Daniel Hodge: Building Respect, Rugby Style

To an outsider, rugby may come off as a hostile sport. Even those who have not seen a game can imagine the intensity of a sport that uses terms such as “charge-down,” “crusher tackle,” and “blood bin.” And while a match might induce some scrapes and bruises, for Daniel Hodge, the former captain of Gonzaga University Men’s Rugby Club, the spirit of rugby is one of hospitality, generosity, and seeing past opponents’ differences. In fact, the kindness present in the rugby community is something Daniel, ACE 24, hopes to foster in his classroom next year.

When Daniel, a California native, arrived on Gonzaga’s campus as a freshman the rugby club was very small. Daniel recruited nine players to join the fledgling group and by the time he graduated four years later, the Gonzaga team had ascended to Division I status and boasted up to 40 team members.

“I think the biggest thing for me was the family dynamic we created. ... We had to create this environment where we held each other accountable because we don’t have coaches,” Daniel says. “Creating that environment was tough at first, but by my junior and senior year, that’s just how it was—you had 30 to 40 guys who were willing to do anything for the team.”

Daniel partially attributes the team’s tightknit bond to the fact that they endure painful games together.

“I call it an 80-minute chess match with full contact—a lot of pain,” he says. “It’s this mental battle you have with yourself, your teammates, and the other team.”

However, for as rough as the sport can be, Daniel believes that the sense of belonging he and his Gonzaga teammates fostered ultimately extended from the welcoming nature of the greater rugby community. For example, opposing teams may brutally battle during a match, but after the game, it is customary for the home team to host a cookout for the visiting team.

“You can hate someone for 80 minutes,” Daniel says, “but you have to leave it there because you’re going to eat and hang out with them for another two hours.”

Daniel claims this camaraderie with the enemy is even evident during a match. Several collegiate competitors became his good friends. One went so far as to embrace Daniel during a match after a referee levied a bad call.

“We’re going against each other, but we’re also helping each other finish this game,” Daniel says. “Even your enemies are trying to help you get through the rugby game, always supporting you regardless of whether or not your are on the same team.”

This ability to see past differences is a phenomenon that Daniel not only felt on the field, but one he studied in the classroom as well. In fact, he hopes to make bridging gaps his life’s work. Daniel graduated with degrees in creative writing and philosophy and minored in women’s and gender studies. Eventually, he plans to become a professor.

Daniel believes that teaching middle school with ACE Teaching Fellows is the natural first step toward leading a collegiate classroom.

“With [Dr. Ernest Morrell], [Dr. Brian Collier], and all of the other resources that are here [at ACE], I can not only build my knowledge of race and gender within education but overall, and hopefully with that, be able to move on and apply for a social studies Ph.D. or a women’s and gender studies Ph.D. or apply for my D.Ed. in education,” Daniel says. “ACE is still providing me the best framework to get to becoming a professor.”

Daniel plans to draw upon both his studies and his experience of community on the Gonzaga rugby team to create an inclusive culture in his middle school classroom next year. A sense of togetherness, he insists, is crucial to his students’ academic success.

“[The classroom] has to be this environment where everybody wants not only to learn for themselves, but then help also their classmates as well, and enjoy doing it,” Daniel says. “In rugby and in school, there are very difficult and painful and mind-breaking things that you have to do, but as long as you’re with a group of people who are doing it with you and you understand that, I think it creates a place where you can all do it together.”

Daniel may have traded his rugby cleats for classroom-appropriate ties, but he will carry the spirit of the game as he embarks on his ACE journey. In Mr. Hodge’s classroom, enemies shall be friends, opponents shall be allies. In this space, “everyone has to be valuable to each other.” Only then can the business of learning begin.

Interested in learning how you can become an ACE Teaching Fellow? Visit ace.nd.edu/teach for more information.