Ron Rossi, a Lake Placid resident who was the USA Luge executive director and CEO from 1985 to 2013, was recently hired as the controller of USA Curling, based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He replaces Tom Doherty, who joined USA Curling in 2015 and will be returning to New York state.

“I am looking forward to attacking the challenges that will come with this new role, but more importantly, I hope that I can put my prior experiences in the Olympic Movement to good use to help the organization with its efforts to win Olympic medals,” Rossi said in a press release. “I appreciate the confidence Rick has shown in me for not only the job to be done, but also for allowing me to work remotely from my home in Lake Placid.”

Rossi was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic luge team and was the first American luger to finish in the top 10 at the Winter Olympics. He arrives at USA Curling with a great deal of knowledge and experience working for one of the country’s eight Winter Olympic national governing bodies.

As controller, Rossi will be responsible for managing accounting, budgeting, grant compliance/reporting, audits and some human resources functions. Duties also include identifying and managing the implementation of procedural changes designed to improve internal controls, departmental efficiencies and financial reporting.

Rossi’s new job was announced on Thursday, July 27 along with the hiring of Heather Houck, of Stevens Point, as bookkeeper/office manager at the national office. Houck is a recent graduate of Mid-State Technical College’s accounting and business administration program. She will replace Simone LaMarche, who is moving to Madison, Wisconsin.

“We welcome Heather and Ron to the USA Curling National Office team, and believe that their skills and expertise are great additions as we continually strive to make USA Curling the best that it can be,” USA Curling CEO Rick Patzke said in a press release. “Personnel changes are always challenging, especially in organizations like ours with a small staff. Tom and Simone will be greatly missed, and we wish them all the best as they start the next chapters of their lives.”

Rossi helped guide USA Luge from a sports organization with little international success to one boasting five Olympic medals to date. With a strong background in managing the business side of a sports organization, Rossi’s experience will help strengthen the national office’s management team. A graduate of Manhattan College with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Rossi also served as CEO of the United States Luge Foundation, Inc.

The U.S. Curling Association office is headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and is the national governing body for the Olympic sport of curling and Paralympic sport of wheelchair curling. The association has seven full-time staff members at the Wisconsin office in addition to the High Performance Program staff. The association has more than 170 member clubs in 43 U.S. states with approximately 20,000 members.