Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. This is a long post. If you are receiving it through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all photos and the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (# External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

In December 2023, Janet and I moved into a new house in the Portland suburb of West Linn. We liked our former abode – also in West Linn – but it had three flights of stairs which was problematic for me after my back fusion surgery in 2022.

Our two nurse daughters strongly suggested – okay, were adamant: “Mom and Dad, if you want to stay in a house rather than move into a retirement community, you need to get another house.”

We love our house – in a new ten-lot development – just off the Willamette River. It has two levels, but aside from two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a playroom for our granddaughters, all the essentials are on the main floor. (This design used to be called “Master-on-the-Main” but I won’t go there….) We call the second floor “The Family ADU.”

Our neighbors across the street and one house down, are Kirk and Carol Anderson. They were the first ones to move in – two years before we did.

They are remarkable and friendly people – avid gardeners, very fit (Carol walks about three miles to the store every day and the second day I interviewed them, they had two morning fitness classes.) They invited us over to pick some strawberries from their garden to introduce themselves.

The Coach is in Your Court!

Kirk is a very humble guy and I happened to peek into his home office while I was there and was totally amazed – not an overstatement. There were scads of tennis photos, trophies, plaques and mementos.

One of the first I saw was a picture of him and a female tennis great on the cover of a 2023 ADDVantage tennis magazine with the title “USPTA Hall of Fame Inductees Kirk Anderson and Chris Evert.”

Before that visit, I had no idea what the now-retired couple did during their careers except that they had moved many times over the course of it.

Two other framed items prominently displayed on his wall were his Eagle Scout ribbon and medal and God and Country Award – both prestigious and requiring perseverance and dedication.

I’m always looking for another interesting individual or group to profile on this blog as a “Beerchaser Notable”, so I asked Kirk if I could interview him and take some pictures.

He smiled and agreed although with our mutual travel schedules, it took about two years before we finally met for two extraordinarily interesting 2.5-hour chats at his house.

During my blog’s fifteen years, I’ve profiled athletes, musicians, war heroes, lawyers, media personalities and others and without trying to spoil this narrative, I will tell you that Kirk (and his wife, Carol) have one of the most interesting stories and compilation of accomplishments of this distinguished group.

They were both raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, but didn’t meet until after high school – both graduated in 1969. They met at a church work camp constructing two cabins and two outhouses in Chugiak Alaska. That was also their first flight on an airplane.

Kirk was a good athlete and in high school, besides his scouting activities and serving as Senior Class President, he lettered in four sports – track, tennis, basketball and cross country. “I had no interest in cross-country except to get in shape for basketball….” (#1 – #2)

The above quote is another example of his modesty. In reviewing his resume, I saw the notation “KVA Two-mile Champion“. I asked him if he was sandbagging me. The story goes like this:

“I had a great cross country and track coach my sophomore year. Over half the team were basketball players trying to get in shape. We never thought we could excel, but he challenged us in every practice and we finished 16-3 that year. The cool guys played football, but they weren’t very good.

We started wearing our running shoes and t-shirts to class and our classmates started noticing us. I was the number two runner and we easily won the conference championship. That spring was the first time I played tennis and also ran the two-mile in track.

Under his guidance, my times got significantly better and I won the Kalamazoo Valley Association championship.”

Upon graduation, both enrolled in Western Michigan University (Carol graduated in 2 1/2 years) and they married in 1972. Kirk was a walk-on for the WMU tennis team after a grueling one-month tryout and made the team — almost. (#3)

The Athletic Director called him into his office and said, “You taught tennis for money and are ineligible.” He had been paid $300 during the summer to teach recreational tennis. (Others team members did too, but Kirk was the only one who answered the question affirmatively on the paperwork.) We laughed that college NIL came too late…

So, while Kirk continued college and worked part-time at a sporting goods store (started stringing rackets during high school and continued through college).

Carol became the primary breadwinner teaching fifth and sixth graders. Kirk graduated in 1973 and also became a teacher – elementary physical education for two years.

He became a tennis professional and taught tennis 50 – 60 hours per week at the West Hills Tennis Club in Kalamazoo making $6 per hour. His monthly take home pay, however, was more than he made teaching.

He realizes he’s got a knack for teaching tennis and loves it. After a year, he started a new job as tennis pro at the Y-Tennis Center in Battle Creek making $24 per hour. You will see that Kirk’s many accomplishments and awards are for being a teacher and coach rather than as a player although he stated, “I always considered and called my self a tennis coach.”

A Teaser – Flash Forward

Based on his accomplishments, contacts and awards, Kirk was invited in to sit in the 2024 Royal Box for the men’s singles final at Wimbledon The photo below shows it, but you will have to wait until the second post to find out who sat in the Royal Box and their seating location.

After the match, he attended the Champions’ Dinner. (I forgot to ask him if this was the first time he’d eaten beetroot.)

