July 21, 2014 (Jackson) -Belhaven University and Vice President for Athletics Scott Little are pleased to announce the promotion of Steve Calder as the next head coach for the Women's Basketballprogram. Calder becomes the eighth coach of the Blazers since the program was introduced to intercollegiate basketball in 1972.
"Sometimes the best person for the job isn't far away at all, and this is the case in hiring Steve Calder as our next Head Women's Basketball Coach," said Little. "Steve has been instrumental in our program growth and success over the last four seasons, and is well respected in many areas from recruiting to player development to game preparation. We are excited to have Steve, Leah and their family continue their leadership in our program, and now in the role of Head Coach."
Calder, a native of Atlanta, GA., enters his fifth year as a member of the Belhaven Women's Basketball staff and served the last four seasons as the assistant women's basketball coach for the Blazers under Rusty Cram and Billy Evans."I'm excited for the opportunity and I am looking forward to continuing along the path of what Coach Cram and I started two years ago," said Calder. "I would like to thank Scott Little and Dr. Parrott for the opportunity and I am excited to get our young ladies back on campus and get ready for the new season."
Since Calder joined the Blazers coaching staff in in 2010-11, the Women's Basketball program has gone 78-49, including a Southern States Athletic Conference Championship season in 2011-12 and a SSAC West Division Championship in 2010-11. During his time with the Green and Gold, Calder has helped mentor Blazers to six All-America awards and 14 SSAC All-Conference honorees, including two SSAC Player of the Year award winners and a Freshman/Newcomer of the Year.
Calder joined the Belhaven women's basketball program after spending the 2009-10 season as the Assistant Women's Basketball coach with Emory University in Atlanta Ga. While at Emory, he was responsible for implementing new offenses, post player development, along with local and national recruiting. Other duties included strength and conditioning, academic progress, scouting and game plan preparation.
Prior to joining Emory, Calder was an assistant coach with the boys' basketball team at Centennial High school, were he spent three seasons. During this tenure, the program reached its first three twenty-five win seasons as well as its first trip to the state playoffs.
Before coaching the boy's, Steve played a vital role in the development of the girls' basketball program. As an assistant with the girl's program, he once again saw success by helping bring the program its first three twenty win seasons. While serving as an assistant, Centennial had a combined record of 139-53.
Calder earned his Bachelor's degree from Troy University in Business Administration and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Sports Administration. Steve and his wife Leah, a native to the Jackson area, have three children Collins Isabella, Palmer and Foster.