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Some legacies stand the test of time. There is little doubt that when legendary LaGrange High tennis coach Kenny Moore calls it a wrap on his time as a coach and educator, his legacy will live on for generations. The book of Moore added another punctuating chapter on Monday as the coach won his 1,000th match as head coach at LaGrange High (520 with the boys and 480 with the girls).

“It was a long time coming,” Moore said, flashing a big grin. “It was surreal to see everybody who showed up. I really wasn’t expecting it and it really was a special time.”

His accomplishments read like a laundry list: 3x state runner-up, over 20x region coach of the year, the Section 3 Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High School Sports,

GHSA Tennis Coach of the Year and USTA Tennis Coach of the Year. That barely scratches the surface of what he has accomplished since taking over as the tennis coach at LaGrange High in 1991.

While Moore is now synonymous with the Granger tennis program, it was not so very long ago that he was an assistant coach for the football team. Moore arrived in LaGrange in 1989 and has called Troup County home ever since.

Moore has impacted thousands of young tennis players coming through Troup County, but his impact extends well beyond the lines on the court. The long-serving Granger is as beloved in the classroom as he is on the courts, as evident by the droves of his calculus students who came out to celebrate coach Moore on Monday.

“Little things like that mean so much to me,” Moore said. “Even Charlie Battle, who won the deciding match, brought me the ball afterwards and gave it to me, and that meant a lot to me.”

Moore is widely beloved in the LaGrange High community and beyond. 

“He is the epitome of a leader,” LaGrange High athletic director Mike Pauley said earlier this year. “He’s in the top ranks of being an educator and a coach. He is exactly what we want at LaGrange High School as a teacher and a coach. He’s an absolute leader in both of his fields (tennis and calculus).”   

When the Grangers officially secured the win on Monday, there was a parade of people waiting to greet Moore, from members of the school board to former players to members of the Troup County tennis community and beyond. 

“It takes a leader, a coach, a mentor, a friend to accomplish all of the things that he has accomplished,” Pauley said, addressing the crowd on Monday. “All these people have been affected by the work he has done in the community.”

As special as those greetings from everybody were, nothing brought a bigger smile to Moore’s face than when his three grandchildren came to hug him after the match.

A thousand wins is now old news for Moore. On Tuesday, the girls’ team won the opening game of the region tournament, marking Moore’s 1,001 win as a Granger. Moore is not slowing down any time soon.

“I don’t have an exit strategy,” Moore said. “When people ask me ‘where do you work’ and I try to make sure I tell them ‘I don’t, I teach school and coach tennis at LaGrange High and it really is the best job in the world.”