Holy Family girls basketball coach Ron Rossi is 19th winner of annual honor.
Holy Family basketball coach Ron Rossi brings passion to girls’ game
Ron Rossi has always had a certain energy about him. ¶ Whether it was as a three-sport athlete at Arvada West in the mid-1960s, a two-sport athlete at Colorado College after that or as the boys basketball coach at Lakewood from 1976-93, “Rocket Ron” brought an all-in approach to whichever team he belonged to.
But no one has benefited more from Rossi’s sporting passion than female student athletes. In addition to a long track record coaching softball and girls tennis, over the past two decades the 68year-old has emerged as “a pioneer in the development of girls basketball” in the Centennial State, according to Regis Jesuit coach Carl Mattei.
“Rossi came over from the boys game (to assist at Arvada in 1993) and built a reputation of success,” Mattei said. “He’s one of the hardest workers in terms of preparing his team, he assists his girls to postprep programs and gives his kids every opportunity to succeed — running camps and through spring and fall leagues as well as academic tutoring.”
That legacy — more so than the six Class 3A state titles and 312 wins amassed since he took over as the head girls basketball coach at Holy Family in 2004 — is why Rossi is the 2018 winner of the Dave Sanders Colorado Coach Award, presented annually by The Denver Post to someone who has demonstrated longevity and success in teaching and coaching female athletics.
Like Sanders — a highly respected softball coach, basketball coach and teacher who gave his life to protect students in the 1999 Columbine shooting — Rossi cut his coaching chops as an eager 20something in the Jeffco League.
“Dave and I and Ron were all coaching basketball back in the early 1970s, in the sophomore boys baseball league before everyone started moving up into a higher position,” said Rick Bath, a former Columbine coach and teacher and Sanders’ best friend.
“We always liked coaching against him in basketball and then softball when he was at Arvada (from 1971-76 and 1993-2004), and what we noticed was that he always seemed to get the most out of everybody he ever had on his team, even if the talent level wasn’t there. They all played hard for him and they were invested in him, and that was a lot like how Dave coached.”
The ease with which Rossi gets his players to buy in has been made abundantly clear at Holy Family, where he turned girls basketball into one of the school’s flagship sports with an approach that combined tenacity with a bit of tenderness.
Before games against notable rivals, Rossi was once known to bring in a picture of the opposing team’s mascot and hand darts to his players. That’s the competitive side of Rossi, which has propelled him to 482 career wins (boys and girls).
But he has also always simultaneously played the role of the nurturing father figure to his female players too, bringing them flowers on Valentine’s Day and providing postpractice math help whenever called upon.
“He would do the craziest pregame speeches to us, but they were absolutely motivating and that’s how he started to gain our trust,” said Mackenzie Altman, Rossi’s first point guard at Holy Family. “We saw how much time he put in, how much the program meant to him and how dedicated he was to us.”
When Rossi arrived in Broomfield for Altman’s junior season, his impact was immediate.
“When I played there, there wasn’t this culture of winning or a regimented, structured program,” Altman said. “But when he came in, it changed everything, and you could tell in the first summer when we went to a variety of camps. You could tell that was the beginning of a dynasty.”
And the good news for Tigers fans — and fans of girls high school hoops in general — is that “Rocket Ron” still has plenty of fuel left in the tank as he eyes the 500-win milestone this winter with a roster highlighted by a talented and experienced sophomore class. The Tigers went 21-4 and made the Sweet 16 last season.
“I’m still having fun,” Rossi said. “When I’m still having fun, and the kids are still relating to me, I’ll keep coaching. When I find out I can’t do those things, it’s time to retire, but I don’t think that’s going to be anytime soon.”