THE LEAH WHITTAKER MEMORIAL CLASSIC
Leah Whittaker was a freshman for Indiana Wesleyan during the 2010-11 season. Her entire life changed on December 7, 2010 when
she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. Leah passed away less than a year later on August 16, 2011 after a courageous eight
month battle with the disease.
Leah leaned on the verse found in Deuteronomy 31:6 during her battle. The verse says: “So be strong and courageous! Do not be
afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon
you.”
Although Leah’s time at Indiana Wesleyan was short she has left a lasting
legacy of strength and courage.
“The testimony that Leah left on the team is that we watched her go
through all this with an immense amount of courage and she never lost
her faith in God,” said Indiana Wesleyan women’s basketball head coach
Steve Brooks following the passing of Leah. “It was her prayer that through
it all, whether she was healed here on Earth or up in Heaven, that her life
would be a testimony to those who she came into contact with. She was
successful in doing that.”
“I am committed, in the aspect of our program, that Leah’s testimony of
courage, strength, and faith is a part of who we are every day,” continued
Brooks.
One piece of her testimony that Leah was very connected to was athletic
missions. Since Leah felt a calling in her own life for missions through
sports, proceeds raised from the classic will be for future Indiana Wesleyan
women’s basketball mission trips.
The Wildcats have recently traveled to mission trips in Ireland in 2008
and Alaska in 2010. The women’s basketball team was also a part of the
Indiana Wesleyan athletic department 2013 Auckland Sports Ministry
Blitz in Auckland, New Zealand.
The dictionary defines legacy as something handed down from an ancestor
or predecessor…
It is now going on five years since Leah was wearing the Lady Wildcat uniform.
What she has handed down to our program goes way beyond the basketball
court. When I think of Leah I can’t help but think of Philippians 2:3-7 which
states “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count
others more significant than yourself. Let each of you look not only to his
own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
That was Leah and that is the reason that Heaven was consistently rejoicing
when Leah was walking among us. She was always sharing Christ’s love with
others and loving others to Christ with a love so real and powerful that the
impact changed lives.
Chuck Swindoll in a Bible study on creating a legacy to God’s faithfulness
shares how in the book Joshua 4:1-3 the Israelites learned the object lesson
of how to create a legacy. This object lesson (stacking 12 stones) caused
Swindoll to think of three words: create, remember, and impart. These same
three words encapsulate the legacy that Leah has left for generations of Lady
Wildcats to come.
Leah invested in her teammates. She took time to create relationships that
went beyond basketball which ultimately led her roommate to the Lord. Paige
is now carrying on this legacy as a teacher and a coach.
Leah never forgot God’s love even in the middle of her suffering. She was
constantly reminding each of us to not lose hope or faith in Christ. She never
wanted us to forget what God has done for us in sacrificing His only son for our sin.
The third and final word that Swindoll used in this study was impart. He shared that God cares that our children remember Him.
Leah was truly concerned that the next generation would experience God’s love in a real and tangible way. Leah loved the idea of
Sports Missions and embraced our trip to Alaska her
freshman year. The kids we ministered to loved Leah and
Leah loved them.
The challenge for us five year later… is what kind of legacy
are we leaving? As Swindoll stated, if a pictures is worth a
thousand words a lasting legacy is worth a million. Leah’s
legacy is worth more than one can imagine. Our program will
always play for #30.
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