Interview with Boathouse Sports

One of the goals at This Is American Rugby is to help build a more diverse and active culture around rugby in America. One of the ways we've tried to do that is to reach out to businesses in the rugby community to hear what they are doing for rugby players around the country. Recently, we caught up with Heather Guidice from Boathouse Sports to understand their involvement in rugby.

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Take the jump to read what Heather had to say.


This Is American Rugby: How did Boathouse get started and, in general, what kind of products do you offer?

Heather Guidice: John Strotbeck, a world-class rower and a captain of Team USA at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, launched Boathouse Sports after returning from the Seoul Olympics in 1988. John's vision for Boathouse was to create custom team uniforms, training gear and outerwear for competitive rowers manufactured in the US. Boathouse now offers custom team athletic apparel for athletes competing in rugby, lacrosse, rowing, track & field, volleyball, basketball and soccer with an exclusive customer base of schools, universities and teams. Ninety-five percent of Boathouses' products are now manufactured in its 120,000 square foot factory in northeast Philadelphia.

TIAR: How did Boathouse first get involved in rugby and how is it currently involved in rugby?

HG: Boathouse Sports burst into the traditional rugby market in 2010 and outfitted the Dartmouth Men's rugby team in 2011 when they captured the USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championships wearing custom Boathouse sublimated uniforms. In 2012, Boathouses now outfits rugby teams from Stanford University, the University of Delaware and the University of Notre Dame with uniforms and sideline apparel.

TIAR: What kinds of rugby specific products do you offer?

HG: Boathouse's rugby collection includes both custom, traditional and modern styled sublimated jersey's, a performance rugby short, a matching compression top and short, matching team bags and Boathouse's well-known and highly coveted line of GORE-TEX® team outerwear.

TIAR: What sets Boathouse apart from its competitors?

HG: All of Boathouse Sports rugby apparel employ the company's proprietary sublimation process which directly infuses color dyes into the fabric of the uniforms to eliminate cracking, peeling and fading of numbers while also preserving all of the performance characteristics of the material including: minimizing weight, moisture wicking and allowing for unlimited customization.