Kent SmithWe all have in our minds the definition of what makes a good. In educational athletics, great coaches focus on a student’s growth, a growth that will sustain them well beyond physical skill development and knowledge of the game.
Kent Smith is just such a coach. Having just retired after 53 years of coaching, Kent is one of the state’s top coaches, regardless of sport.
He coached at Boulder, Ponderosa, Aurora Central, Highlands Ranch, La Veta, and Alamosa high schools during that time.
There is a constant theme to Kent’s coaching resume and that is his integrity and ability to build better people through activities.
He learned coaching from an early age, as his father was a coach at Pueblo Central and Kent often attended practice and games there.
He is a CSU graduate and has a master’s degree from UNC, but started his teaching and coaching career at Aurora Central in 1970 as boys’ soccer coach and assisting in two others.
Kent was soon hired as the boys’ basketball coach at Boulder in 1971 and coached two state title teams (1977, 1979) and a state runner-up (1980) before moving on to Ponderosa. He guided that team to the 1988 state title. He was also the Mustangs boys’ and girls’ cross country coach.
A runner himself, Kent also coached cross country, taking Highlands Ranch to the 1992 team championship.
He retired from teaching, but La Veta sought him out and he got back into coaching, this time girls’. He coached at LVHS from 2005-2011. He then moved over to Alamosa where he coached the girls’ team until he retired in 2016.
