Longtime Northern California Coach Randy Gross Battling Cancer

A man that has spent much of his life helping others now needs help of his own.

Randy Gross, a longtime firefighter and lacrosse coach in Northern California, spent several weeks at Ground Zero post 9/11 leading canine search specialist teams in an effort to find survivors or remains after the terrorist attack. Twenty years later, Gross was diagnosed with a cancer tied to his exposure during that time and is now fighting to save his own life.

Gross, the father of 2019 U.S. U19 gold medalist Bri Gross, spent 30 years in the fire service. Between 1995 and 2007, he and his partner canine, Dusty, were involved in several local emergencies and missing person searches. In addition to the 2001 deployment to New York City, they were also deployed to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Randy’s wife, Donna Gross, has also been in the disaster relief business through her work with the Small Business Administration.

Together the Gross’s have been an incredible force during disaster relief for thousands of people around the country, and they’ve also made tremendous impacts locally and in the lacrosse community.

Bri Gross was just the second player from California ever named to a U.S. national team and earned All-World honors in Canada with her father there cheering her on to the gold medal at the 2019 World Lacrosse Women’s U19 Championship. She was also a star player at Vanderbilt and played in the Athletes Unlimited professional league last summer with the American Cancer Society as her charity.

 

 

 

 

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She is one of hundreds of players that her father helped mentor as a coach and impacted through his work with youth programs in El Dorado Hills, Calif, at Oak Ridge High School and through the non-profit Tenacity Project.

Theresa Sherry, herself a former U.S. U19 gold medalist, founded the Tenacity Project and has seen Gross’s impact up close and personal.

“Randy Gross is a symbol of an American hero, and he completely embodies the word tenacity,” Sherry wrote. “The qualities of persistence, determination, and the ability to outlast hard things — this has been Randy on and off the field, in the firehouse, in his home, and in his faith. In the past 18 months, these qualities have helped Randy surpass several physical limits his diagnosis initially represented.”

Former Colorado player Kasey Braun knew Gross as a coach, but also learned about his professional career during a trying time for her family.

“Some of my favorite memories from lacrosse in high school are because of my coach, Randy Gross,” Braun said. “He was a coach who cared about us and saw us not just as players, but as people. When my house burned down in a wildfire in 2019, Randy immediately drove down two hours to help my mom sort through the rubble. There wasn’t much to find, but in that moment, he was the spark of hope that helped my mom come to terms with what had happened and gain some kind of closure. He told her ‘Just keep looking’ and remarkably, they were able to find some of our things still intact beneath that layer of ash.”

Abbigale Young is now a Naval officer after playing college lacrosse at Navy. She played for Gross in the Tenacity program.

“Coach Randy has played a vital role in shaping the woman I am today,” Young said. “He was the second dad to many girls on the lacrosse team — constantly pushing us harder and giving us a role model outside of our own fathers. Knowing Randy’s story as a first responder for 9/11 and the heroism and mental toughness he embodies, I consistently strive to be more like him every day. Randy Gross is the epitome of leadership, heroism, human kindness, and character. I have so much love for him.”

Sherry has organized a GoFundMe page to support his continued fight and assist the entire Gross family. Contributions can be made at https://gofund.me/1fef615e