Waldorf to Launch Hockey Team

Douglas G. Ross

Waldorf College announces the start of its men’s hockey program to be lead by famed collegiate hockey coach Douglas G. Ross, a four-time national championship coach. The program will begin recruiting immediately in preparation for its inaugural 2011-2012 season.

“I know there is a lot of good hockey here in Iowa -- over in Des Moines and Mason City and in Minnesota,” Ross said. “There are some people who want to play hockey and get their education. This program is a good opportunity for high school students, college transfers and junior hockey players.

The team will start playing a club schedule and hopefully join a conference and play approximately 24 to 28 games at a nearby city ice arena in Albert Lea, Minn.  

“This might be really good marriage for Waldorf College and the youth hockey in Albert Lea because our boys will be good role models for the younger players. We will work with them at clinics and we hope that the Albert Lea community comes out and watches us play,” Ross said. Doug has over thirty-five years of hockey camp and clinic experience.   “We would love to get lots of players from Minnesota and Iowa that are dedicated to earning their degree and have a passion to play hockey for Waldorf.”

While recruiting is important to Ross, he does stress the importance of morals, academics, and being the best citizen you can be both on and off the ice. “The most important goal is to build a team that will play with a lot of passion, character and sportsmanship and develop a good reputation. We want them to achieve academically, too. I would love to have a bunch of honor roll students,” Ross said. “I will work with them and give them 30 years of coaching and some 20 years of playing experience.”

And that experience started when Ross played outdoor hockey as child and won several outdoor state hockey championships on the Sunnyside Hockey Team. He transitioned to indoor leagues at age 14 and later played for the Detroit Junior a Red Wings, Southern Ontario Hockey Association champions.  Ross continued his pursuit of hockey at Lake Superior State College in Michigan where he played on the NAIA National Championship winning team in 1972.

Ross transferred and earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1975 becoming the highest scoring right wing in the nation. While there, Ross played hockey under the legendary coach Ron Mason and went on to play the right wing position for the U.S. National Hockey Team in 1975. Ross then played for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team competing in the XII Winter Olympic games which was coached by the legendary Bob Johnson.

Ross earned his master’s degree in education at Western Michigan University in 1979 while coaching Kalamazoo Central High School where he worked for two years. Then Ross went on to coach hockey for two years at Kent State University before transferring to the University of Alabama-Huntsville. 

“Everybody would say for years they didn’t know we had a hockey program in Huntsville, Alabama,” Ross explained. “But we grew it up.  We grew it up with a lot of support from the Huntsville community, especially the Huntsville Amateur Hockey Association, UAH, and the players from the 1982 Championship Club Team. Together we moved the program forward.”  The hockey program grew and thrived under his leadership from 1982 to 2006. The team won two club league national championships and later two NCAA Division II championships. During 2006, the UAH Chargers competed in the NCAA Division I Hockey tournament. Ross’ college hockey win-loss record is 510-294-43.

A top ranked Division I hockey coach, Ross chose to take a break from hockey to spend time with family and watch one of his sons, Jared, grow to become a NHL Philadelphia Flyers player. Jared now plays for the Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL.

After talking with Waldorf College President Dr. Joe Manjone, a former University of Alabama colleague, Ross “kinda’ got hungry again and wanted to “get back in the game.”  A year of talks with Manjone and visits to Waldorf finally lead to Ross’ return to men’s collegiate hockey and another opportunity to build a program into a national contender.

 “The growth of hockey continues to rise in the U.S.  Just about every state has hockey programs right now.  I look forward to growing a team from the ground up at Waldorf just as I did at University of Alabama, Huntsville.  There will be a lot of national recognition for Waldorf with the addition of the hockey team.”