM INTO THEIR HEART.”—BRENDAN COLLEY

During this time, Brendan started to lose hope in his dream and accepted that he would stay at the University of Toronto, play baseball and become a music teacher.

So, when Caitlin enthusiastically told him about Cedarville, he was initially unsure.

“I didn’t really want to look into it,” he says. “There had been so many offers that hadn’t worked; I didn’t want to get my hopes up.”

But Brendan did decide to email the coach. And even though it was late in the semester, the coach offered him a chance. It was then Brendan’s turn to travel to Cedarville in May 2023.

“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure if I still wanted to do this,” he says. “Then I heard God say you’ve got to. Two months later, I was at Cedarville.”

FINDING PEACE

The “curveball” change of course for Brendan and Caitlin’s new “home run” opportunity has cemented baseball and softball’s purpose in each of their lives and reinforced their determination to glorify God through it.

However, both infielders acknowledge that upholding their Christian values may be easier in the Cedarville setting with its focus on God through things such as prayer circles, and they know they must strive to live out their faith beyond those walls.

“I hope that through my actions and how I play, someone will pick up a Bible and get to know God and let him into their heart,” Brendan says.

Caitlin knows it is important to “see opponents as more than just people who play a sport but as human beings, and to be there to care for and listen to them.”

When asked to consider what fulfilment looks like for them, Brendan sums things up simply while Caitlin nods in agreement.

“Finding peace. We can only find peace when we have genuine love for Jesus. We can try to find peace or happiness in the world, but that’s just temporary.”

IMPORTANT GOAL

The Yorkminster Citadel senior band members have cultivated and maintained a strong spiritual life and remained involved with their corps.

Self-awareness and prayer have helped Brendan and Caitlin ensure that baseball and softball—though things they are passionate about—do not become idols. This includes efforts to keep Sunday holy and stick to banding obligations, and keep the Sabbath in their own life even when busy schedules make this difficult.

For them, commitment to Cedarville University is not only a significant step in sport but further evidence of their commitment to God, something that is more important than any ball game, achievement or accolade.

To this, Caitlin provides basic but profound insight that all Christians must remember, no matter if they are athletes or something entirely different.

“Our goal isn’t to fit in in the world. Our goal is to go to heaven and be with God.”

Photos: Courtesy of the Colley family

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