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.