The Denver Post this morning had a cool article about my dad. Thanks to John Meyer, he's been covering ski racing for a really long time from the World Cup to the local races to Troy when he was racing and all other sporting events from around the world.
-Denver Post 3/18/2015
BOULDER — With a humility that has marked his 25 years as head coach of the Colorado ski team, Richard Rokos won his eighth NCAA championship to break the school record for national titles and then deflected the glory to others.
He credited CU's tradition of success begun by Bob Beattie — patriarch of American ski racing — and successor Bill Marolt. Rokos gave a nod to CU's cross country coach, Mark Wetmore, who won his seventh NCAA title last fall. Marolt also won seven titles.
"Passing Bill and Mark, it's no motivation," said Rokos, a native of the former Czechoslovakia whose English isn't as polished as the trophy his team brought home Sunday. "I'm more excited about the school having 20 titles for the ski team. This is documentation of tradition of excellence in skiing. I'm glad I was able to maintain it for quarter of century. It's almost obligation, build on what has been done before. If you do less, that's an absolute failure."
Marolt became alpine director of the U.S. Ski Team, returned to CU as athletic director (1984-96) and rejoined the U.S. Ski Team as president and CEO before retiring a year ago. He remains a Buff with great affection for Rokos. "I think what makes him so good is that he really cares about his kids," Marolt said. "It's his passion for the sport and how hard he works at it, whether it's traveling on behalf of the NCAA or USOC at the World University Games, recruiting in Europe or riding his mountain bike with athletes over Rollins Pass to Winter Park. If an athlete sees you're as engaged as they are, they will buy in to your program. That's Richie Rokos."
Both Rokos and Wetmore were CU assistants when Marolt promoted each to head coach in his respective sport, Rokos in 1990 and Wetmore in 1995.
"When I interviewed Mark, you knew in the first 10 minutes of the interview that he's your guy," Marolt said. "It was the same with Rich."
After refusing to join the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia, Rokos defected with his wife and infant daughter in 1980, and seven years later he became a CU assistant.
Now 64, he's a very buff Buff, strong and lean, an avid bicyclist. He lives in Pinewood Springs in the foothills above Lyons, and when his town was isolated by 2013 floods that washed out roads, Rokos used his mountain bike on a mission to get diabetes medicine for a neighbor.
"I came back 12 hours later all bloody because I had to carry bike over all kind of fences and fields," Rokos said. "The diabetes was good excuse for me to get out of there."
Rokos likes to join his athletes on bike rides. He plays in intrasquad soccer and hockey games.
"I believe very deeply in setting example," Rokos said. "I cannot do something I don't want them to do, and if I want them to do something, I would be the one who will be first doing it. I hope at the end of four years I'm giving them a little more than they would get if they go just for skiing. They learn a little bit about how to eat, how to live, how to sleep and how to enjoy life."
Rokos is a beloved figure within the CU family for many reasons, but especially because of the selfless dedication he showed the late Jimmie Heuga in the last years of Heuga's struggle with multiple sclerosis.
Heuga and Billy Kidd became heroes to Rokos when they won slalom medals at the 1964 Olympics — Rokos was 13 at the time — and they became friends when Rokos came to Boulder. Rokos used to pick up Heuga at his assisted-living facility in Louisville — sometimes three times a week — andtake him to the CU track so Heuga could exercise with his hand cycle and feel the wind in his face.
"That was something I will never forget," Rokos said. "He was most coachable, most dedicated, most committed athlete. That was something what enhanced my life."
Heuga died in 2010.
"In many ways, this was mercy of God (who) said, 'OK, you have enough of it, it's time,' " Rokos said. "He gave me different view of things in life. You don't need to be perfect, you can be impaired in many ways, and you can still be happy, which Jimmie was."
Rokos may have reached retirement age, but he's not going anywhere. Coaching helps keep him young.
"I don't want to go to retirement," Rokos said. "Physically, I feel good. Mentally, it's on the borderline. It's still something I enjoy."
-John Meyer
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Photo by : Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Happy Wednesday!
Love and Gratitude!