Phil Mickelson is recognized around the world as having the best short game in golf.

Doesn't mean he won't be hitting thousands of chip shots today.

And just because Kobe Bryant is bound to go down as one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game, doesn't mean he won't be in the gym tomorrow firing off hundreds of jumpers and free throws.

The moral of the story?

No matter how accomplished someone is, there's always room to get better.

Count Gary Ross among those who subscribe to that philosophy.

An accomplished soccer coach in the area for more than a decade, Ross reached the highest level of soccer coaching in America this past January, when he was awarded the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Master Coach Diploma at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore.

Now in its second year, the NSCAA Master program is the newest and most advanced coaching education program in the United States and is modeled after the Union of European Football Associations A Coaching License that's taught in Europe.

To date, only 21 people nationwide have completed the NSCAA Master program, in which candidates have 18 months to complete a series of 30 projects that are concentrated on finding new ways to grow the game of soccer in America.

Most impressive in Ross's case is that he completed the program in just 12 months.

"It was great. It was absolutely phenomenal," Ross, a native of England, said of the experience. "You think you know a lot about soccer when you play, but you really don't until you get educated by the national staff. The national staff in America are wonderful coaches. And the way soccer has grown in this country, the coaches' education is just priceless."

Not that Ross didn't know a few things about coaching — and the game — prior to taking on the Master program.

A former member of England's U18 Youth National Team, Ross came to the U.S. in 1987 to accept a full soccer scholarship to Lock Haven University, where he was a two-time All-American and became the school's all-time leader in goals and points.

He went on to play professionally for the Delaware Wizards of the United States Interregional Soccer League and later for the National Professional Soccer League's Philadelphia Kixx, Baltimore Blast and Harrisburg Heat.

Since then, Ross has been a fixture at Lanco Field House, where he runs his own soccer school (Rossi Soccer Academy) and is also the Academy Director at Penn Legacy Soccer Club, where he teaches the fundamentals of the game to over 600 kids under the age of nine.

He was also a three-time section coach of the year while guiding Lancaster Catholic High School's girls' soccer team.

Along the way, Ross also earned his NSCAA Premier Diploma (for on-field coaching) and his United States Soccer Federation "A" License.

But meeting the requirements of the NSCAA Master program, Ross said, was easily one of the most eye-opening experiences of his soccer coaching life.

After all, the program isn't about Xs and Os or specific skill development — areas in which Ross is supremely educated.

Instead, it's about expanding the game's reach in a plethora of different ways, which in turn also expanded Ross's horizons in areas outside of soccer.

One of his projects, for example, was to create a video of a soccer dance, where he had to choreograph a dance routine to music and then incorporate the use of soccer balls. The combination of music, rhythm and dance, Ross found, was remarkably in sync with the rhythm used in soccer.

"I had 35 girls in mine (video) and it was awesome," Ross said. "It's something I never would have thought of doing and the kids had an absolute blast."

"I had no idea how to even put a video together," he added. "So, now you're going out of your realm. I had to make DVDs and CDs, which I learned to do."

Ross had another learning experience last summer at Clipper Magazine Stadium, where he put together "A Day of Soccer" that featured on-field soccer clinics, a live band and his own play-by-play over the PA of a U.S. World Cup game that was being broadcast live on the big screen. Ross also held a raffle to raise money at the event, which attracted 2,500 people, he said.

But that was only after learning through the Barnstormers office that he needed both a gaming license (for the raffle) and proof of insurance to hold a special event.

"I said, 'I need proof of insurance for what?' " he recalled. "I had no idea."

Among Ross's other notable projects were a one-on-one interview with legendary Warwick High School field hockey coach Bob Derr, which Ross found extremely educational; a trip to Liverpool, England, where he attended soccer academies to find the root of their success; spending three days with DC United of Major League Soccer, after which he wrote a 48-page report detailing everything about the organization; taking some of his soccer students to the Crispus Attucks Center in Lancaster to serve meals to the homeless; and a slew of fundraisers with which he and some of his soccer students raised money for the Central Pa. Food Bank and AIDS Awareness, to name a few.

So, why go through all of that?

"All of that makes me more knowledgeable, more of an expert, more of a Master and I can take that back to the American culture and try to build the game in this country," Ross said. "I've been here 24 years now so I almost feel more American than British.

"I love this country, I love the soccer part of it and I'd like to see us win a World Cup one day over here. And I just wanted to do my part in the community so I could make myself better and make my club better."

"People will say 'Why am I paying to see Rossi for coaching?' " Ross continued. "Well, I've got Master coaching licenses, I've got Premier coaching badges, I've got my USSFA license … so, credentially, I'm on the top of the ladder. It was a personal goal of mine that I wanted to achieve."

And soccer, in this area — and in this country — is bound to achieve because of it.

jfulginiti@lnpnews.com