GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Kirk Price is a short and sweet name, which is an accurate description when you first meet the man.
The longtime Cherry Creek High School tennis coach can also be accurately described many other ways. Highly intelligent. Glib. Caring. Obstinate. Proud. A leader. A rebel. Argumentative. Politically incorrect. And a visionary.
“He comes out as a little abrasive, but he’s the most loyal person to work with,” longtime assistant coach Gary Harris said. “And he’s one of the best nationally in any sport.”
Price, 68, will be calling it a career when the boys tennis season, which opens play Thursday, ends in October with state championships.
“It’s tough, but it’s time,” he said.
What he will take with him in terms of records may never be matched, locally or nationally.
In Price’s 38 years with the Bruins’ boys tennis program, 24 as head coach, Cherry Creek has won 35 Colorado state titles. In his two dozen years in command, his teams have won 22 state titles and finished second twice. Four times in that span the program has gone undefeated in sweeping the three singles and four doubles spots at state.
Cherry Creek owns the national record for consecutive state titles in tennis, a 19-year streak that ended in 1991. Since 1975, the Bruins’ dual-meet mark is an astounding 446-7.
And with a 316-match winning streak that ended in 2000, Cherry Creek owns the third-best undefeated string in any sport in national prep history.
“It’s amazing to me the people who know about Cherry Creek tennis,” Price said of his program’s national reputation.
Part of his secret has been getting incredible interest in his sport. He has helped maintain a computerized ladder to keep track of challenge matches that decides who plays singles and doubles. Average number of active players in a normal year? Try 160. The all-time high was 215.
Price founded the Colorado Tennis Coaches Association and keeps a progressive record book — the Red Train Express — that rivals any Broncos media guide.
He has been inducted into local and national halls of fame, is active on the national circuit for rules and implementation and has sent hundreds of players to compete at the NCAA level, including two No. 1 singles champions.
A graduate of George Washington High School, Price got his coaching start in club swimming and spent 18 years leading the Bruins boys team, which won eight state titles and produced 188 All-Americans.
“People are threatened by greatness; Kirk isn’t,” said Diane Wolverton, who has coached Northglenn’s boys and girls tennis programs for 24 years. “He’s such a good and true person.”
Price has never suffered fools well. He speaks his mind, which can get him in trouble.
On the politics today’s high school coaches must play: “The politics get to be absurd. Everything has to be politically correct and be said correctly. I don’t know; it just is not a good environment anymore. I’m extremely happy with my team and coaches. It’s just the school and school district. The athletic director (Jason Wilkins) is wonderful, and it’s not his fault.”
On joining Cherry Creek when it had about 500 students (it eventually surpassed 4,000): “I didn’t come here with that in mind. … How could you?”
On the tennis ladder that began under coach Rich Hillway and eventually became computerized: “We had to do something. We used to use it on a board with nails (in a shed). Every night I’d go in and move the tags, but somebody knocked the damned board off the wall. … I didn’t remember where everybody exactly was.”
On coaching tennis for the first time: “I had 350 swimmers for the (club) DU Hilltoppers, so I knew how to deal with large masses and keep them interested … but I didn’t know anything about tennis.”
Also a 30-year teacher of mathematics, Price’s numbers add up, no matter how you count.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find very many people with his accomplishments,” Wilkins said.
Price’s teams also traveled abroad, including to China twice. Wolverton’s Norse crew was there and said the Chinese were amazed at the Americans’ prowess.
“It was incredible to go with him,” she said. “Kirk’s just so proud to work with kids.”
Ethan Hillis, a sophomore who is bidding to hold the Bruins’ coveted No. 1 singles spot, said players enjoy their coaches’ storytelling.
“He knows the history of this program and can tell a lot of funny stories,” Hillis said. “My mom and I were just sitting next to him at a tournament and listening.”
Price also has been known to get into hot water. In 2010, some of his players conspired to fix matches on the tennis ladder. While Price was cleared of any wrongdoing, he took responsibility in identifying that the system needed to be modified to ensure the top 11 players would represent the Bruins top varsity team.
And a few weeks into the season last fall, he was charged with sexual harassment and was suspended for the rest of the season. He was reinstated in November.
Wolverton, who called the district on Price’s behalf, termed the punishment “laughable” and insisted that “anyone who knows Kirk didn’t believe it.”
Price moved on from that incident but wanted to end his career on a proper note, coaching this one last season. He has offered to be a volunteer coach next year, but first he has to get through this season. He told his staff Tuesday night he was calling it quits.
“It was tough enough announcing my retirement at a meeting,” he said. “And I know it will be tough to get through this season.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/neildevlin
This Price is right Some numbers from the career of Cherry Creek boys tennis coach Kirk Price:
30 State titles, 22 in boys tennis and eight in boys swimming
38 Years with the boys tennis program
45 Years with the school, 30 as a mathematics teacher
316 National-record consecutive dual-meet victories, third best all-time in any sport.
