The Rahman Family - Cobbers To The Core

Article reprinted courtesy of MIAC and writer Rich Mies - special to the MIAC

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A quick peruse of the Concordia College baseball roster reveals a pair of brothers wearing the Cobber uniform. Senior Braden Rahman anchors the hot corner for Concordia while his brother Cody Rahman sees action at first base and on the mound. However, their last name is instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Cobber athletics, as the Rahman family ties run deep on the Moorhead, Minn., campus.

"It's a lot of fun, having Braden as a teammate," Cody said. "He's always been my role model in sports, but there's always been a healthy dose of competition between us. The chance to play with him was part of my decision to come to Concordia."

Though it's exceptional the two are college teammates, it is not the only thing distinctive about the Rahman brothers. They are part of a relationship with Concordia that stretches back three generations. They are part of a "legacy family," following the footsteps of their parents, grandparents and numerous uncles and aunts through the classrooms of Concordia.

Like most colleges, each of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's 13 member schools have "legacy families" that have attended the school for three, four and even five generations. Braden and Cody are the first of the current generation of their extended family, a family filled with Cobbers for more than a half-century. Their parents met while studying at Concordia. Their mother's parents both attended Concordia, as did three of her siblings, in addition to the boys' maternal grandmother's brother and sister.

However, the Rahman ties run even deeper. Their mother, Jessica Rahman, starred for the Cobber women's basketball team in her playing days, and is now Concordia's head women's basketball coach.
 
Despite their legacy, both Braden and Cody said there was no family pressure to continue the tradition. "It was totally up to me," Braden said. "There never was any pressure from anyone. I looked at the [University of Minnesota], and was discussing maybe being a walk-on with the baseball program there. I looked at several junior colleges in Arizona and had interest in St. Olaf. Being a Cobber was always in the back of my mind."

Cody's experience was similar. "Deep down, I always knew I'd be a Cobber," he said. "Nothing was official until during my senior year baseball season, but I never really looked at any other school. I honestly never really considered anywhere else."

Last season wasn't the first time Braden and Cody brought their family ties to a baseball dugout. The two were teammates for Braden's senior year in high school before rekindling that relationship again last spring at Concordia. "It's special," Braden said. "Any time an older sibling can play with a younger brother, it is special. Anyone else who has been in this position knows the feeling. It's hard to put into words. Even though [Cody] is bigger than me, he's still my little brother and it is great being his teammate."

Both were exceptional multi-sport athletes at Moorhead High School. Braden was a three-year letterman in football, playing safety and wide receiver. He shone in hockey, earning team MVP honors as a senior. He played forward on one of the team's top lines for three seasons and helped the Spuds reach the State 2A tourney as a junior, where they placed second. On the diamond, Braden was a three-year starter at shortstop for Moorhead, helping the team reach the Section finals his sophomore year.

Cody was a four-sport letterman. He did the punting and kicking for the Spuds' football team his junior and senior year, while playing defense in soccer. The Moorhead soccer team reached the Section final in his junior season and the semifinals the year before. In baseball, he took over as the starting shortstop when Braden graduated and also was a key part of the Moorhead pitching staff, anchoring the starting rotation as a senior. Cody skated on a top line in hockey his junior and senior seasons. Moorhead reached the State tourney both years. "My junior year, we lost to Hill-Murray in overtime in the semifinals," he recalled.

In Braden's senior year, the Rahman brothers formed the Spuds' double-play combo, with Braden at shortstop and Cody at second base. "That was pretty special," Cody said of the all-Rahman tandem up the middle.
 
At Concordia, Braden played hockey in addition to baseball his freshman and sophomore seasons. He saw action in nearly all of the Cobbers' games and was the seventh-leading scorer on the team his first year (five goals and nine assists for 14 points) and sixth the following season (three goals and six assists for nine points). "I loved playing both sports, but it got to be rough," Braden said. "The demand on my time was incredible and, with the seasons overlapping, it got to be too much. So I decided to focus on baseball."

On the diamond, Braden saw limited action as a freshman, hitting only.167 in 12 at-bats. Braden took over as the starting shortstop as a sophomore and earned All-MIAC honors. His .360 batting average was second on the team. His 45 hits, four homers and 24 RBI paced the Concordia offense. In MIAC play, he posted a .409 batting average, fifth-best in the league. His three home runs tied for third in the league and his 17 RBI tied for sixth.

