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Andrew Kewley, new Coaching Director for the North Area Rush won’t officially start his new position for a few more days. But he recently sat down to answer some questions to help the Rush family get to know him a little better.
Describe your soccer experience up till now.
I grew up in Wichita, Kansas and played for a small club there called the Strikers. I played on the Regional Team (Region II) and then from there went to Drake University, played 3 years at Drake and then transferred to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for my final year of Division I soccer. My father was a professional soccer player and grew up and played in England, then came to the United States to play and that’s kind of where I developed the love for the game. I got into coaching at Drake after I finished playing and was an assistant coach on the Men’s side there for 2 years. Coaching at Drake was a great experience and really my introduction into the coaching side of the game. I’d had a few injuries and decided that instead of trying to play on, that I would try the coaching side of things. After Drake, I got into the club that became Iowa Rush, which was Ankeny Soccer Club, and spent 5 years with that club.
You have been in the Rush system now for a few months, what makes this club special?
The people really. Its kind of cliché to say but from the very beginning when I met Tim (Schulz) when he came out and pitched the whole Rush organization, I could just tell. Getting to know everyone at the Rush Festival in Kansas City in July, and the initial meeting with Tim; the people really make the club what it is. The people that are in the organization have a good idea how to get to the top. Those who are in charge have been there and done it at all levels of the game. I think it’s very important to have that long-term vision that they all have. Rush has a long-term vision that, from my experience, not a lot of other clubs have.
You had the chance to go the Rush Festival in Kansas over the summer and get a taste of Rush soccer on a grand scale. What did you think of the Festival?
It was absolutely fantastic. Especially for an organization like us (Iowa Rush) to just come in to the Festival to see what the culture is like. For our girls, it just did a world of good for them; getting in, singing songs, experiencing the culture and getting immersed in the philosophies and the methodologies of the Rush was awesome. When they came back they were able to spread that energy to the rest of the club and it has become infectious. When they first got to Kansas they were very quiet, very unsure about what was going on, but by the end of the week they were singing, they were enjoying themselves and getting to know people. Despite the fact that we were there still wearing our Ankeny uniforms, I think it was great how everyone brought them in and made them feel like they were a part of Rush soccer right away. Now back home, they are out at games singing songs and having fun and other teams around the club are taking notice. It really just gives you a bigger vision of what Rush soccer is like around the country.
What are you hoping to achieve with the NA Rush?
Basically the same things that we had in mind when I took over at Iowa. I think that the Rush name always means striving to be the best in the country. The groundwork has been laid to help achieve that and my goal is to come in and help facilitate that process and push us to the top of the tree in US soccer. We want to develop kids and people and young adults that are able to go on with all facets of their career whether it is soccer or not. I think pushing them towards greatness and providing the environment for success in numerous ways is my goal. I hope to be able to sit back and say, "I’ve influenced these kids lives."
What challenges do you expect?
I think that any kind of change presents a challenge. Coming in and establishing yourself, imparting your philosophies without upsetting the balance is the biggest thing. The biggest challenge will be to come in and make that seamless transition in melding the philosophies of the North Area club and combine those with both my philosophies, and those of the Colorado Rush and everything that Erik (Bushéy, Colorado Rush Technical Director) has been trying to achieve there. Getting us to that next level is going to be a challenge and getting to know those new faces is always going to take some time. I saw it first hand hear at Ankeny when we made the switch to Rush; trying to get everyone to buy in to the philosophies and trying to get everyone to understand the bigger picture.
Rush is about more than just soccer. How can your presence help in the community?
I think that I’ve had a unique experience with soccer both playing, and with the environment that I was brought up in. Having a father that was a professional at the top level of the game and getting the chance to work and interact with some of the guys my father played with, some of the best-known players in the world have helped me a lot. I hope to bring some of that multicultural background that I’ve experienced back to NA Rush. Hopefully I can bring some character and help the club grow.
You have mentioned your dad playing professionally a few times. Where did he play?
He played for Liverpool back in the 70’s. He then came to the US and played with the Dallas Tornadoes and then finished his career in the indoor league and played against Tim (Schulz) in the indoor league. I’ve grown up in all facets of the game from playing to coaching and it has been very interesting that’s for sure.
So besides your dad, who were some the players that you looked up to?
I looked up to any of the Liverpool players of the 90’s- Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and even before that John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Kenny Dalglish. Those are the guys whose posters I would have up in my room and say, "I want to be like those guys some day." But there have been countless guys that I have been able to interact with that I look up to. Jimmy Ryan who was the Academy Director at Manchester United and was Alex Ferguson’s assistant for a number of years; Charlie Cooke a great left winger for Chelsea back in the 60’s and 70’s. Those are some of the guys that I got to see from my dad’s career that I looked up to in the way that they approached the game. Although I never got to play professionally in England I was still able to take a lot from it and meld it with my experiences playing youth soccer and college soccer here in the States. |
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