Colby Slater

Edward Colby "Babe" Slater ( born April 30, 1896 in Berkeley, California, † January 30, 1965 in Clarksburg, California ) was an American rugby union player. He was double Olympic champion of 1920 and 1924, although the second-row striker total ever came just two appearances for the U.S. selection.

Slater was a talented athlete: With the Berkeley High School, he was in 1911 and 1912 Californian rugby national champion before he went in 1914 to the University Farm School (now the University of California, Davis) and thence to the college teams for Rugby Union, Football, Basketball and Baseball was one. After graduating in 1917, he was drafted by the U.S. Army and served during World War II in Belgium and France in the Medical Corps.

After his discharge from military service 1919, Slater ranchers in Woodland, California; the sport he remained as player-coach of the basketball and American football teams in the American Legion loyal to the local section, the football team won under his leadership in 1927 the championship of Northern California.

In 1920 he was appointed to the purely Californian U.S. selection for the Olympic rugby tournament in Antwerp, was the Olympic champion by a surprising victory against the only other participant France. In 1924 he was appointed as captain of the U.S. team for the Olympic rugby tournament in Paris, his older brother Norman was also on the team. In the first game, a 39:0 win against Romania, however, he did not play. Only in the final against the hot favorites France it was used and led the team to defend their title.

With his sporting successes Slater was in the 1950 President of the Chamber of Agriculture of Woodland. The University of California, Davis draws each year from the most successful athletes of the university with the "Babe" Slater Perpetual Trophy Athletic, In 1980 the University of Slater into their Hall of Fame; well he is a Hall -of- Famer city Woodland.