He suffered a partial tear of his labrum before the 2013 baseball season started. "It limited my throwing ability some, and we had a hotshot shortstop come in, so it was best for the team and my arm for me to move to third base," Braden said. Despite the injury, Braden played in 33 of Concordia's 34 games. He posted a .306 batting average, with 17 RBI.

Cody joined him on the Cobber roster and saw playing time in the infield and as a member of the pitching staff. He batted .390 in 13 games with eight RBI. He also took the mound 11 times, including one start. Cody posted a 2-2 record with a 6.23 ERA and registered 15 strikeouts.

Last spring saw some of the most horrendous weather in the over 90 years of MIAC baseball. Still, the Cobbers managed to get their 20 conference games in, as did most teams. The season ended in a chaotic logjam with eight teams all within two games of second place. Concordia tied for second with Augsburg and earned the No. 2 seed in the MIAC Playoffs.

Because of havoc the weather racked on the season, the MIAC Playoffs were changed from a four-team, double-elimination tournament to a six-team, single-elimination tourney. After a quarterfinal bye, the Cobbers beat Augsburg 7-5 in the semifinals in a thrilling walk-off win, but lost to St. Thomas 11-2 in the title game to close their season with a 19-15 record.

The Cobbers are eager to improve on last year's performance, and hope to secure the program's first NCAA postseason appearance since 1995. It would be a sweet send-off to Bucky Burgau, who announced he'll retire from his long-time head coaching position following the 2014 season. On March 28, Concordia swept Dickinson State; the first game was Burgau's 700th career win.
 
After a successful trip to Florida and games in Lincoln, Neb., and Dickinson, N.D., the Cobbers have been idled by Mother Nature, who has dealt Minnesota a second consecutive winter-like spring. Their MIAC opener, slated to be played at Saint John's, has been postponed. The Cobbers hope to host their first conference doubleheader of 2014 Sunday - weather permitting - against St. Olaf at 1 p.m. That series was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the latest blast of winter weather pushed it back 24 hours.

Thus far this season, Braden has manned the hot corner in every game and is hitting .333. His 14 RBIs lead the team. Cody has seen limited action, mainly at first base, but is hitting a robust .357.

Despite their athletic accomplishments, neither Braden nor Cody can claim to be the top athlete in their Concordia family tree. That honor belongs to Jessica, who is one of the greatest women's basketball players in Concordia and MIAC history, and has built on her legacy during a successful tenure as the school's head women's basketball coach.

Jessica Beachy (Rahman's maiden name), herself the daughter and niece of Cobbers, arrived at Concordia in the fall of 1984. She quickly established herself as one of the all-time greatest players in Cobber and MIAC history. In her four seasons as a Lady Cobber (as they were called then), Beachy helped elevate Concordia to MIAC dominance and national prominence. With her on the floor, Concordia won the three conference championships in a row, and earned four trips to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Cobbers made the most of those NCAA trips, as they advanced to the West Region final in Beachy's sophomore season, reached the national title game her junior year and finally took the final step to claim the NCAA Division III championship in her final season.

Beachy was a four-time All-MIAC selection and received a multitude of regional and national honors. She was named MIAC MVP and First Team All-American in both her junior and senior year, after also earning First Year All-American honors in her debut season. She was also honored as the NCAA Division III Player of the Year in 1988. To go along with her Player of the Year award, she was presented with the Honda Award as the NCAA Division III Female Athlete of the Year and earned one of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

Rahman ended her Concordia career with 2,101 points, the highest total in school history and an average of 17.8 points per game. She still holds the MIAC record for career points with 1,491.
 
While at Concordia she met Brian Rahman. He was an athlete in high school, with a love of hockey and baseball, but did not play any sports at Concordia. They married, and now have three kids. In addition to Braden and Cody, they have a daughter, Cassidy, who is following her mother's athletic footsteps. She is a senior at Moorhead High School and a stellar basketball player. "I'm hoping she decides to come to Concordia and play," Jessica said with a smile.

