2008 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee
George Loesch picked up a tennis racket for the first time while attending a McClancy Summer retreat, at Belvidere, NJ, with his schoolmates in August 1969. With encouragement from a number of the Brothers (Brother Eric and Brother Robert), he joined the McClancy Tennis Team in the fall of his junior year. The tennis coach was James O’Neil. He just about made the team, playing third doubles in the fall and spring seasons of his junior year. He practices, intensely over the summer, and entering his senior year, became the first singles player on the team. It came together in the spring of his senior year, with the team winning the Catholic High School League defeating Holy Cross in the final match, and George wining the Boy’s Singles Championship Tournament. After playing years of basketball and baseball, George found the sport that he would excel at using his gifted hand-eye coordination, size and speed to his advantage— and it all started at McClancy High School.
George graduated from McClancy in 1971, and headed to Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. George was a walk-on to the Iona team; they were highly regarded in the Metropolitan Conference – Division I, now the Metro Atlantic Conference. His college coach was Brother Harry Dunkak, an Irish Christian Brother who taught history at Iona and who quickly saw the potential and passion George had for the game of tennis. Brother Dunkak took George under his wing and started to teach him the finer points and strategies of the game. After practicing many hours over the winter months, it was in the spring of his freshman year that George made the starting line-up for the Iona Tennis Team. Additionally, George received a full scholarship (half academic and half athletic) to attend Iona his remaining years. Over the next three years, George started teaching tennis as a summer position in Rockville Centre, NY and started playing competitive USTA tournaments. He was a Top 10 ranked player in the USTA, Eastern Division and over his college career was Iona’s leading singles record holder, including winning the MCTC Singles Championship Tennis Tournament in his junior and senior years, and he was named Iona’s Student Athlete of the Year in 1975. He graduated in May 1975, with a BBA in Marketing from Iona College. After graduation from Iona College, George started his professional career working at Yellow Pages, Long Island, NY, and continued to play competitive tournaments and teaching tennis part time. He then moved on to Merritt Advertising, NYC, then on to Snack Time Foods, Terre Haute, IN. George received his MBA from Iona Hagan School of Business, and attended Northwestern University’s Executive Strategic Planning Program and Cornell University’s Food Industry Management Program. He started at the Campbell Soup Company in 1984 as Marketing – Product Manager. He has been at Campbell Soup for 24 years, and is currently Vice President, National Sales Customer Teams. Additionally, since 1994, George has been a volunteer Board Member for Deborah Heart Lung Center, Brown Mills, NJ.
George continues to compete in regional and national level tournaments. In the fall of the 2007 he was on the USTA National Men’s 4.5 Senior Men’s Team that competed in Palm Springs, CA; and the Men’s Open 4.5 Team that competed in Tucson, AZ and finished 3rd nationally. As George looks back over his tennis and professional career he has McClancy to thank for shaping his personality and spiritual foundation, giving him his start in tennis, but also the solid education for his professional career.
Last but not least, George’s pride and joy is his family. Without their support and love, his tennis and professional career would be meaningless. He resides in Mt Laurel, NJ and has been married to Lee Ann for 25 years. They have one daughter Rachele, who attends Loyola College in Baltimore, MD where she is a senior.