The Magic and Legacy of the Robinson Brothers

While the play on the field was intense and including a one-goal victory for the Australia men’s team over Japan, something else stood out: bright gold nets.

The nets were used throughout the duration of the tournament on the Sunshine Coast. They were provided by the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation as part of an initiative to get more lacrosse goals in public parks.

“They remind us to think about how bright of a star Callum and Jake were, and how we want them to continue to be something well known,” said Josh Nelson, chairman of the board for the foundation. “When you’re driving by on a highway, you can see some of these golden goals sitting in the park, and you’ll think of Callum, or you’ll think of your favorite memory, and it’ll remind you to chase your dreams because Callum’s story — coming from Australia and ending up in Maryland, becoming a pro player — it’s truly unique and inspiring.”

While Robinson was a tenacious competitor, what he’s better remembered for among his peers is his fun-loving attitude and his ability to connect and cultivate relationships. The stories teammates and friends share about Robinson, as well as the efforts of the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation, ensure the memories and legacies of Robinson, his brother and their friend, Carter Rhoad, continue to carry on.

It’s an important objective for those in the lacrosse community because Robinson was part of so many of their core memories.

Jimmy Borell knew Robinson through Adam Sear, his teammate at Maryland and Robinson’s mentor and friend. Borell and Robinson developed their own friendship over the years, especially when the Australian moved to California. When Borell was hired as the boys’ lacrosse coach at Loyola-Los Angeles, he added Robinson — as well as Kyle Hartzell and Chase Caruso — to his coaching staff to coach the junior varsity team.

Borell and Robinson spent a lot of time surfing in South Bay or Orange County. The last time Borell saw Robinson was about two weeks before Robinson’s surfing trip in Mexico with his brother and Rhoad. Robinson came for a visit, and the two enjoyed a margarita while relaxing in the hot tub, talking about work and lacrosse until about midnight. Robinson even invited Borell on the trip, but the host declined and warned him it wasn’t the safest area.

The next morning, Borell’s kids woke up at 6 A.M. and ran up the stairs to the guest room to play with “Uncle Cal.”

Even though Robinson had a late night and had a full day of work ahead, he humored the young boys.

“He was wrestling with them, playing on five hours of sleep like it was nothing,” Borell said. “That’s just who he was. It’s just a bigger than life personality.”

One of Nelson’s favorite memories of Robinson came when he and his girlfriend met Nelson and his wife, Emily, for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Pacific Beach. Robinson offered to get a bottle of wine for the table and asked everyone what they were drinking.

“I’m not drinking tonight,” Emily Nelson said.

“Why? Are you pregnant?” Robinson asked.

The question caught them off guard. All their friends knew they were trying, but nobody had actually asked them the question. Josh Nelson said his wife couldn’t be anything but honest with Robinson, and simply replied, “Yeah.”

“He runs in the middle of this tiny Italian mom and pop shop, and he’s celebrating and screaming, and he was so excited,” Josh Nelson said. “Callum was just this type of human who was so happy for your own success as if it was his own in a way, and it was truly beautiful.”

Family was important to him, and while he enjoyed being an extended part of so many of his friends’ families, he also loved his own, including his older brother Jake.

While Robinson’s lacrosse friends had never met his brother because he had yet to visit the United States, they felt like they knew him because of how much he was talked about.

“He’s like, ‘He’s not as yoked as me, but like, he’s a freaking doctor, better surfer, better athlete, better looking,’ and would go on like that,” Borell said. “He just revered his brother.”

On Friday, October 9, a Mexican judge found three men guilty of the murders of the Robinson brothers and Rhoad. A week later, the men were each sentenced to 158 years and nine months in jail.

While there was a resolution to the case, friends also couldn’t help but feel sad. They’d rather have had Callum Robinson back in their lives.

“It just sucks,” Borell said. “It’s heartbreaking. It’s just something you don’t get over.”

“I’m struggling with it because I’m probably still just a little in grief,” Scott Ratliff said. “I miss Cal.”

