By Shannon Lukens.  Courtesy photo.

 

Kelly Meek is being inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame, Class of 2026.

 

 

I’m humbled by it, and I’m really very grateful for whoever put me up. I don’t know who did it still. I mostly am grateful to all the kids and my assistant coaches, and my past coaches and teachers that I had when I was young. It means a lot to me about what all they did and the dedication they had. And so it’s more about an award for everybody and a team, and I’m just grateful I was able to acquire a job in Steamboat Springs.

My wife and I moved here in 1972, and she was a teacher for 30 years and I taught here for 36. And I’m still involved, I’ve still stayed involved in coaching. I coach a high level high school team that travels nationally and plays in a league that has 62 guys in the NBA right now, and it’s our high school kids, and I’m able to coach my grandsons in that league.

 So it’s just been a really neat trip and I’m excited for this. You know, my wife has just been phenomenal in this, because it’s not easy. You know, we live on airplanes every weekend just about for about eleven months out of the year, and it’s unsalaried, it’s all volunteer. But I look back at the coaches and teachers that I had when I was young, because I graduated from high school in 1965, and their salaries were nothing.

They all had second and third jobs in the summer, I remember that. But they lived for us kids. So I just wanted to emulate the type of people that I was influenced by.

 Meek and his wife moved to Steamboat Springs in 1972, to start coaching different sports at the high school.

 

Meek was Head Basketball Coach at Steamboat Springs High School for 34 years. With the Sailors, he won 44 league, district or regional championships and 20 preseason tournament championships.

 

Meek finished with 544 wins at Steamboat Springs which ranks him third all-time among Colorado high school coaches and second all-time among coaches at one school.

 

The gymnasium at Steamboat Springs High School was named after him in 2005.

 

He entered the Colorado High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

 

Meek also helped coach track and football and served on CHSAA boards.

 

Meek was a multi-sport athlete at Alamosa High School.

 

The induction ceremony is April 22, 2026 at the Douglas County School District’s Legacy Campus.

 

From the Press Release from CHSAA — CHSAA Announces Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Kelly Meek is synonymous with excellence in Colorado high school athletics. A standout multi-sport athlete at Alamosa High School, Meek excelled in basketball, football, and track before embarking on a 34-year career as head basketball coach at Steamboat Springs High School. He built Steamboat into a perennial contender while also coaching track, assisting in football, and serving as a leader on CHSCA and CHSAA boards. Known for his teaching ability, leadership, and influence on the Western Slope, Meek inspired thousands of athletes and coaches throughout his career.

 

Western Colorado University website – Kelly Meek, Assistant Coach