Long-time soccer coach in the NCHSAA at Western Guilford and Bishop McGuinness, George Kennedy, passed away last week from a heart attack at age 71.

Kennedy ran the Western Guilford soccer programs, both men and women, for 25 years and was instrumental in getting soccer fields build at Western Guilford. He has been serving at Bishop McGuinness since 2011 as the Head Women's Soccer Coach. 

Bishop McGuinness Athletic Director Jeff Stoller told the Winston-Salem Journal's Jay Spivey, "“As he’s done, I’m sure at Western Guilford and other schools, as well, he has a tremendous rapport with the kids and a great rapport with the parents." Stoller added, “He developed very close relationships with all the kids, all the students he worked with. I’m quite certain that they’re going to be just as devastated as we are.”

He led Western Guilford to a men's state championship in 1992 with a 2-1 victory over T.C. Roberson. His women's teams at Western appeared in three state championship matches in the 1A/2A combined bracket, winning two of them, one in 2004 and the other the follwing year in 2005. He returned to the state championship with the Bishop McGuinness women in 2015, falling to Raleigh Charter 2-1. 

Kennedy was the first men's soccer head coach in Wake Forest University history when he accepted the job in 1980. He was named ACC coach of the year in 1981 and was 62-55-12 in six seasons with the Demon Deacons. He was elected to the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.