Paul Dinkenor
Head Coach
Born in Manchester, England, Paul played soccer for the famed Manchester Grammar School in the 1970’s. As a junior and senior in High School, he was selected to the England Public Schools team which competed at national soccer festivals and toured outside of the U.K. Admitted to the University of Cambridge on an academic scholarship to study History, Paul won a Varsity Soccer letter in each of his three undergraduate years. He captained the Light Blues to a 2-1 victory over rival Oxford in 1978 at Wembley Stadium.
Coaching Journey
Paul began his teaching and coaching career in 1980 at the Charterhouse school, a three hundred acre boarding school south of London in rural Surrey. Charterhouse is actually credited with the creation of the word ’’soccer’’, and its Alumni team won the F.A .Cup in 1881. Paul coached one of the school’s ten soccer squads as well as teaching tennis, girl’s lacrosse and, when the weather permitted, cricket.
In 1993 Principal and former Campbell College Soccer All-American, Richard Murphy, appointed Paul to teach History and to begin the soccer program for boys and girls at brand new Leesville Road HS in Raleigh, NC. Paul and his wife Heather had over 50 combined years invested in Leesville. Their two children Chelsea, an NC State graduate and Camden, a junior at Carolina were both Leesville Lifers.
Coaching
Paul has accumulated to date a record of 950 wins, 370 losses and 108 ties. His teams have been to the NCHSAA 4A State Final six times. In 1997 and 1999 Leesville won Boy’s Championships- the ‘99 team going undefeated and being ranked 6th in the nation at season’s end. The Girls won titles in 2008, 2009-undefeated and ranked #2 nationally, lost in sudden death in the semis in 2010 yet came back to win it all again in 2011.
Coaching Honors
Paul’s coaching has not gone unnoticed by his peers. He has been named Conference, Regional and State Coach of the Year on several occasions. He has coached in the NCCA East-West Senior Game as well as the NC State Games Junior-Senior Showcase. In 2014 Paul was included in the centenary celebrations of the NCHSAA Top 100 Coaches in the state. In 2015, he entered the NCSCA Field of Honor. In 2020 Paul was, remotely, voted by the Raleigh Sports Club as their Coach of the Year. In February 2023 he was inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall Of Fame.In October 2023 Paul was inducted into the Wake County Public Schools Hall of Fame for Athletics.