Robinson’s parents were in Mexico for the trial. After, they traveled to San Diego to visit with Nelson and his family. He said the hardest thing was watching them play with his kids.

“Those two deserve to be grandparents, and they deserve to live out what it means to have their boys and their families,” Nelson said.

While the loss of their children has devastated Martin and Deborah Robinson, they have found some light and hope in the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation.

“Josh, I just don’t want the boys’ names to ever die,” Martin Robinson told Nelson.

The foundation started with a focus on three things that encompassed who the brothers were and what they cared about. There was a beach cleanup program, a diabetes awareness program, and a slew of lacrosse initiatives.

Lacrosse the Globe is an attempt to get lacrosse in front of more people. The foundation will host Lacrosse Family Field Days that feature clinics taught by Premier Lacrosse League and Women’s Lacrosse League pros — including WLL Welles Crowther Humanitarian Award winner Ally Mastroianni — as well as a scrimmage between the national teams.

There will be two sessions in Australia in January, and Nelson hopes they can expand and travel to other countries in the future.

Additionally, Nelson said the foundation has put about 450 public access goals throughout Australia and the United States, including Hawaii, which held a special place in Robinson’s heart as a regular participant at the Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament, which starts this Friday.

Anthony Kelly first played in the Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament for Wimmer Solutions in 2008. The following year, Kelly blew out his Achilles, but CEO Matt Sauri asked him to help organize the team. From then on, Kelly adopted a general manager role.

Kelly teamed with Robinson in Major League Lacrosse with the Chesapeake Bayhawks as well as in Kelly’s last year in 2017 with the Atlanta Blaze. That was when he asked Robinson to join the Wimmer Lacrosse team.

“Just his whole approach,” Kelly said in regard to why he invited him. “He was a guy that always greeted you with a big smile and a big bear hug. It was just contagious. He just had a contagious way about him that just made everyone around him feel happy, you know?”

Romar Dennis was also recruited by Kelly. Dennis said the best part about the trip was that lacrosse was only a small part of the experience, and Robinson’s demeanor was the perfect addition for the experience.

“It’s just a group of guys drinking on the beach when you finish playing, hanging out and staying connected with guys for years and years and years,” Dennis said. “It was such a little fun escape, especially going to the pro game where it all became so competitive and it’s not always promised. They can take it from you whenever.

“No one quite embodied it as well as Callum. He was so fun. He was in his element there, and he was just a pillar of the Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament.”

Wimmer Solutions sends three teams to Hawaii, and Sauri puts up $10,000 to charity for each of his teams that wins the tournament championship.

In 2024, all three teams won, and all the money was donated to the Callum and Jake Robinson Foundation. Robinson’s parents made the trip that year and the following year.

“It’s been special to just have that interaction and be able to talk to his parents and see how happy they are that they get to experience what he was able to experience” said Kelly, who also helps the foundation and attends board meetings via Zoom when he can. “They see the amount of love in our group that everyone had for their son and just get to see how close our group is and have that understanding of why it was important to Callum.”

It isn’t just Callum Robinson they honor. Ratliff said the Wimmer Teams learned from Robinson that his brother loved to drink rosé and called it “diesel.” Several players will get together and enjoy a glass while toasting to Jake Robinson.

Lacrosse has several celebrated individuals that are recognized more for their character off the field than for their play on it. That list includes Crowther, Jimmy Regan, and Brendan Looney, among countless others.

They were special, unforgettable people. Robinson falls into the same category.

“In lacrosse, I feel like we have so many biases: where someone went to school, where they’re from. It’s a small community, and you’ve got guys who are harboring these rivalries for years after they finish college,” Dennis said. “Then, you meet someone who’s not from our country, and he just hits it off with anyone, whenever, and you’re kind of like, ‘Damn, I wish I was more like that. I’m going to try to be more like that.’”

“That’s probably something humanity could use more of right now,” Ratliff said. “The ability to be present with people and curious about people and open minded toward people and have a community that had all sorts of different belief systems and backgrounds and ages and to be somebody that could relate and integrate to all of that, that was a big part of his magic.”