Rob Bordley ’66, Landon history teacher, head varsity lacrosse coach and holder of the Endowed Chair for Teaching-Coaching, has been elected to the United States Rugby Hall of Fame. The induction dinner will be held in Houston on Saturday, June 8, 2013, prior to the U.S. Eagles match against Ireland.
Bordley was the first man to captain the Eagles in a match vs. Australia on Jan. 31, 1976. He also captained the Eagles in their next match vs. France on June 12, 1976. Bordley joined the Washington Rugby Club in 1970 and played with the team for 15 years. To qualify for the national team, Bordley first played for the Eastern regional team in the trials against teams from the North, South and West. He was one of the few players from outside California to make the national team.
“I was surprised by this honor. Guys play rugby because they love the sport,” Bordley says. “You don’t get much publicity.”
Bordley also participated with the national team in a 1977 tour against the English national team. He was also the first American to play for an international all-star team during the late 1970s that played several matches in South Africa, where the sport is celebrated on a much larger scale.
“If you play for 10 or more years, you end up hosting team get-togethers and having a longer list of friends,” he says. “The camaraderie is great.”
As a student at Landon, Bordley played soccer and said that his experience kicking a ball helped his rugby career, which started when he was a student at Princeton. Bordley became Landon’s varsity head lacrosse coach in 1975, three years after the school first offered the sport.