Retiring Cherry Creek boys tennis coach Kirk Price is doused with a celebratory bucket of water. More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
DENVER — Who knows how it all started.
The success, the individual champions, the team championships.
It’s been a great 45-year ride for Cherry Creek boys tennis coach Kirk Price.
That ride, at least as a head coach, ended Saturday at the Gates Tennis Center when Price coached the Bruins to their fourth consecutive team title. Cherry Creek finished with 83 total team points, besting second-place Fairview (58) and third-place Denver East (45). (Find full 5A results here.)
Price is ceding his head coaching duties. Ironically, he didn’t start out in education and athletics striving to become a tennis coach. A math teacher, his athletic interest focused on the pool.
He started as a swim coach for the DU Hilltoppers club team, then gravitated to head coach at Cherry Creek. Through it all, he coached 188 All-Americans in 19 years.
As a club coach, he was used to working with large number, working with as many as 350 kids.
With tennis gaining popularity at Cherry Creek, the head coach needed somebody used to coaching large numbers.
“He wanted somebody who could work with kids,” Price said.
Cherry Creek coach Kirk Price. More photos. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Whether in the pool or on the tennis court, Price knew there was more to athletics than the sports’ basics.
“There’s something about coaching kids,” he said of his philosophy. “You need to teach kids.”
By that, he means mentoring young athletes on how to be responsible citizens in addition to being good tennis players.
As the national chairman of high school tennis coaches, he’s seen some very successful mentors who didn’t necessarily win a lot of titles.
“You don’t need to win to be successful,” he said.
But he still relishes the victories, as Cherry Creek won its 40th state team title in 45 years on Saturday, Price earning the obligatory water cooler dousing from his team at the awards ceremony.
He cites programs in less affluent areas where coaches deserve recognition.
“There are coaches who coach kids who don’t own tennis racquets,” he noted.
At Cherry Creek, he hasn’t had that problem.
“My secret is I have a very organized booster club,” he said.
He’s also been fortunate as the head coach for 25 years to have strong support from his assistants, including four paid and six volunteers.
With the influx of new schools and more students over the years, “For me to remain at the top all these years, to me it’s a miracle,” he said.
He took great joy in having a dozen or so former players approach him at this year’s state meet, and exchanging stories with parents of former opposing players.
Fear not — the program will remain strong despite his stepping down. And he won’t leave the sport entirely. He’ll volunteer his time at events around the state. He’s too ingrained in the sport to give it up completely.
And he’ll have time to reflect on a very productive career as coach of one of the most successful high school athletic programs in any sport.