Bowling Green Rugby to Rename Field After Roger Mazzarella
Bowling Green Rugby to Rename Field After Roger Mazzarella
Bowling Green State University and the BGSU Rugby Football Club will hold a field renaming ceremony at College Park Rugby Field in Bowling Green at 10AM on May 6, renaming the field after longtime Bowling Green Rugby patriarch Roger Mazzarella.
Starting in the Fall of 2023, BGSU Rugby home games will henceforth be played at Roger Mazzarella Rugby Field. To coincide with the field renaming ceremony, the Mayor of Bowling Green, Ohio, Michael Aspacher, has announced that the City of Bowling Green has declared May 6, 2023 “Roger Mazzarella Day.”
Following the ceremony at 11AM will be the annual BGSU Rugby Alumni game and cookout; fans and friends of Roger are welcome to stay and enjoy the match and celebrate his much-deserved honor as the field’s new namesake.
A gala honoring Roger and his day will be held from 5-7PM at Olscamp Hall on BGSU’s campus.
“This has been the work of several BGSU Rugby Alumni, their families, rugby fans, and people who want to honor Roger,” said Kurt Weaver, a BGSU Rugby Alumnus and retired USA Rugby referee. “He’s spent six decades making BGSU Rugby one of the premiere clubs in the US, and naming the field after him repays about 1/1000th of what he’s given us.”
As a freshman on campus in 1968, Mazzarella joined the brand-new rugby football club and never looked back. He graduated four years later and began a 35-year career teaching 7th grade science at BG Junior High.
Roger played rugby full time until 1985 when he took over head coaching duties, a position he kept until passing the torch to his son, Tony, in 2008. Since then, he’s been the Director of Rugby Operations and primary recruiter, seeing his time and effort culminate in a National Championship in 2018.
The love and support of his wife Martha, his son Tony, his daughter-in-law Marny and his adored granddaughter Amelia have made his career and this day possible.
For more information on the planned events on May 6th, please visit https://store.bgrugbyalumni.com/mazz-apalooza-2023
