York County mother honors late son with soccer tournament focused on teen driving safety
The third annual Keeper's Cup begins March 17 in Williamsburg, featuring 17 high school teams in Hampton Roads.
Author: Eugene Daniel (WVEC)
Published: 12:56 PM EDT March 11, 2025
Updated: 2:18 PM EDT March 12, 2025
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A York County mother is urging changes to the teen driving law, and state lawmakers are supporting her efforts.
Meanwhile, she is days away from hosting a big event to raise awareness in honor of her son who was killed in a car crash.
"This is an opportunity for us to honor Conner and the life that he lost due to distracted driving, but it's so much more than that," said Tammy Guido McGee.
The third annual Keeper's Cup will kick off on Monday, March 17, at the Warhill Sports Complex in Williamsburg. Games will also be played at Bruton High School and Bailey Field on George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown.
The three-day soccer tournament will feature 17 high school teams across the Hampton Roads region. It also aims to raise awareness of teen driving safety.
"We want to give them the opportunity to understand the greater meaning of this tournament and that is to save lives," McGee said.
The event will also feature a distracted driving area with activities led by Virginia Department of Transportation, DriveSmart VA and several other first responder agencies.
The tournament is sponsored by the Conner Gweedo Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit aiming to educate new teenage drivers and their parents on the dangers of destructive driving decisions.
The organization is named after McGee's late son, Conner Guido, who is one of three 16-year-old Tabb High School students killed in a car crash after leaving the school's homecoming dance in 2019. State police said the driver did not have a license and speed was a factor.
Since the crash, McGee has passionately pushed for legislative changes in the commonwealth.
In the most recent state legislative session, lawmakers in the House and the Senate passed two bills advocated by McGee. One measure, House Bill 2213, calls for more behind-the-wheel training offered at Virginia schools, and Senate Bill 750 would hold people accountable for knowingly letting minors drive their vehicle without a license.
"We hope this bill is going to click that says, I cannot let anyone drive without a license," said McGee. "That [the car] has the ability to maim and kill and that's not okay."
The governor would still need to pass both bills.
McGee also helped pass two prior bills into law related to keeping teens safe on the roads. One of them, "Conner's Law," is named after her son.
Last year, the Governor's Highway Safety Association honored her with the 2024 Peter O'Rourke Special Achievement Award for her work in preventing traffic crashes.
Anyone interested in attending the soccer tournament on March 15-17 is asked to give a $10 donation. However, families can visit the distracted driving area for free. More information is available on the event website.