North Carolina native Koby Baker played in Major League Rugby between 2024-2026. He represented the Seattle Seawolves (2024), and the Chicago Hounds (2025-2026).

Baker played rugby through high school, representing the SA Rugby Boys High School All-Americans Sevens Team in his senior year in 2019. He then moved to Wales to attend Cardiff Metropolitan University (which has produced a number of MLR-ers) between 2019-2022, during which time he played rugby in the BUCS league in the UK. He then went to play in Australia for the 2023/24 season, before returning to the US to play with the American Raptors for their 2024 Super Rugby Americas season.

Once the Raptors’ 2024 SRA season concluded, Baker signed with the Seattle Seawolves for their 2024 MLR Playoff push. He earned 5 appearances off the bench for the Seawolves, appearing in all three Seawolves playoff games including the 2024 Championship Final, finishing as runners-up to the New England Free Jacks. On January 6th, 2025, the Chicago Hounds announced the signing of Koby Baker for the 2025 MLR season after playing with their academy side in the fall of 2024. He earned an additional two appearances for the Hounds off the bench that year to take his career total to 7, while continuing to play with the Hounds academy side.

Following an impressive fall season with the Chicago Hounds’ Autumn Performance Squad, with whom he started games against the Midwest Thunderbirds and Canada’s Pacific Pride, the Chicago Hounds announced the return of Koby Baker to the MLR squad on 13th January, 2026. That season Baker set a new career high for appearances, playing in 6 of the Hounds’ 10 regular season games to help the team finish with a perfect 10-0 record. Baker finished the year as an MLR Champion as the Hounds dominated in the postseason to lift their first Shield after defeating the California Legion in miserable conditions in front of a home crowd. Following the 2026 MLR Season on 4th August, the Chicago Hounds announced a high-performance partnership with Waikato in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship (NPC). As part of this partnership, Baker headed to New Zealand with fellow Hounds Jake Kinneeveauk and Jackson Zabierek to spend 3 months with the NPC side.

Achievements

• 2026 MLR Champion: Chicago Hounds
• 2024 MLR Runner-Up: Seattle Seawolves

NARDB Player #1,286