A southeast Idaho native is being inducted into the 2026 United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame.
Rod Ross, who grew up in Pocatello, is the former head coach of Team USA Bowling. He first became interested in bowling when he was just 6 years old.
“It was probably 1982 or 1983, I decided that I had to give up my full-time job or give up this hobby, and the hobby was much more fun,” Ross said. “I decided to leave my full-time employment and go into the bowling pro shop business, and that’s where it kind of all started.”
Ross started by buying old bowling equipment to sell to family and friends from the basement of his family’s house as a hobby. He originally didn’t foresee it becoming a career.
Ross opened his personal pro shop in the late 1990s in Pacifica, California, which is where he was also introduced to the coaching scene.
He became an assistant coach for Team USA in 2007 after coaching the junior team, then was promoted to head coach in 2010.
“During my tenure there, we ended up having more than 300 international medals and over 150 of them were gold,” Ross said. “That’s in world championships, Panam games, league championships, world cups. I was a little shocked when actually seeing the numbers.”
When asked about getting the call to be the first Idahoan to ever make the USBC Hall of Fame, Ross was “shocked.”
“I’d never reflected on being put into the Hall of Fame. It never even occurred to me,” Ross said. “I was pretty excited. I was trying to find out who else from Idaho was in it, and they were shocked too when they were doing the research do that there hadn’t been anyone.”
Ross advises people to pursue their passions and dreams.
“If you work in something that you love or a hobby, you’ll never really work a day in your life,” Ross said. “Do what you enjoy doing.”