Drake Callender

Classroom

Drake Callender is majoring in legal studies and is considering attending law school and then perhaps pursuing a career in a law-related field following his playing days end. That could take a while, as the talented Golden Bear has a shot at having a good professional career. Becoming a lawyer isn’t necessarily his goal, as legal studies is a broad major that can be applied to many areas, though Callender believes that the major and going to law school will help him find a job in which he can help people.

In looking to discover his future career, he’s spoken to a member of California Prison Focus, which helps to stop human rights violations against individuals who’ve been incarcerated, to learn more about what that group does in case that area suits him.

Character

Another way that Callender has used his college experience to learn more about how to help people is by attending the APPLE Training Institute in Orlando, Fl., last January. He was one of 400 student-athletes from around the country who received specialized training in a certain area, and in his case it was learning about substance use in college athletics and how it compares to substance use by a student who’s not an athlete. He came away from the event with a better understanding of how peer-to-peer counseling compares to adult-to-student counseling when it comes to dealing with substance use.

When he was younger, he overcame a stutter by taking speech classes twice a week, and he has had to hone his communication skills even more as a goalkeeper for an NCAA Division I team.

Community

Callender has participated in College Sports Day, an event run in conjunction with Coaching Corps and Convoy of Hope, in which various Cal student-athletes engage with local underserved youth at Cal’s Memorial Stadium. There, he played soccer with kids who also interacted with football players, field hockey players and many other athletes from Cal teams to benefit from contact with sports that they might otherwise not have access to in their communities.

On his own and not as a member of a university-sponsored program, Callender has provided his old clothing and shoes to homeless and needy people around the campus in Berkeley and has done so particularly in the fall and winter as it gets colder. “Rather than bringing it to a thrift store, I’d rather just give it to someone who actually needs it,” he said.

Competition

Callender is currently (as of Sept. 5) in a U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team training camp in Chula Vista, Calif., as that team prepares for an upcoming game and, more importantly, prepares to take part in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

The 6-3 Callender is one of the better collegiate goalkeepers in the nation, having earned United Soccer Coaches NCAA All-Far West Regional First Team and Third Team honors and claimed All-Pac-12 First Team and Second Team honors as well. After a strong sophomore season in 2017, when he collected those two first-team accolades and posted six shutouts, Callender earned spots on the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and on the 2018 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team. In the 2019 season opener, he earned the 11th shutout of his college career in Cal’s 1-0 win over Omaha in Berkeley, with Callender saving a late penalty kick to preserve the victory.