Gray Collegiate Academy, a public charter school in West Columbia, announced the hiring of veteran husband and wife soccer coaching duo, Kevin and Emily Heise as their new boys’ and girls’ varsity coaches. A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

GCA, under the leadership of Principal Dr. Brian Newsome and Athletic Director Adam Holmes, will begin its’ fourth academic year in August 2017 as the War Eagles compete in Region 3‐2A of the South Carolina High School League.

Coach Kevin Heise, 46, joins the GCA staff as a faculty member and boys’ soccer coach. A 28‐year veteran
as a coach at Brookland‐Cayce High School (1990‐2017), Heise is one of 16 members of the South
Carolina High School Soccer Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. Prep soccer became a sanctioned sport
by the SCHSL in 1976 and Heise has been involved in the sport for more than 35 years as a player and
coach. He currently serves as the Associate State Chairman for the SCHSSCA. Emily Heise’s Brookland-Cayce Girls Soccer team won the Lower State 3A Championship Monday, and will play in the State Final.

As a head coach for the Bearcats from 1991‐2016, Heise compiled a record of 454‐172‐26 for a winning
mark of 71.6% that included three Class 3A Lower State Championships, seven Final Four appearances, 15 region titles, and eight
Team Academic Awards presented by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. In addition, his players have earned
numerous national, regional, state, and local honors under his tutelage.

Formerly Emily Logan Setzler, Coach Emily Heise is a 2006 graduate of Brookland‐Cayce High School and was a member of its’ 2005 Class 3A State Championship team and the 2006 Class 3A Lower State Champion side. She brings nine years of coaching experience to the War Eagles and was a member of the Bearcats’ coaching staff since 2009. Heise served as a varsity assistant coach for seven years (2009‐15) and as the head coach the last two seasons (2016‐17). Heise was named the Region 5‐3A Coach of the Year for 2017 after leading the Bearcats to the league championship. She has compiled a 32‐14‐4 (68%) record as a high school Varsity coach.