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From its earliest match\u2014Benjamin and the St. Anselm hockey team\u2014to today, with more than 4,500 children matched, Jay has been part of a movement that has scaled far beyond New England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fifteen years later, Jay often reflects not just on the number of matches but on the scale of human connection created along the way. \u201cWhat I am most proud of after 15 years of growing Team IMPACT is the number of people we have connected to the organization,\u201d he said. Not only are the 4,500+ matched children affected by this program, but so are the parents who gain support outside the medical system; the siblings who get to spend quality time together at sporting events and on fields instead of inside hospital walls or at appointments; the student-athletes who gain perspective, gratitude, leadership, and friendship (one of whom is Jay\u2019s son, Jake, who was matched with his Team IMPACT teammate, Kyle, at Johns Hopkins lacrosse!); the medical professionals who witness the power of this program through their own patients; the supporters who see every day how inclusion, belonging, and acceptance make the world a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that feeling ripples out far beyond Team IMPACT\u2014into the medical communities who refer their patients to Team IMPACT, the campus communities who welcome these children and families onto their rosters, the student-athletes who are the future leaders, and the generations who will learn to lead with empathy, compassion, and belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What began as a handful of matches in New England has grown into a network of hundreds of thousands of people touched in some way by a single idea: no child should face illness or disability alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From Bristol fields to college stadiums across the country, Jay Calnan\u2019s influence on Team IMPACT has always come back to the same idea: communities change lives when people show up for each other. As Jay reflects on the past 15 years of IMPACT, he sees it not as a closing chapter but as an ongoing commitment. \u201cTeam IMPACT has been a passion for over 15 years, and I\u2019m grateful for the people that I have connected with through the organization,\u201d he said. \u201cI have met many amazing families and children who inspire me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the future? Jay\u2019s vision is simple. \u201cIf there is any college athletic team anywhere in the United States, they should have a Team IMPACT child on their team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fifteen years ago, the idea of Team IMPACT sparked in the minds of a group of Tufts graduates who believed that the lessons learned through sports should be accessible to everyone. Few people have helped shape that vision more clearly and meaningfully than Jay Calnan, founding board member and CEO of Jay Calnan & Associates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":10657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"mens-teams":[],"class_list":["post-10654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamimpact.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Artboard-1-18.jpg?resize=800%2C1000&quality=89&ssl=1\")
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