Little did Reid Ingersoll know that his desire to do something athletically and stay in shape when he moved back to Lake Forest in 1990 would turn into a 21-year role as the Lake Forest College club rugby coach.
Ingersoll, who retired this spring from coaching, will be recognized at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony during Homecoming for his dedication to both the rugby program and Forester Athletics. The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. in the Mohr Student Center.
It all started when Ingersoll, who studied economics at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., ran into a player from Lake Forest in the spring of 1991 and started playing with the team. In 1992, USA Rugby required coaches for each team. Ingersoll realized that he couldn’t play and coach at the same time, so his role morphed solely into coaching in the spring of 1993, a position he held until the spring of 2013.
As he looks back on his time in the Forest, Ingersoll doesn’t view winning as some of his favorite moments, he remembers the success on the field.
“The quality of play has been the most rewarding,” he says. “The last five years have been exceptional and the way the program has been viewed by people in our league is great.”
It’s surprising to hear that Ingersoll likes practices, but hates game day.
“I’m more nervous as a coach than as a player,” he says. “You want to see the kids play proper rugby.”
Rugby is a sport that relies on experience as its most important ingredient. Some of the challenges Ingersoll faced was that it’s only played in the spring season, so by the time players learn the sport and play competitive rugby, they graduate.
“We have excellent athletes,” Ingersoll said. “The saving grace is that they players are smart and can pick up the game quickly.”
Many of those players will return to the Forest during Homecoming to honor Ingersoll as well as Dave Fee ’99, who is being inducted in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Another alum who has made headlines as a alum is Tim Paulsen '08, who played with the national team.
One of the benefits of coaching for so many years at Lake Forest is the relationships that Ingersoll has developed with the student-athletes. He’s attended many weddings of Lake Forest College alumni and keeps an extensive list of email addresses in order to remain in contact with everyone.
“It’s rewarding to see how these kids have developed as people, how they’ve become good citizens,” Ingersoll said. “It’s the rugby culture.”
Although it was difficult for Ingersoll to leave Lake Forest, he felt that it was a natural time to start a different phase in his life. He now works and lives in Montana.
Before he left though, he wanted to make sure to credit another person who has also had a tremendous impact on the program, Ed Giangiorgi.
“He made a huge difference,” Ingersoll said. “It’s been a great run.”