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Overview
This week on With You! Rugby Podcast, the President of the United States Rugby Foundation, Brian Vizard, spoke with Mark Hoder, the son of the 2021 US Rugby Hall of Fame inductee, the late Bob Hoder along with Bob’s long-time friend, Pete Thorpe.Bob Hoder was introduced to the sport of rugby at a relatively late point in his life. He joined the Old Blue Rugby Football Club in New York after his college graduation and thus realized his passion for rugby. After that, Bob went on to co-found the Providence Rugby Club, where he played for 15 years and helped lead the team to championships at the Saranac Lake and New England Rugby Tournaments.His love for rugby continued after the end of his playing career. In 1971, Bob founded Rugby Imports and began supplying rugby jerseys across the US. After the business became successful, Bob used his profits to help fund rugby coaching education programs.
Show Notes
0:27: Brian introduces Mark Hoder and Pete Thorpe and asks them to tell us more about Bob’s early childhood.
02:13: Mark and Pete discuss Bob’s football career and the start of his rugby playing days.
3:25: More about Bob’s time in Old Blue and the foundation of the Providence Rugby Club.
7:02: Bob as a player: his position and the attributes he possessed.
9:12: Mark and Pete discuss the start of Rugby Imports and Bob’s business career, including the logo of the company and Bob’s best deals.
19:45: How Rugby Imports sponsored the first rugby coaching education program.
23:10: Mark and Pete talk about Bob’s coaching career.
27:31: What achievement would Bob be most proud of?
29:59: What would the lifetime achievement award mean to Bob?
30:46: What does the Hall of Fame induction mean to Bob Hoder’s family?
Wrap Up
In this episode of With You! Rugby Podcast, we heard from Mark Hoder, the son of late Bob Hoder, and his friend Pete Thorpe. Bob spent most of his life trying to popularize the game of rugby in the US. First as a player, then as a coach and owner of a team, and finally as a sponsor for rugby coaching education efforts. For all that he has done in the rugby community, Bob Hoder will soon receive the US Rugby Foundation’s Hall of Fame lifetime achievement award.
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