Daniel Stephan

Daniel Stephan

Director, Italy

Daniel, his wife Babi, and two children Mariah and Isaac recently moved from Brazil to northern Italy to launch Push The Rock Italy. Here is a brief description of this new, exciting opportunity: 

Tennis is the second most popular sport played in Italy. According to recent studies, 35% of the Italian population participate and practice some sport and 2 million of those play tennis.  Of this total, 365,000 are members of Federtennis (Italian Tennis Federation), making it one of the biggest sport federations in the country.  Italy has the second highest number of tennis athletes in the world, with 122,000 tennis players and 13,000 coaches playing at a competitive level. 

With less than 0.3% of the Italian population identifying as Christians, Daniel and Babi desire to reach the young generation of Italian tennis players and their families for Christ.  They believe the Lord has guided their lives to help establish the Kingdom of God among those people in Italy. Daniel will serve as a tennis coach in Northern Italy to achieve that mission, running after school programs designed to engage students in athletic activity, teach sportsmanship based on Biblical principles, and build character and self-esteem.

Daniel joined the Push The Rock staff in 2016 and was the director of PTR Brazil and AECA prior to moving to Italy. Prior to starting at Push The Rock, Daniel was a bank manager, a personal trainer, and worked in the import and export business. Daniel has a BA in Physical Education from Faculdade de Ciências Humanas (FCH) and a Leadership Biblical Training degree from WOLBI (Word of life Bible Institute) – Hungary.