When Peter Baigent came to the United States in 1969 from England, he was hoping to complete a doctoral program in education at Syracuse University. In the 40 years after his move to New York, Baigent co-founded USA Rugby and Syracuse Club Rugby and worked for more than 24 years in the administration at Stony Brook University, including a stint as vice president of student affairs.
On Oct. 1, Baigent died at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, New York. He was 71.
Growing up, Baigent played rugby and ran track and field. He continued playing rugby into college, at Loughborough University in Loughborough, England, where he studied for his undergraduate education. There, he met current SU rugby coach Bob Wilson.
“He finished as a very successful administrator and this began to show at Loughborough,” Wilson said. “He spent more time at the library than any of us and even knew the librarian. Because he was a year ahead of me, I didn’t actually see a lot of him. He lived in a different residence hall, but we both spent two or three summers together at Kutsher’s Sports Academy.”
It was common for Loughborough students to spend summers in the U.S. at Kutsher’s Sports Academy in Massachusetts as instructors, Wilson said. Both he and Baigent spent multiple summers working at the academy, where the two taught rugby. There, Baigent met an SU graduate student who encouraged him to get a graduate degree from the university.
Once accepted to the program, Baigent made the move to Syracuse. He met John Mauro, the other soon-to-be founder of Syracuse Rugby. Mauro had played rugby during his undergraduate years at Notre Dame, and when he came to Syracuse, he was disappointed to find there wasn’t a team.
“I missed rugby and put an ad in The Daily Orange that said that a rugby team was forming and anyone interested should call me,” Mauro said.
The only person to respond to the ad was Baigent, who reached out to Mauro. The two met and began planning how to put together a team. Baigent, then a resident adviser in DellPlain Hall, recruited several future players from his floor, Mauro said.
Beyond players, Baigent also worked with the office of Student Affairs to secure a practice field by Lawrinson and Sadler halls as well as official recognition from the university.
Baigent brought in graduate and international students and members of the Syracuse community and even got a referee to come from Canada, Mauro said.
Though the team wasn’t successful at first, Syracuse pushed ahead, bringing in Wilson to help coach in 1970. With Wilson committed to the team, Baigent stepped down.
“Peter turned coaching over to me immediately,” Wilson said. “He was already working in administration at the time.”
Despite his limited role with Syracuse rugby, Baigent still had a love for the game. He was part of the Eastern Rugby Union of America, a group focused on increasing the popularity of rugby on the East Coast.
In 1975, the Eastern, Pacific, Midwest and Western Rugby Unions came together in Chicago to form USA Rugby, which today has more than 125,000 members and is in charge of forming the U.S. National Teams, according to the organization’s website. In 2013, Baigent was honored with the other 15 founding members for their accomplishments.
Baigent continued playing rugby into his 60s and even ran a 5K weeks before he died.
“He came two or three years ago for our 45th anniversary game and actually played,” Wilson said.
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