New Beginnings: A Sussex Coaching Journey — Series Intro

By Reece McQuade
New series · A Sussex Coaching Journey

Why I’m telling these stories — and who I’m telling them for.

Every coach has a beginning. Not the first match, not the first qualification, not the first win — but the moment they step into the game properly. The moment they decide they want to teach football, not just play it. The moment they choose to back themselves.

For me, that beginning wasn’t a big moment. It wasn’t a cup final or a promotion or a job offer. It was a message. A simple one. The first time I reached out to Jacob. That message set off a chain of events that shaped everything that came after — Jarvis Brook, Uckfield, Pagham, the C Licence, the rebuilds, the setbacks, the breakthroughs, the identity I’ve built as a coach.

This series is about those moments.

It’s about the first sessions, the first games, the first team talks, the first disappointments, the first successes — all the “firsts” that make you the coach you eventually become. It’s about stepping into environments you’re not sure you belong in, learning on the job, getting things wrong, getting things right, and finding your place in Sussex football one experience at a time.

But more than that, it’s for the coaches who didn’t come through academies. The ones who didn’t play at Step 1, 2, 3 or 4. The ones who didn’t have a pathway handed to them. The ones who love football, study football, teach football — and still wonder if they’re allowed to be part of it.

I’ve been that coach. I still am that coach. And if my journey can show even one person that they belong in this game, then these articles will have done their job.

Across the next few months I’ll be sharing the moments that shaped me. The raw ones. The honest ones. The ones that taught me more than any qualification ever could. And as I continue my own development, including starting my B Licence in November, I’ll add new chapters as they happen.

This isn’t a finished story. It’s a journey in motion. And I’m inviting you into it.

The first article arrives on Sunday 30th. A beginning — just like mine.

First published in Dugout News, Issue 3, 23 August 2026. Republished here in full.