Here at UMRFC, much of what we do would be impossible with out the help of our Alumni. This month, we honor Aaron “Tex” Dodd, who has remained active with UMRFC since his departure as a player in 2009. From running touch games in the summer to working with the SAC to organizing Olde Boys weekend, Tex has left an immeasurable legacy with the club. Here’s what he had to say:
When did you play?
I started in the winter of 2004 and graduated in 2009.
What is your favorite memory or memories as a member of the club?
Too many to count (Butt Boys concerts in the lab, all the other great rugby houses and OBW’s, and many more). In my time at UMRFC we traveled to Prague, Mexico, Southern US, and Argentina and all were great tours. My favorite memory was at the Midwest championships in Iowa in the fall of 2007. We played a private school St. John’s in the final. They had a huge group of supporters including the Walsh’s (Barry played for UMRFC, brother Bobby played for St. John’s). There was a mom who for 80 entire minutes screamed “Johneeeeees”! at the top of her lungs. We were up by 5 or so with the clock winding down and I attempted a drop goal that went through and put the game away (probably 1 for 50 in my career). The mom turned to someone and said what just happened and I believe it was former arm wrestling champion Big Joe Mikulec (Max’s dad, but could have been Bandit) that turned to her and said, “That’s 3 points……Game Over”. She finally stopped the Johneeees chant. On our way out of the grounds, we stopped into the clubhouse to grab what we thought was our trophy since a tournament organizer said congrats and handed it to us. But upon inspection many miles down the road we found out it was for a completely different competition. Our co-captain Jake Leedekerken had the flu, but made the trip to watch and since we rented these old 15 passenger vans that acted as a petri dish for the long drive, every single person got sick over the next few days. We finished up that season in the national D2 finals out in Albuquerque, and several alumni joined us and bought us dinner one night (and then Wes also later bought us 100 “Southwest” big macs later in the weekend), which my parents still talk about to this day. It was a great example of our unique UMRFC family that we’ve built over the years.
Did you have any special honors during your time with the club?
I served as captain from 2007-2009 and as Mama Tex throughout that time as well. I wish I had spent more time in the summers playing overseas or select side, but I got swallowed up into Ann Arbor summers and Team Bigote 7s tournaments.
What are you doing now?
I live on the Northside of Ann Arbor down the street from many UMRFC alumni (Hagan, Stulie, Nic) with my wife Libby. I coach the local high school team Washtenaw and still play and coach the local men’s team MRFC. I have really enjoyed getting more involved in coaching high school and its awesome going up against fellow UMRFC coaches (Swayze, Will, etc). I also lead the Olde Boys Weekend organizational crew and participate in the Student Advisory Council. I am a strategic business development (business papers, marketing, engineery stuff) manager at NSK which is a bearing company here in town working with metal mills and power plants across North and South Americas providing bearing solutions.
Any other interesting stories or info that you can provide?
My time spent with UMRFC has helped prepare me for all sorts of challenges in the real world. I met my wife through rugby (thanks Sam), and would definitely not be here where I am today without all the people that helped me. It has been exciting and rewarding watching the club grow since 2009 and it wouldn’t be where it is today without everyone who has helped over the years. In my 5 years we had many different coaches (Adam, Steve, Masso,and Perp) that all assisted when they could, but the team was very much student lead. I remember sitting with Perp every week coming up with practice and game plans, and its great that the club can now rely on someone like Brandon who can commit their full time and effort to coaching so the players can train, study, and improve on and off the field.
My biggest regrets were not playing more select and overseas rugby when I had the chance, and missing the Thailand tour as a freshman (although I had only been with the team 2 weeks when they were leaving). Its great seeing our recent alumni getting the opportunity to continue playing high level rugby while they still can (Sequoyah and Cole for the Saracens). I would suggest to any current UMRFC players that loans build character and you will always have the chance for your professional life when you turn 30.
