OMBAC Rugby ↗
US Rugby Foundation ↗
USA Eagles ↗OMBAC playing yearsClub rugby
At OMBAC he helped win five national fifteens championships and two national sevens titles.
The career story
From Grand Rapids to the world stage
Two World Cups, championship years at OMBAC and decades helping American rugby grow.
Career résumé
Explore the chapters of a rugby life.
Representative rugbyRegional honors
He also played on championship San Diego County, Southern California Griffins and Pacific Coast Grizzlies sides.
1978Grand Rapids Gazelles
An All-City school hockey defenseman, Vizard attended Grand Rapids Rugby Club’s very first practice in spring 1978.
1986USA debut
Vizard’s fifteens debut came in the Eagles’ 9–9 draw with Japan; he also began his USA sevens career that year.
April 1986Hong Kong Sevens
A member of the Eagles’ Plate-winning side in Hong Kong, he scored against Japan in the Plate quarterfinal. The archive identifies him standing second from left in the team photograph.
1986–1993International touring
His playing career included 22 international tours and three Hong Kong Sevens appearances, ending international fifteens in 1991 and sevens in 1993.
1987Rugby World Cup
He started all three Eagles matches at the inaugural Rugby World Cup, including the first World Cup win over Japan.
March–April 1987Hong Kong & Sydney tour
Coach Emil Signes’s archive records him with the Eagles at the Hong Kong banquet and Sydney Sevens, alongside fellow OMBAC scrum-half Mike Saunders.
The national fifteens titles came in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1994. His partnership at the back of the scrum with Mike Saunders joined a mobile No. 8 to an exceptional scrum-half.
September 1988Moscow Sevens
On the Eagles’ USSR tour, Vizard played in the Moscow tournament-winning side. Signes describes long Vizard passes that helped create tries against both Soviet teams.
1991Eagles captain
He led the USA at the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Across his fifteens career he earned 22 caps and captained eight internationals.
1993Sevens tour
The archive follows him through Canberra, Fiji and Hong Kong before Edinburgh’s first Rugby World Cup Sevens. In Canberra he scored after a one-handed pickup following an Andy Dujakovich break.
1995 onwardBroadcasting
He became a familiar rugby broadcast voice, working on more than 700 telecasts and co-hosting Fox Sports World’s weekly rugby studio programme.
1996–1999Rugby administration
He served as executive director of the US Rugby Super League and on USA Rugby’s board during 1996–1998.
July 2004Foundation leadership
Appointed US Rugby Foundation executive director as its office moved to San Diego’s Hall of Champions, he helped build the organisation’s fundraising and grassroots support.
2014–2016Honors
Craig Sweeney Award in 2014; Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 2015; US Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016.
July 2024A lasting grassroots legacy
He retired as Foundation president and CEO effective July 20, 2024. His tenure included the With You! podcast and A Ball 4 All, which had distributed more than 18,300 rugby balls to youth clubs. The retirement announcement said he planned to join Lindahl Reed, Inc.
Photographs & contemporary documents
From the named archive collection
These images come from the subject’s institutional archive gallery. Original records do not supply a complete individual identification key or exact date for every group.
