Ross Armitage played an instrumental roll in developing high school sports in District 2, especially with basketball. He coached four boys’ and one girls’ basketball teams and also helped start the football program at Kendrick High where he was the team’s first coach.
Ross started his teaching career in 1934 in a one-room school at Bingville, about 10 miles east of Kendrick. He then taught at Southwick before moving on to Kendrick in 1939 where he coached basketball. During a stretch from 1944-48, his team made five straight trips to the state tournament. In 1947, Kendrick won the Class B state title. Kendrick also placed second in 1946 and ’48. In football, four years after starting the program, the team went undefeated.
The graduate of both Lewiston Normal School and the University of Idaho then took a 10-year break from coaching before returning as junior high coach in Winchester in 1960. He went on to coach boys’ basketball at Prairie High and led the team to the 1965 consolation title. His final stop was at Culdesac where he was boys’ basketball coach and then moved on to the girls’ team, where he led Culdesac to a 33-0 record in 1970. Bob retired from coaching and teaching in 1973.