Benedictine University Athletics

Edward Hobart is entering an exclusive group by joining the Benedictine University Athletics Hall of Fame. The group is even more exclusive to Hobart, who becomes the first ever men's soccer player to be enshrined.
 
"From five-years old, soccer was my athletic passion," Hobart said. "Being recognized for something I loved doing and in light of the long history of athletic success at Benedictine University (Illinois Benedictine College and St Procopius College) is both enormously humbling and touching. To be selected as the first male soccer athlete to receive this distinction makes it even more extraordinary."
Hobart was the first player in program history to achieve 60 career goals and tallied 29 points in the 1989 season.
 
"I had some tremendous coaches and extremely talented teammates that over the course of 4-years, continuously put me in positions to succeed," Hobart said. "Without their hard work, camaraderie and support this wouldn't have happened."
 
Hobart started all four years during his tenure at Illinois Benedictine College, earning All-Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference honors on four occasions.
 
"The accomplishment I'm most proud of is taking a team that was 6-12-1 with 25 goals for and 50 against to a team that went 10-9-1 and scored 46 goals for and 23 against, setting the foundations for the 1991 team to make it to the NCAA playoffs for the first time ever. Being an integral part of building a successful soccer program was massively gratifying."
 
A two-time all-region choice, Hobart served as the team captain as a junior and a senior and held records for points and goals for 25 years.
 
"My four years were largely spent with my teammates," Hobart stated. "My favorite memories revolve around the close relationships we formed and the ridiculous times we had together. Things like driving into the city for late night burrito runs, foosball tournaments in our dorm room, spontaneous driving to Addison and Clark to celebrate the first Cubs division championship in 15 years, taking long road trips in the school vans and even watching the Berlin Wall fall together."
 
Hobart is a certified customer experience professional and currently serves as the Director of Customer Experience at Zoetis Inc.
 
"Benedictine University was formative and foundational for me, both personally and professionally," Hobart said. "The academic training was certainly a necessity for future success professionally. Equally important, if not more, were the lessons I learned about tenacity and hard work. After taking a year off from soccer, I joined the team and was asked to play a position to which I wasn't accustomed. By the beginning of the season, I had worked my way into my natural position, but our team was struggling terribly. I made a conscious decision that no matter what the scores of the games were or what our record was, I was going to play each game as if it were my last. Almost immediately after I made that decision, success slowly came for the team and for me. As I entered the professional world, I never forgot this lesson: there will always be teams and individuals more talented than you are, but scrappiness and hard work can make up for many shortcomings in talent. I can truly say that this learning has served to benefit me well athletically, academically and professionally at every step of my life's progression since."