Rob Ukrop '88: Excellence, Accomplishment, Humility

Who in the world would be calling me from Portsmouth? the 1988 Collegiate graduate wondered.  Is it a solicitation? A robocall? A wrong number, maybe?

“My only connection to Portsmouth,” he said, “was that my dad (Bobby) played in a golf tournament there when I was a kid, and I got to caddy for him. I thought maybe this was something about golf.  But it was a random phone number, and I never answer random numbers.”

This time, though, he did, and what he heard stunned him.

“It was Eddie Webb (president of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame),” Ukrop related. “He said I’d been selected.”

The only stipulation was that he had to keep this exciting, life-altering news to himself until the public announcement of his induction, which came earlier this week.

In typical Rob Ukrop fashion, doing so wasn’t the least bit challenging.

Though he’s the face of soccer in the Richmond area – and in the Commonwealth, for that matter – he’s self-effacing and humble to a fault, and his immediate thought was, There’re so many soccer people more deserving than I am…

Charlie Blair is a long-time friend and mentor who knows him well.  He coached Ukrop during his high school career.  Ukrop has served on his staff for years.

“For Rob, it’s all about the joy of competing and being out there with a group of guys either as a coach or as a player,” Blair said. “The idea that he would receive recognition for that isn’t what he’s after. He’s ultra-competitive.  A lot of competitors have big egos, but Rob is one of those competitors who doesn’t.  He’d much rather have anonymity than be a big star.”

When you’re as accomplished as Ukrop, though, you have to deal with the “big star” label, even if you do so reluctantly.

At Collegiate, he was a four-year starter at forward, All-Prep League as a junior and senior, and the leading goal producer (74) in the program’s history.

He played four years at Davidson College and set a school record for goals (76), assists (32), and points (184). In 1992, he led the Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four and earned first-team All-American honors,  received the Adi Dasler Award presented to the nation’s outstanding senior soccer player, and finished second in the voting for the Hermann Award, his sport’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

Ukrop played for the U.S. national U-23 team and then professionally for 12 years, mostly as an oft-honored stalwart for the Richmond Kickers, whom he led to the 1995 U.S. Open Cup title. He retired in 2004 as the organization’s all-time leading goal scorer (63) and currently serves as president of its board of directors and coaches its U-23 and U-18 teams.  He also coaches Collegiate’s girls’ varsity soccer squad.

He’s a member of the Collegiate, Davidson, United Soccer League, and Virginia-D.C. Halls of Fame.

Sports have been a huge part of Rob Ukrop’s life from, well, the very beginning.  Bobby Ukrop was a standout basketball player and golfer at the University of Richmond in the ’60’s, and a strong competitive spirit runs through the family DNA.   He loves to win, no question about it, but “the experience” holds much greater meaning than statistics, championships, or personal accolades. In fact, ask him to reflect on his prodigious accomplishments, fame, and name-recognition, and he’ll deflect the credit, then quickly redirect the discussion.

“With all the success I’ve had,” he said, “there’s always been people encouraging me. People sometimes see qualities in you that maybe you don’t believe yet.  Mr. Blair probably saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”

He’s applied many of the lessons learned to his own coaching, and they go well beyond the X’s and O’s of the sport.

“You treat people the way you like to be treated,” he said.  “It’s nice to know there’re people supporting my career.  I just try to do my best every day. Anybody can have success in the moment.  I just want to contribute and make my community a little bit better.”

Now that the news of his induction is public, Ukrop trying to get his head around his latest honor and making notes for his acceptance speech.
    
“You know,” he said, “it’s kind of embarrassing.  Looking at the names (of present and past honorees), people I used to cheer for.  It’s surreal, but I’m proud to be part of it.”

“Everybody has the opportunity to write a great story. Just recognize all the people around you who encourage you.  If you ask me about my Collegiate and Davidson experiences, I don’t  remember many of the wins.  I do remember the one-on-one time, the life lessons.  Hopefully, I can be as meaningful and impactful as the people who encouraged me.”
                                                     -- Weldon Bradshaw

(Ukrop will be inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame along with Charles Oakley, James Farrior, Marianne Stanley, Dave Rosenfield, Charlie Stukes, and Rich Murray.)