CONTRIBUTOR – SPORTS PROMOTION
Dr. Larry Price
A gentleman and a scholar-athlete, named to Honolulu’s official list of its Top 100 citizens, Dr. Larry Price has touched and influenced thousands of lives across the state of Hawaii and the country. Honored twice by his alumni, the University of Hawai’i, the latest in 2016 with a Lifetime Achievement Award, he helped usher the University into Division I Football by becoming the first NCAA Division I Football Head Coach born and raised in Hawaii.
In his earlier years, “Coach” demonstrated his athletic prowess in other arenas, earning a black belt in judo from Kodokan Judo Institute, studied the martial arts of ju-jitsu and karate and fought his way in boxing to become a heavyweight champion while serving in the U.S. Army.
As a football player (Defensive Tackle), Coach Price was elected captain of the Rainbow Warrior football team an unprecedented three times in 1962, 1963 and 1964. Coach played in the 1957, 1959, 1965 Hula Bowls when Hawaii’s All-Stars pitted themselves against all-stars from the mainland. Larry played for the Los Angeles Rams for a short time in 1966 and was mentored by renowned Coach George Allen.
Coach Price continued his work in athletics, providing opportunities to Hawaii’s youth to achieve higher levels of accomplishments in both sports and education. As Chairman of the O’ahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) Foundation, he developed a self-sustaining fund to support students and schools’ sports programs. He also developed a program with KSSK Radio to recognize selected high school coaches with awards at the Annual OIA Sports Banquet.
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