Hillsdale softball coach Kyle Gross will be inducted into the American Collegiate League’s Hall of Fame on June 12.
The American Collegiate League gives female softball players from mostly NCAA Division I colleges and universities the opportunity to develop their skills and compete over the summer. Several students from Hillsdale have competed in the Florida Gulf Coast division, one of four within the ACL.
Kyle Gross first started coaching his daughter’s softball team, and he quickly fell in love with the sport, and eventually the ACL itself.
“I got involved in it just because I’ve always believed there should be a place for female college athletes to participate in summer sports,” Gross said. “Baseball has done it since forever, but there’s never really been leagues where softball players could. So, when I found out about that league, I wanted to be a part of it.”
Gross said it is an honor for his name to be written in their Hall of Fame.
“I didn’t go into the American Collegiate League expecting to even win a championship, which we did our first year there, but I just went into it because I wanted to be a part of something that I believed in,” he said. “And then it turned out, the first year there that I coached, we won the summer championship.”
Gross began coaching Hillsdale College’s softball team in 2019. Since then, he has led the team to one Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season title in 2022 and two G-MAC tournament titles in 2019 and 2023. Gross has coached softball for 20 years, 11 of them at the collegiate level.
“I got into it with my daughter, and it helped us build a relationship all the way through her college years,” Gross said. “And then I was fortunate enough that she even coached with me for two years at Hillsdale.”
Gross’s favorite part of being a coach is the relationships he gets to build with players and students.
“You have a great responsibility as a coach, and it’s not so much as an authority,” he said. “If you look at your position as a blessing and a responsibility, versus a kind of authoritarian or a dictator thing, if you can think of those terms when you’re answering questions, when you’re making decisions, you’ll be way ahead of the game.”
Hillsdale senior and softball player Joni Russell recalled the time when she went into her coach’s office to have an honest conversation with him. After earning an NCAA Division II All-American title her sophomore year, Russell felt overwhelmed with the expectations to excel in her sport during her junior season.
“I just remember I felt really good after leaving Gross’s office,” Russell said. “I felt so empowered. And I was like, no matter what happens this season, God is so good all the time.”
Russell appreciates the energy and can-do attitude that her coach brings to every practice.
“He’s always trying to fix things, and he really cares about every single one of his girls,” she said. “I’ve never really had a coach like that before.”
Hillsdale Director of Athletics John Tharp said coaches like Gross represent what Hillsdale stands for as an institution.
“He gives kids an opportunity throughout the summer to continue to work on their game, but he does it in a way that is right and healthy,” Tharp said. “He’s coaching young people to be the best versions of themselves. It’s a great representation. It tells you what type of person Kyle is.”