Roger Ralph was a Principal in the Hockessin Athletic Club (HAC) which he and his partner Bob Carpenter developed and opened in June 2007. A 110,000 sq. ft. facility, HAC is likely the only health club in the U.S. surrounded by a state park. He retired from the health club industry in 2012 and since then has been an active volunteer for Boys & Girls Clubs and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.
From 2001 to 2004 he was a business advisor to Cal Ripken, Jr. and also involved in helping to get the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation off the ground.
From 1980 to 2000 Roger Ralph was the President, and with his wife Elaine, owner of the Bel Air Athletic Club in Harford County, Maryland. Bel Air was recognized by the industry association, the International Racquet and Sports Clubs Association (IHRSA) as one of the five best health clubs in North America and a 21st Century model for family and community oriented clubs.
Prior to entering the health club industry Mr. Ralph held positions with the Columbia Association as Vice President of Human Services for the new town of Columbia, MD, Job Corps, Booz, Allen, Hamilton, and the Small Business Administration where he helped develop a national minority franchising program.
Mr. Ralph holds a BA degree in history from Middlebury College and a Masters Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. He was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University. He has received various public awards including Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Maryland; IHRSA’s Distinquished Service Award; economic development awards from the Small Business Administration and Harford County; and community service awards from the ARC, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Harford County Sexual/Assualt Spousal Abuse Center. He was the 2005 Commencement Speaker at Harford Community College. In 2019 he received the Boys & Girls Club’s Heart of the Region Award, Northeast and in 2023 was presented the Founder’s Leadership Award by the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.
Mr. Ralph is on the Board of Directors of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore. He had served on the Board of Directors of the Harford County Boys and Girls Club and is a volunteer for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota, Florida. He was appointed to Governor Robert Ehrlich’s Task Force on Mentoring in Maryland’s Juvenile Justice System. He has been an active member of the Board of Directors of the Family Life Center, World Learning, Healthy Harford, Harford County Leadership Academy, Harford Community College Foundation, M & T Bank Community Board, Northeast Region, and the International Health, Racquet, & Sportsclub Association. As an IHRSA Director he testified before Congress on national fair competition issues and chaired the committee that developed the health club association’s Code of Ethics.
Elaine and Roger have three grown children, six grandchildren, and “Kenzie”, one very spoiled and loved Australian labradoddle.
