University of Minnesota Athletics
Celebrating Black History Month - Erin Martin
2/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
For a lot of student-athletes, the commitment of being one of the key members of a highly successful athletic program and pursuing their chosen academic studies would be enough to occupy their time. However, for Martin she always wanted to do a little bit more.
From the time that she was young, she always had a passion for volunteering and helping out in the community. Having been exposed to seeing other people do it at an early age, the feeling has come full circle for Martin, who has made it big part of her life since high school.
“When I was younger (in elementary school), some of the high school students would come in and volunteer to spend time with us,” said Martin. “I think I really respected that and looked up to those people when I was younger. When I got a chance to do it in high school, and later on when I got to college, it just made sense that I would want to be a person here to help be role model for younger kids.”
Throughout her time as a student-athlete, Martin was one of the more dependable student-athletes when it came to visiting Elementary schools, talking to younger kids and participating in other community service projects. This was something that was noticed by her coaches and staff throughout the University of Minnesota Athletic Department.
“Erin is a great role model for other kids to look up to,” said Assistant Director of Like Skills Anissa Lightner. “She interacts well with people from all sorts of different age groups, and is great with kids. Erin is a very caring person with a huge heart. She has always been heavily involved in FCA, and was and still is always willing to do Community Service as whenever she could.”
The opportunity to be a role model for younger kids is one that has never been lost on Martin. She feels that the high profile that athletes are given is something that should be used to help positively influence others. Martin has consistently tried to use that influence to help others.
“I thought the Community Service opportunities were a great chance for student-athletes to use their high profile to provide a positive example for younger kids,” said Martin. “You have all these younger kids that look up to you because you are an athlete, and is a great opportunity to show them all the positive things that are out there in life that they can pursue.”
Minnesota Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Mike Hebert noticed throughout Martin’s four-year career the affect that she had on all the people around her, especially the kids that she interacted with.
“Erin is definitely a magnet for all kinds of things,” said Hebert. “Her teammates followed her when she played here, and kids were always drawn to her personality and often gravitated towards her. Erin is passionate about everything in life, and enjoys expressing it to others. She is a remarkable person who I have a lot of respect for.”
When Martin arrived on campus in 2001 she joined Trisha Bratford, who had redshirted her freshman season in 2000, as a formidable duo of outside hitters. Both players were African-American, but did not really think about the impact they had while the careers were going on. Looking back on it, Martin does enjoy the effect that her and Bratford had on younger African-American kids who may have wanted to play volleyball or do anything else with their life.
“It was great to be able to play in a city where there is a population of young African American kids, and I enjoyed having some exposure so those kids so they could see some of options they have in life,” said Martin. “For me, being an African-American athlete I wanted to make sure people saw me in a positive light. I think both Tree (Trisha Bratford) and I wanted to make sure we were representing the Athletic Department in a positive light. She came from tough circumstances, and from halfway across the country to play in the program, and had a great career. I think the effect that we had was not only positive for younger African-American kids, but also on younger siblings in our family and younger people from our hometowns. It was a lot of fun to play with her throughout my career. I don’t think that we dwelled much on the fact that we were the two African-Americans on the team, however it was good to be able to set a positive example for young African-American kids in terms of seeing what they could do with their futures.”
One of the trademarks on the court throughout Martin’s career was her resiliency, and her ability to always believe the team could accomplish their goals. In 2002, Minnesota was picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll and Martin helped lead the program to their first Big Ten program. Heading into the 2003 season the team had lofty expectations, but were forced to alter those quickly as they had the worst start in school history at 0-4. Martin never wavered in her belief that Minnesota was a Final Four team, and the Golden Gophers reached that goal with a pair of amazing five-game victories in Long Beach over Pepperdine and Washington.
The next year, Minnesota lost Big Ten Player of the Year Cassie Busse to graduation, but Martin had 695 kills (the second-highest total in school history) to lead the Golden Gophers to the National Championship match.
“I have always been a very competitive person with a strong will to win,” said Martin. “I can definitely remember specific times when people doubted us. That just increased my will more to be successful and prove people wrong. I don’t like to be doubted and I did not want our team to be shortchanged in any way. In 2003 and 2004 we went to the Final Four. In 2003, no one thought we could do it because no one knew who we were. In 2004, people thinking we could do it because we lost Cassie. I always had confidence in the team and the way we played together. I could watch the other teams play and tell they did not love playing together as much as we did. I always had a lot of confidence in my teammates”
Hebert realized what a special leader he had in Martin, and what a rare quality it was to have a player who could push her teammates to a higher level with her will to win.
“One of the things that strikes me about me about Erin, is she never accepted anything but winning,” said Hebert. “It never occurred to her that we might not be in a position to win a match. She was that optimistic, that determined and that confident of a player. Those type of players have been rare to see throughout my career. When you find a player like that you need to get them and hold on, because it is infectious and she did a great job of playing that role here.”
Part of Martin’s belief in winning comes from a strong faith in her religion. Throughout her time with the program, and since she has graduated religion has played a big part in her life. She feels that played a big part in the team’s success and the ability to play for one another, and have great team chemistry while she was at Minnesota.
“I think that the bond we had through religion definitely played a huge role in our team dynamic and chemistry,” said Martin. “It was not necessarily that we were all involved in ministries or FCA. It was more the fact that we cared about the bigger picture more then our own selves. My relationship with Jesus helped me love my teammates more, and I always wanted what was best for them. Our ability and faith helped us as a team immensely. I think for the religious group of us on the team it helped us love our teammates more and allowed us top not be self-focused. This was a dynamic that I think everyone carried with them, but for me and several others it was our religious faith that allowed us to be this way.”
In fact, during Martin’s volleyball career she got a glimpse of what she would be doing for her career after athletics. In her junior year a Campus Ministry move to Minneapolis. Teammate Lisa Reinhart initially got her involved. There was a bond built between Martin and the Ministry that sparked interest in both parties have her come on and work full-time. Martin was offered the job as a fifth-year student and currently works full-time with the Campus Ministry.
With the passion she attacked volleyball, her studies, religious pursuits and Community Service with, Martin definitely is someone who took advantage of all the University of Minnesota had to offer her. Hebert agrees, and enjoys the fact that he can look back and know that she got everything and more that she wanted from her experience of coming to the University of Minnesota.
“Erin is a person who took complete advantage of everything there was to offer at the University of Minnesota,” said Hebert. “Not only did she get the most out of her career on the court, but academically, socially and through community involvement. She is really a high-energy person with a commitment to making people around her feel better about themselves.”
