Holy Family’s Coach Rossi “still having fun”
It’s a new year, but it’s the same song and dance for Holy Family girls basketball under 14th year head coach Ron Rossi.
Over the last four seasons, “Rocket Ron” — as the longtime Colorado hoops fixture is nicknamed, because of his uptempo, energetic coaching style on the sideline and the practice court — established the Tigers as a perennial 4A contender after winning six 3A state championships from 2008-14.
And since moving up a classification in 2015, Holy Family has won three consecutive Tri-valley League titles while making the semifinals (2016), the quarterfinals (2015) and the Sweet 16 last season.
All of which is all the more impressive considering that Holy Family is dwarfed in size by other top 4A powers.
With an enrollment of 627 entering the 2016-18 CHSAA classification cycle, Rossi’s talent pool is small when compared with No. 1 Pueblo West (1,340), No. 2 Golden (1,254) and defending champion, thirdranked Evergreen (1,056).
But, as Rossi explained, the Tigers’ continued success in 4A is rooted in one of his favorite catchphrases.
“The kids believe they can be the next team that gets to go to state, so they work hard in the offseason and buy in to the meaning of ‘the tradition never graduates,’ ” Rossi said. “That’s a really big factor, because each subsequent class takes a lot of pride in the winning environment that’s been built here.”
Rossi also leans heavily on multisport athletes. Every girl on his varsity roster plays at least two sports, and senior point guard Izzy Hren best epitomizes the program’s tendency toward nonspecialization.
Hren, who leads the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game, also competes in cross country, soccer and track.
Plus, Holy Family now has what Rossi calls “the best freshman class I’ve ever had here,” as highlighted by point guard Genevieve Gudino and center Cecilia Aanerud.
Gudino in particular has made her presence felt immediately, with 7.8 points and 3.4 steals per game as an invaluable first player off the bench.
“‘G’ is an interesting player in the sense that she creates a lot of energy for us, gets steals and gives us points off the bench as our second-leading scorer,” Rossi said. “She sparks both defensive and offensive runs when she comes in.”
It’s the play of Gudino and her fellow freshmen — and the championship prospects for Holy Family once again this season — that has the 68-year-old not even thinking about retirement in the midst of a 45-year career that began as the boys head coach at Lakewood in 1976.
“I still have a strong passion to keep coaching,” Rossi said. “I’m still having fun, the kids are still relating to me, and I feel like I’m still effective. I’m just as excited for a practice as I always have been.”
Rossi’s 285-71 career record ranks him 20th in state girls basketball history in victories, and his six state titles are tied for second in CHSAA history behind only Highlands Ranch‘s Caryn Jarocki.
And, as the longtime math educator enjoys his transition to teaching “lifetime fitness” at Holy Family this year — a class in which Rocket Ron gets to impart his wisdom in tennis, golf, pingpong, bowling and other sports — the coach believes his basketball team has its top priority straight in a parityladen classification.
“Anything can happen once you get to the Final Four, but it’s a tough road,” Rossi said. “There are 10 teams that are all pretty close, so we know we’ve got to try to be the most improved team come March.”