3 hours ago
Ben Kirk did not dedicate his life to the art of sports for recognition or praise. He did it because he knows how much sports can shape a young kid, and how much impact a good coach, or a bad one, can have on the way student-athletes carry themselves later in life.
Kirk, the Coal Ridge High School Titans athletic director, was named the 3A Athletic Director of the Year by his colleagues in the Colorado Athletics Director Association after a year of individual, team, and school-wide accomplishments.
The 2024-25 school year was one to remember for Coal Ridge High School.
The Titans varsity baseball team hung its first state championship banner in program history after a historic playoff run. The Titans co-ed cheer team claimed its eighth straight state title. The Titans girls track team finished second during the state meet. And the varsity boys basketball team reached the Class 4A Final Four for the first time in program history.
“It just goes to show that all of our programs have been successful across the board,” Kirk said. “I’m being recognized because of what the Cheer team does every year, the baseball and basketball teams last year, our soccer and track teams every year. There’s a lot of great kids, coaches, and a whole community that this award represents.”
Kirk has loved sports since he can remember. The ex-college baseball player learned at a young age just how much an inspiring coach can do for young student-athletes — and, conversely, how much damage an uninspired coach can do to an inspired student-athlete.
“When I was little, I absolutely loved sports. It felt like that’s what I was born for,” he said. “From a young age, I had some really great coaches who taught me that sports are about more than sports. I still remember my first coach, Mr. Yantzer, who taught us that there is much more to sports than how to field and hit the ball.”
After being promoted from head coach of the Titans’ track team to Coal Ridge Athletic Director in 2022, Kirk immediately set out to build a culture of confidence, respect, and accountability. He explained that the goal of an athletic director should be to foster positive aspects of every facet of an athlete’s growth — not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
“We focus on building each individual kid both athletically and character-wise,” Kirk said. “I think a lot of places do one or the other, but doing both takes a lot of time and energy. We’re not perfect at it, but we’re always trying to get better. I think our community, our kids, and our coaches have all bought into that, and it feels like we have some traction.”
Kirk said he loves almost every aspect of his job because there’s no set game plan for success, and the visible improvements he has seen as his “top-down” culture has become ingrained. He said that his group of leaders challenge each other, which oozes into his student-athletes.
“I love my job,” Kirk said while blasting a smile. “We have an awesome group of coaches that we meet once a month, and we all have high expectations of each other. It’s not just me, it’s a group effort. Seeing them succeed is awesome, and that trickles down to seeing the individual kids succeed as well.
“You never really know if you’re doing the right thing,” he continued. “In sports, there’s always a bajilion ways to do everything, so we just try to stick to our mission, which is to build a student-athlete’s character. Sometimes it feels like maybe we’re not doing things the right way, but with recognitions like this, that really reflects on the entire community, things seem to be going in the right direction.”
The recognition was awarded by a vote of members of the Colorado Athletic Directors Association throughout the state and is intended to highlight those who make positive contributions to Colorado Athletics.
“When left uncontrolled, athletics can actually teach the opposite of character,” Kirk said. “If you put a bunch of hormonal teens in a gym or whatever and just say ‘Get after it,’ you’re not going to get anything positive out of that; it’s going to get super competitive and dirty and nasty.
“Doing the opposite is why sports are important to me,” he continued. “The kids aren’t just learning sports. They’re learning how to become good young men and women. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what we’re consistently talking about and working on.”
Kirk will be presented with the recognition during the annual Colorado Athletic Directors Association awards banquet on April 27 in Breckenridge, an event that he said he was happy to be included in, but joked his acceptance speech won’t be too extensive.
“I don’t really know what to expect besides a nice dinner with my wife,” Kirk laughed. “A lot of the ADs that will be recognized are people who have been around a long time and have done a lot of good, so I’m just excited to be a fly on the wall and be able to pick their minds.
“It doesn’t feel like these recognitions for our athletes or coaches or ADs or whoever come to the Western Slope as often as they’re seen on the Front Range,” he continued. “It’s cool that the Western Slope programs are getting their names out there, so to be recognized like this is awesome.”
From playing Little League and college baseball to coaching track and ultimately becoming the Coal Ridge Athletic Director, Kirk’s mentality around sports has always remained the same. Sports without respect aren’t sports. He has dedicated his life to mentoring the next generation to become not only good athletes but also respectful members of society.
“When I was playing baseball in college, it didn’t seem fair to me that guys who kept making super bad decisions all the time had all that talent,” he said. “When I started coaching here, I tried to fashion the track team around the mentality that we’re going to be super competitive, but we’re also going to be respectful, and we’re going to do things the right way.
“Hopefully, when these kids are out in the world, doing whatever their life takes them, they’re just good people. They’re people you want to know, and they’re people you want to hire,” Kirk said.
