SJ Sports: Strong Foundations

Carl Pursell is a builder by trade. He is the owner of a construction company. He has built a strong family and company and is also one of the leading forces in aiding the growth of youth soccer in Cherry Hill and South Jersey.

It’s often been said that the best way to get something accomplished is to give the work to a busy person. The 46-year-old Pursell is a prime example of this theory.

First, the family. His six children range in age from 10 to 24. He has three older daughters and three younger sons. The daughters, Janel, Erin and Laura, all played youth soccer and were members of the Cherry Hill East program.

For years, Pursell had been a successful girls’ soccer coach for the Cherry Hill Rockets. Now he’s coaching the boys, the U-11 Cherry Hill Firebirds. Pursell is also the Winter Games Commissioner of the South Jersey Soccer League for boys. There are approximately 450 teams in the league for players U-15 and older.

He is also the president of the travel programs for the Cherry Hill United Soccer Club, which has 18 travel teams, 12 recreational teams and an extensive pee wee program. There are more than 1,200 boys in the program.

All his soccer-related work is done on a volunteer basis. This is his sixth year in boys’ soccer after spending more than 12 years working in various capacities with girls’ soccer.

While his life is hectic, Pursell wouldn’t want it any other way.

“You love the sport because your children get into it and it teaches them so many good things,” he said.

He served as a girls’ youth coach for seven years, winning three state titles with the Cherry Hill Rockets.

A few years ago, Pursell traveled with the Rockets to Florida for the Orange Bowl Tournament, considered one of the best in the country. Even though he wasn’t coaching the team at the time, college coaches, who knew of his reputation, wanted to talk to him about the players.

“My most rewarding experience was handing out brochures to the college coaches about our players,” he said. “These were girls who I coached since they were 8-years-old and they had accomplished so much. Watching what they have accomplished makes it all worthwhile.”

Pursell now hopes that he will have similar success stories with the boys from Cherry Hill United.

“It’s not just about winning the State Cup,” he said. “It’s about being competitive at that level.”

“I want the athletes to gain self-esteem and feel a reward for what they have accomplished,” he said.

In 1996 Pursell was named the New Jersey Girls’ Soccer Coach of the Year. Little did he know at the time, was that a number of his players had written to the State Soccer Committee, telling them about all the good work that Pursell had done. There is no greater testament a coach can receive than one from his or her players.

Pursell said that parents should not have their youngsters gravitate toward soccer in hopes of receiving a college scholarship. With Title IX, the opportunities are better for girls than boys, but it’s still difficult in either case. Even though many of his former players did receive partial or full college soccer scholarships, he said a family shouldn’t put its financial hopes into having their son or daughter earn a scholarship.

“Anybody who says they want their son to play this sport for a scholarship is foolish,” he said. “Colleges look at you not only for grades, but also what you socially bring to the school. They want good students who are involved in the community and playing soccer is just something that adds to a person’s resume.”

Many of the top players in South Jersey gravitate toward North Jersey when they get older. North Jersey had had the stronger programs, but Pursell feels that Cherry Hill United can compete with these programs. He sees no reason why the Cherry Hill United boys’ program can’t enjoy the same success that the girls did when he was coaching.

Pursell certainly knows what it takes to succeed. The beneficiaries are the many soccer players he has coached in the past and the ones he continues to guide.

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

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Author: SJ Sports Club-Marc Narducci