POCATELLO -- A Pocatello native who coached Team USA in the Olympics and led his players to over 300 international medals will be enshrined in the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 2026.
Rod Ross has been retired since 2020 but his legacy and impact on the sport of bowling was monumental for those he led and instructed.
Ross is a multiple time United States Olympic committee bowling coach of the year and has received the Doc Counsilman Award for his innovations in science and technology in sports. He developed two unique coaching computer applications for port bowling.
"We were world champions," Ross said. "I was coaching players to over 300 international medals and I think over 150 of those were gold. We did the Pan (American) Games. I was there three times and we medaled in gold in all of them."
Ross got his start growing up in Pocatello during the 1960's, graduating from Pocatello High School in 1974. He would later open up his first pro shop The Bowlers Den on East Center, running it there for several years before the business relocated around the early '90's to the Pine Bowling Center.
It was at Pine Bowl that Ross would begin his career as a bowling instructor and grew his understanding of the game. He would move to California around 1994 for more teaching opportunities and to explore the broader markets.
In 2002, Ross would be selected to be the assistant Junior Team USA coach before being named their head coach two years later in 2004. It wouldn't be long before he was an assistant for Team USA bowling starting around 2006 before a promotion to head coach in 2010.
"The coolest thing is hearing your national anthem being played in foreign country with your athletes on a medal stand," Ross said. "It never gets old and it really changes your perspective. When you hear the national anthem played at any sporting game, a lot of people shake it off and just go through the motions, but it means a lot."
Ross recalls a time when he and his team were in Panama for the Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships when the local U.S. military base got wind they were in attendance. The servicemen came with faces painted in support. As the team assembled at the medal stand, the soldiers were singing along with the music in an act that Ross describes as "spine tingling."
Ross's bowling legacy is far reaching. For nearly 12 years he was the first coach and director of the International Training Center for Bowling, where he helped develop and mentor Olympic caliber players.
Ross was able to develop technology that would filter down to local programs in an effort to help players hone their skills. From adults to high schoolers and children, the training center helped prepare these aspiring talents to achieve their dreams.
Despite his many accolades and accomplishments, Ross was still very shocked and humbled after hearing the news that he was to be inducted into the bowling Hall of Fame.
"I just had some great players," Ross said. "I was extremely humbled when I found out that because of my background in coaching and over the years, that they were going to induct me into the Hall of Fame. Because to me, I was just doing what I (normally) do."
When asked what this accomplishment meant to him, all the hours of hard work and dedication to the sport and to the teams he served, Ross said, "I don't know how I could put that into words. One thing I always tried to do as a coach, when we were on the medal stands, I always liked to step into the background, because it was the players' time. When you get down to it, all those gold medals and all those international medals, I never threw one ball. I watched every ball go down the lane, but I was coaching the players and stuff."
Ross will join five other inductees into the bowling Hall of Fame next year at a special convention held in Reno, Nevada. There, Ross will receive his bowling Hall of Fame jacket for meritorious service. This will be the first time someone from Idaho achieved this feat.
When asked what he hopes the many players, fellow coaches and those impacted by his coaching and tutelage take away from his legacy, Ross imparted a final lesson, "Never stop learning and always move forward. Technologies always move forward. Technology is not a bad thing. Everything evolves, everything grows. I was glad to be part of the evolution, of the growth and development of the sport."