You’ll recognize a bunch in the Royal Box including Catherine, Princess of Wales and another celebrity who produced and had the title role in a movie that just bombed in the last two weeks…

Carol watched from another seat in the stadium, but near the end was also invited into the Box.

Hawaii – but Just for a Moment

While working at Centre Court Recreational Center in Michigan in 1979, Kirk got a personal call from Peter Burwash urging him to take a job at the Princeville Resort in Kaui as the tennis pro. Burwash was a Canadian No. 1 tennis player, coach.

He then founded Peter Burwash International, a global tennis management company that introduced tennis to over a dozen countries and taught more than 4 million players worldwide. It managed many high-end resorts including Princeville.

So, Carol and Kirk and their daughter (Shane) and son (Vaughn) – both born in 1976 – moved to the north shore of Kauai, where he taught tennis on outdoor courts for a monthly retainer of $300 and whatever he earned over that from his students.

Princeville is known for its lush, green landscapes. Unfortunately, it’s a very wet area maintained by consistent rainfall – 78 inches annually. “Try making a living teaching outdoors in that weather,” said Kirk.

So, the family moved back to Michigan after a year to work for Prince Manufacturing. It makes auto parts and plastic inserts for GM, Ford and Chrysler and owned the Holland Tennis Club on the corporation’s property. (The President and CEO liked to play tennis.) Kirk became the General Manager – also teaching thirty hours per week.

During the five years in that position, Kirk also earned his master’s degree in Exercise Science at WMU while Carol worked at home taking care of their two young children.

His only day off was Sunday and that’s when Carol said, she had to tell the kids, “Daddy needs to close the door and go into his office to study.”

A Family in Motion…..

Before we continue the specifics of Kirk’s career, for context, let’s look at the complete list of locations they lived leading up to their retirement in Oregon:

It goes without saying, that Kirk would not have achieved his accomplishments without the support of his wife of fifty-four years and their two kids.

Carol participated in both of my interviews and her insight and encouragement during those years was evident. Similarly, they both lauded the attitudes of Shane and Vaughn who adapted well in multiple new schools.

Sports – they both were good at cross country – helped them make the transition. They are still a wonderfully close-knit family with three grandkids.

He also traveled often as his career progressed such as in the new job below and later internationally making presentations in China, India, Canada, England, Belgium, Mexico, Norway, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Kirk’s reputation as a teacher and innovator as well as his ability to make contacts led to another call in 1986 – this time from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) – for a new position in the Midwest Section in Springfield, Ohio.

The goal was to go into the schools and “teach the teachers” – physical education instructors. His territory included five states and he held that position for a bit over five years. That was also his first exposure to the foam ball which you will hear more about in the next post. He was a pioneer in the ROGY movement (Red, Orange, Green, Yellow)

This period is when Kirk started receiving awards which would be one of the hallmarks of his career. In 1985-6, he was named the USPTA Michigan Professional of the Year and in 1985,88-89 and the USPTA Midwest División Professional of the Year.

I will relate more (much more..) of this interesting story in the next post including some of the sixteen books Kirk has written, but not get into the seven surgeries (4 lower back, 1 neck, 1 shoulder and 1 hip replacement).

During both of our interviews, Kirk and I shared stories about back pain and surgeries although with my one back fusion in 2022, he completely overshadows me.

But let me close this introduction to his story with some excerpts from just a few of the testimonials about his book Tennis Beyond Lessons. They are evidence that his acclaimed career was built not just on athletic skill, effort and perseverance, but personal communication and values:

“Kirk Anderson is admired, respected and loved by the tennis industry. He has always been a ‘give back’ person. This book illustrates all the best about him and his substance as a teacher. This will be a bible for all levels of play as it is easy to understand and implement.” Denny Schackter – Tennis Priorities

“Kirk Anderson, also known as the ‘coach’s coach,’ is a mentor to many of us in the industry. His humble and self-deprecating personality successfully disguise one of the most brilliant tennis minds.” Ajay PantSenior Director Racquet Sports, Lifetime Fitness

“Kirk Anderson has a uniquely profound vision of the coaching profession and is one of the world’s leading experts in this arena. He sees the big picture of sports and life development, and yet offers the fine details in a step-by-step approach on how to get the best results for all levels of tennis talent… It truly is the bible for anyone who aspires to become a coach, or learn to coach oneself.” Karen Ronney – 2020 National High School Coach of the Year

Stay tuned for the next post where you will hear more amazing stories and meeting some other friends Kirk made during his career. (I don’t know if he met Bobby Riggs, but….)

External Photo Attribution

All photos unless otherwise indicated are those I took or courtesy of Kirk and Carol Anderson.

#1 – #2. Parchment High School website (https://www.parchmentschools.org/).

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Western michigan logo 2021.png – Wikimedia Commons).  This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain. Author: Unknown 2021.