Andrew Purcell got his start at the Werribee Hockey Club at the age of five. Some 29 years later he’s taking over as the senior men’s coach.
Purcell was raised in Werribee and now lives in Yarraville, a stone’s throw from the Footscray Hockey Club, but not for one moment did he consider switching clubs.
“I’ve played for the one club my whole life. I’ve been playing there since I was five and I’m 34 now, so I’ve had a decent stint there as a player,” Purcell told Star Weekly.
“My family has always been involved with the club. It’s a real honour to coach the club I love and hopefully we can take them forward.”
Purcell understands the hard work that lies ahead, and the inexperienced coach has enlisted former head coach Russell Skoglund to be his right-hand man.
The Tigers have been relegated to the third-tier Vic League 2 this season.
The expectation will be that they challenge for the title in the club’s 40th anniversary season, giving Purcell little time to settle into the role.
The coach knows premierships are not easy to win, having never experienced the thrill in his long senior career, though he did win junior and summer league titles.
“The goal is to make finals. It’s our 40th anniversary, so if we could cap it off with a flag that would be the absolute ultimate.
Will three-year-old Reid follow in the footsteps of dad and new Werribee coach Andrew Purcell?
“We’ve gone down a grade so the possibility is there, but you never know who you’re going to come up against and who is recruiting players. We’ve got the playing stocks at Werribee to push for a flag.”
Purcell’s first mission is to bring the fun back to the Tigers’ playing group.
“In the past couple of years, no discredit to previous coaches, the culture changed a little bit and I want to bring the fun back and the mateship,” Purcell said.
“We’re not playing international hockey, we’re not playing premier league. Ideally we want to be playing premier league in the future, but you’ve got to build up to that level and you can’t just push it straight onto the guys.
“It’s difficult to take on all this information and all this professionalism at once … it’s something that’s got to be built from the ground up.
“I want to try and get the guys back to being a closeknit group.”
Purcell is looking forward to working with a “young and enthusiastic” playing group. He goes in with no preconceived notions, despite having played alongside most of the players only last season.
“Rather than being a boys’ club and picking blokes you know that can play, you actually have to earn your spot this year.”
Purcell has signed a two-year contract at Werribee but insists he’s in it for the long haul.
“Some of the feedback we got from the younger guys at the end of last year was they don’t want a one-and-done coach,” Purcell said.
“It doesn’t give you much solidarity in terms of moving forward if structures are changing year on year.
“They’re looking for a solid game plan and something we can work on for future years.”
Purcell will announce his captain later in the pre-season.
