The promotional efforts of Ross Balling’s nationwide EVP Tour included a half-hour highlight show produced for cable TV outlets.
The Chicago-area and Midwest beach-volleyball community has been rocked by the death of beloved promoter, mentor and coach Ross Balling, a Chicago native who passed on July 2 at age 60 after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Tributes to Balling’s kindness and passion for the beach sport have flowed across social media, a true testament to the many lives he touched over close to four decades.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday (July 15) at 10 a.m. at Mary Mother of Mercy Catholic Parish-Notre Dame Campus, 1010 Moore Road, Long Beach, Indiana.
On a personal level, I was greatly saddened when news of Balling’s passing reached me. Over the numerous conversations I held with Ross over the years, my overriding impression of him was that he was a gentleman and a gentle man.
I first met Ross when covering beach tournaments of his pro MVP group for the Chicago Sun-Times in the late 1990s. His regional tour was a immensely popular staple of the vibrant volleyball scene at North Avenue Beach. The picture below of Ross in an EVP Chicago tank top was snapped at “The Sandbox” southwest of the iconic Boathouse at NAB with high-rises on Lake Shore Drive in the background.
A complex and physically taxing beach ball-control drill I picked up from Ross about 20 years ago, called “The Bowtie,” I still use to this day when training youngsters of my Gold Coast Spikers program.
The late Ross Balling was an accomplished beach player in his own right and competed in basketball collegiately at Iowa Central Community College and Chicago’s Roosevelt University.
A resident of Michigan City, Indiana, Balling wore a lot of hats in Chicago beach volleyball from a tournament promoter to coach. His EVP tour even had television “package” show for a time on the popular cable channel Comcast Sportsnet. He was instrumental in opening and operating the ground-breaking North Beach Chicago venue in Lincoln Park’s Weed Street entertainment district, the first indoor sand-volleyball facility in the city. From its Midwest roots, his EVP expanded nationally with events held in locales such as Florida, California, Hawaii, Texas and even West Virginia before closing down in 2014.
Typical of the comments about Balling that appeared on social media were those such as by Gary Hazan, a longtime business associate.
“I am beyond sad to learn about Ross’ passing,” Hazan wrote. “I owned Players Sports Group and we worked together for 30-plus years. He helped get our volleyball tournaments off the ground, ran our clinics and always wanted the best for both me and Players.
“We would have many meetings about business but he always led with, ‘How is the family?’ We went through a lot together and all the changes in the (Chicago) Park District and the industry. The last couple of years I had been less involved in the business and wasn’t in contact with Ross nearly as much, which I regret. Ross was one of the kindest and most honest people I have ever met. I was better for knowing him.”
Ross Balling with wife Diane and his kids. (Courtesy of Ross Balling’s Facebook page)
Wrote Brian Olsen about his memories playing with Ross:
“I first met Ross Balling in the early ‘90s, right around the time the North Beach indoor volleyball bar was opening. He ran the Midwest Volleyball Professionals, a local competitive men’s beach-doubles tour based in Chicago,
“Ross always had very aspirational dreams about growing the game in the Midwest, and put a lot of effort into securing sponsors, which paid off quite well when the Chicago Park District raised the beach rental fee from something like $800 to 8 grand one summer. But he made it work.
“I started competing at a pretty low level, but within 18 months I got good enough that he asked me to play in a tournament with him, and we continued to play together throughout the years, and he invited me to Jamaica to play in a sponsored event,” Olsen continued. “This was our first televised event, but on, of course, Jamaican closed-circuit-cable television. The gods must have been looking down on us when we were matched against a team that we played in Chicago somewhat frequently, and we were able to beat them and get to the finals.
“Then basically a hurricane rolled in, but Jamaicans don’t believe in safety so they made us go ahead and play it through. In 30 and 40 mph crosswinds and torrential downpour, we lost to a very good Florida AVP team, and the awards ceremony was sponsored by Coke but also weed, so I became babysitter. It was one of the most memorable experiences in my life, and I wouldn’t have had that opportunity without Ross.
“You motivated so many people. You’ll be missed, but even more by the sport.”
Lori Okimura, president of World ParaVolley, wrote that Balling’s passing was, “heartbreaking. Ross was a real treasure in pro beach volleyball’s evolution from behind the scenes, especially. His quiet optimism and unbelievable work ethic helped shape expectations on what was possible and what could be done when all the entities worked together. Novel concept. He was a gentleman and a cornerstone of the sport. Sad day for old-school volleyball.”
(Editor’s note: Click here for a comprehensive obituary of Ross Balling and further information about his memorial service.)
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