Larry Bosc

Larry Bosc carries a long history of success as a soccer coach in North and South Carolina. Between 1980 and 1983 he was the men’s head soccer coach at Chapel Hill High School and led the team to the state championship in 1983. Between 1987 and 2007, he served as the men’s head soccer coach at Charlotte’s East Mecklenburg High School where he led the team to the state quarterfinals twice, the state semifinals twice and the state championship final three times, in 1990, 1996 and 2004. Bosc also coached the East Mecklenburg women’s varsity soccer team between 1991 and 2004 and in 2009 leading the team to a conference championship in 1994 and to the state playoffs ten times.

Larry was instrumental in getting soccer started at several schools. Between 1973 and 1975, he started and shaped the program at Carolina High School in Greenville, SC while he served simultaneously as the assistant coach at nearby Furman University. In 1976, he helped the soccer program at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, SC get off the ground and then finished up the season as the head coach of Carmel Academy. In his first year the team won the conference championship and advanced to the state semi-finals, the last year of combined public/private championship. In 1977, the team advanced to the state quarterfinals. His overall record at Carmel Academy was 29-20-1.

At Chapel Hill High School, Larry served for one year as assistant coach before assuming the reins as head coach for four years, 1980-1983. His overall record was 71-9-6. The team won the conference every year during that period, advanced to the state semifinals three times, in 1980, 1982 and 1983, the year that it won the state championship. Larry then moved to Charlotte, where he coached as an assistant at Charlotte Country Day School in 1985,which was a year in which the school won the private school state championship. In 1986 he became head coach and the team advanced to the state quarterfinal round.

Larry’s overall record during his twenty seasons as men’s coach at East Mecklenburg High School was 327-115-43. The team won the conference championship five times, in 1987, 1989, 2001, 2003 and 2004. The school’s women’s teams under his tutelage for 15 years had a record of 176-110-19. Larry’s overall record coaching men’s high school soccer was 435-169-51 and his combined men’s and women’s state playoff record was 45-34.

Larry was chosen in 1994 to serve as men’s coach in the NC Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game and in 2007 as co-coach of the men’s North Carolina team in the Clash of the Carolinas. He was honored in 1980 and in 2001 as State Coach of the Year by the NC Soccer Coaches Association and as NCSCA regional coach of the year on five occasions, in 1991, 1994, 2000, 2001 and 2004. Larry served as president of the NC Soccer Coaches Association between 1983-85, as president of the Central Carolinas Soccer Officials Association 1989-92 and as a member of the North Carolina Coaches Association Soccer Advisory Board 1990-1998. Between 2000 and 2008 he served as a tournament organizer of the Frank Ponce Invitational Soccer Tournament.

Bob Bowen coached at Charlotte’s Providence High School for 16 years, frequently against Larry because Providence was in the same conference as East Mecklenburg High School. He said about Larry that “in the approximately 30 times that we faced each other we went 15-15 but in him I always saw a person that was competitive and organized, a motivator and a leader with initiative.”

Tom Fleming, another veteran Charlotte-area coach, says about Larry, “He was never too busy to answer a question or offer a suggestion that would help to keep my conference on a par with the Southwestern Conference. Larry is a tireless worker for causes he believes in and a fierce opponent. Yet there is a sense of class in his victories that showed he never needed to ‘rub it in’ when he won.”

Mark Guercio played under Larry at East Mecklenburg HS and later returned to take over as head coach. “Larry was a model to his players, showing deep respect for the game and the competitive mentality it takes to have success. He expected excellence.”

Larry describes his passion and love for the game as the biggest factor in carrying him through his years as a coach and as a player. It is that love of the game that he tried to give to all of his players. He learned through the years that one of a coach’s most daunting tasks is to convince exceptional players to play within a team framework and to appreciate assisting in team success as well as being at the center of it.

Larry is married to the former Mary Leta Preston. They have two children, Cortland Preston and Ryan Stuart.