Leading by Example – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 17, 2005
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Bob Reusche considers himself a promoter more than an athlete. Even though he helped develop the first lacrosse team at The Ohio State University and was on the 1946 Ohio State swim team that won the Big Ten and NCAA championships, he calls himself a mediocre athlete.
Reusche graduated from Ohio State in 1949 with a degree in business administration. Building the lacrosse team from the ground up gave him his greatest opportunity to learn and use communication skills. These were the skills that helped him later in his professional career as the head of the trust department of Northern Trust Company in Chicago, Ill.
“I learned a lot from teaching the game of lacrosse because many men had never even seen a game before,” Reusche said. “I loved that. I’ve always been more of a promoter.”
The history of Ohio State lacrosse began during the winter of 1947 when Richard Larkins, then the director of athletics at Ohio State, told Reusche that if he confirmed there was enough interest in lacrosse from other students he would help them form a team. So Reusche petitioned students and easily generated the needed interest in the sport to make the first Ohio State club lacrosse team.
That same year Reusche taught a lacrosse class to students that took the field in the spring of 1948 for their first game.
“We were skinned,” Reusche said of the first contest.
The young players found themselves playing the role of the underdog, but did not let the early losses and difficulty of building a team from scratch stop them from learning and improving their basic skills.
The lacrosse team continued to grow each year, and by 1953, Ohio State made lacrosse a varsity sport. Just three years later in 1956, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team finished second in the Midwest Lacrosse Association.
Ohio State lacrosse looks a lot different today than it did when Reusche was a player and acting coach during the late 1940s.
“In those days we used wooden sticks,” Reusche said. “They were much different than the sticks used now. Stick-handling was very important with them. I still go out and play with my grandson, who plays goalie on his lacrosse team, and the new sticks are a challenge.”
For Reusche, the time he spent showing and teaching lacrosse affected his life the most. After gaining public speaking experience from teaching his peers in the lacrosse class, Reusche became very comfortable speaking to and leading others.
Reusche thinks being a part of a sports team builds a set of values, and along with teamwork, builds a better person. At Reusche’s prep school all students were required to play on a sports team. He still remembers the self-assurance it created for students.
For him, the skills and knowledge he learned from lacrosse paved the way for leadership in his career with Northern Trust Company and in the community. Reusche worked for Northern Trust Company for 38 years, 18 of those as the head of the trust division.
Reusche’s involvement with Ohio State did not end after receiving his degree.
He and his wife of 54 years, Mary Westbrook Reusche (B.S., business administration, 1950), started the Humanities Scholar Endowed Scholarship Fund at Ohio State because of a mutual belief in the importance of a liberal arts/humanities undergraduate education.
Reusche said the well-rounded curriculum of a liberal arts or humanities education increases a student’s general knowledge and ability to communicate. Also, it is important for undergraduate students to learn to think for themselves and expand their knowledge in order to develop into a highly educated person.
Andrew Bender, a senior midfielder on the Buckeye lacrosse team from Wooster, Ohio, is the recipient of an endowed scholarship provided by the Bob and Mary Reusche Athletic Scholarship Fund.
“It is an unbelievable honor to receive support from the individual who is responsible for instituting my sport at Ohio State,” Bender said. “All current and former OSU lacrosse players have reaped the benefits of Mr. Reusche’s vision and determination.”
The Reusches also give their time, energy and personal support to the Fisher College of Business, the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Reusche also speaks to student groups and works with university staff to create opportunities and scholarship program initiatives.
Never one to quit pursuing new endeavors, Reusche’s new dream is the creation of the Lacrosse Pioneer Scholarship. It will celebrate the early club lacrosse teams at Ohio State and the individuals that began the legacy that carries on today.
“Many of the men who played on the first few teams have gone on to achieve great success, but there is no recognition for them or their part in the creation of lacrosse at Ohio State,” Reusche said.
The Ohio State men’s lacrosse record book dates back to its inception as a varsity sport in 1953. Yet, the history of lacrosse dates back to the first club team in 1947.
In Reusche’s opinion there is no better way to honor the lacrosse pioneers than to create a scholarship. The lessons a student-athlete learns from their coaches and teammates help them become a better person.
“Bob and Mary Reusche’s continued commitment to Ohio State will provide more student-athletes the opportunity to excel in their sort and in the classroom,” Kate Riffee, director of donor relations and stewardship for the OSU department of athletics, said. “Bob was very successful getting support to start the program and I am sure he will be as successful in bringing the program to a higher level.”
Reusche’s commitment to Ohio State reflects his attitude toward personal community involvement. Through many different avenues, he continues to work on building a strong community of support for educational progress by using the lessons he learned from forging new ground at Ohio State.
Reusche said he is forever indebted to Larkins for encouraging and supporting the club lacrosse team by supplying them with equipment. Recognition to the ambition and leadership of Reusche and the first club lacrosse teams is important. Without their determination to learn a new sport, the history of Ohio State lacrosse would not reflect its rich history.
Reusche may not make it into the Ohio State record books as an athlete but his outstanding contributions to lacrosse and the Buckeye community show his amazing success as a promoter of goodwill, values and character.