Jessica was the assistant women's basketball coach at Concordia from 1991-93.She left Concordia and became the Christian Education Director at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jamestown, N.D. While working as education director she was the assistant women's coach at Jamestown College from 1995-96. Following her stint at Jamestown she was the head girls' basketball coach at Dickinson (N.D.) High School before returning home to Moorhead to take over the Cobber program prior to the 2003-04 season.

In addition to the school records accumulated during her playing days, Jessica is also the winningest coach in program history, posting a 213-83 record (.720). Concordia has earned a berth in the MIAC Playoffs in each of the 11 seasons she has been at the helm. The Cobbers have captured the Playoff title twice, as well as the regular season championship in 2012-13. Rahman's teams have earned a trip to the NCAA Tourney four times.

In spite of her tremendous success as a coach, Rahman says, "Faith and family are the focuses of my life." She fondly recalls a time when, as assistant coach at Concordia, babysitter plans fell through, so she brought toddler Braden to practice, set him up in his walker, and had a mix of players and student managers keep attentive eyes on the young lad. "We managed, and got through it," she said, laughing. "At other times, my younger brother and sister, who were at Concordia at the time, were enlisted to help."

When the boys were younger, like other young mothers, she plunged into their sports life. "I had to learn two new sports - hockey and soccer - but I was there," she said. "Brian coached them in Little League, but I helped with coaching youth soccer. I grew up in a basketball family, so I had to take a crash course on soccer, but we had a good time of it."

Over the years, there have been scheduling conflicts, but Jessica has been in the stands cheering at a vast majority of her children's games. "There have been some long drives, late at night, to get from my team's game to theirs or vice versa, but as much as possible, I've been there," she said. "When I got into coaching, I knew there'd be times when I couldn't make some of their games, so I knew I had to be at as many as possible. There have been times when it has been a tight squeeze but for the most part it has worked out."

Perhaps her biggest disappointment was missing the Cobber baseball team's trip to Florida over break earlier this spring. She had a valid excuse for missing, though - her Cobber team was playing in the MIAC and NCAA Playoffs.

Her sons are appreciative of her efforts to be there and cheer them on. "I think it's amazing how many games both my parents make it to," Braden said. "I don't know how they pull it off, but I always appreciate it. Even if one of them is there it makes me feel that more comfortable. My mom especially will do whatever it takes to be at our games and it doesn't matter where it is but that's her. She's unbelievably selfless."
 
Jessica and her husband made a conscious effort not to interfere in their children's college selection process. "We wanted them to get the most out of college, and that meant the decision on where to go had to be their decision, their choice," she said. "We didn't want to force the issue, and the final decision was theirs. We told them we would support whatever they chose, and we meant that. We encouraged them to live on campus, which they both did. It gave them more 'real' college experiences. With them playing sports, they because part of that community here."

For most people, there would be more than a little apprehension about enrolling in a school where your extended family has a long history and in particular where a parent has had the tremendous success as Jessica. But both Cody and Braden said that wasn't a factor. "It never was an issue," Cody said.

In fact, in some ways, it was a boon. "Mostly due to the fact that I was hanging out around campus a lot while I was growing up and [going to a school where my mom had such a prominent role] really wasn't as big of an adjustment as I expected it to be," Braden said. "Before I even had my freshman year at Concordia I already knew most of the people in the athletic department and was familiar with the environment.

"Being Coach Rahman's son wasn't an issue for me at all. Most of the people around campus know about all of my mom's great accomplishments, both as a player and as a coach, so I've always been reminded by people of what she's done, but I love that. I think it's awesome that people I don't even know can come up to me and tell me how great of a player she was."

The Rahmans are a tight-knit family, bonded by their love of both sports and Concordia. Jessica and Brian attend as many of the boys' games as possible, and the family can be spotted at Jessica's games as well. Both boys list being able to attend their mom's and sister's games as a positive part of their experience at Concordia. "If I'd gone anywhere else, I would have missed out on all that," said Cody.

The extended Rahman-Beachy family has a long association with Concordia. "Sports are a huge part of our family," said Braden. "There's my mom, for one example, and my uncle played quarterback at NDSU. Most of my cousins on both sides are athletes and most of them are younger than Cody and me. I'd say many of them will end up playing for Concordia."

So a word of advice to MIAC coaches: prepare to do battle with Rahmans and the Beachys. It may be a long haul.