The PWHL Seattle organization just completed its first ever player media tour featuring players and leadership staff, including new head coach Steve O’Rourke.
“I got in here yesterday and just being back on the West Coast again, it’s who I am, right, and, I was fortunate, we got a beautiful day, and just I look out over the ocean, and just like ‘this is home again.,” said O’Rourke. “Seeing the little islands off to the side and sun setting. I couldn't wish for a better place to get to be able to come and coach and be a part of a first-time organization, like Seattle. It's just amazing.”
It’s clear by that description of the Emerald City that O’Rourke is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest. In fact, he played for the Tri-City Americans in the early 1990s and it would have been remiss not to ask him to dig deep into those memory banks.
“It's kind of special because it wasn't too far away from home,” O’Rourke said. “My parents could still come down and watch and get over to Kamloops and watch games and stuff. So that's always nice. The league is so big, it could have been in Brandon or Regina or places like that. I went out to school out in Notre Dame, so that's a long ways away to have them [come]. My brother and I both played together in Tri-City, so that was kind of amazing. Kind of fitting to have that opportunity to play there."
Seattle's new bench boss, who hails from nearby British Columbia, has no doubts about Seattle being a hockey city and Washington a hockey state.
“The big thing, too, is I grew up in Summerland, just a small town near Kelowna. We would go down and we played Wenatchee and we beat them pretty handedly,” O’Rourke said. “And, now, to get to this point and see all the WHL teams, the Kraken, our team now- it’s amazing. I’ve been telling people that the state has been hockey-mad for a long time. This isn’t just like ‘oh, hey, we’re going to try to build a fan base.’ There's a fan base here that we’re just going to tap into, which is amazing.”
O'Rourke Hoping To Grow Opportunities For Women In Coaching
While O'Rourke has not served as a head coach in a prominent women's league, it's clear O’Rourke has a passion for continuing to grow and develop the pool of incredible female coaches.
“I won't get into a lot of my female hockey history, but I spent three years trying to build female hockey up in the north, and one of the challenges is trying to get female coaches,” he said.
“That's a big challenge, and I was asked what would you want to do charity-wise, what things you want to get involved in? And that's one thing I would like us to try to grow here is the female coaches, and the hardest part is getting them in,” O’Rourke continued. “I was fortunate to grow a couple in my time in Prince George, and one is still coaching at the U-18 level up north. I’m always kind of pushing, ‘You're ready to be the head coach. Let's go, let's go. You should take that on!’”
When Jessica Campbell was hired by the Seattle Kraken as the first female coach to be behind the bench in the NHL, she showed girls watching that this was another opportunity for a career. The conversation around her, and around the disparity of female coaches, even in the PWHL, has been robust. Coach O’Rourke wants to see female coaches become more of the norm.
“That’s something that will be kind of a project for me on the side here with staff and Madi (McNamara, Director of Team Business Operations, PWHL Seattle) and the people involved in our team: How can we get these people into our building and around us to watch what we do and learn from what we do? Either inspire them or just give the confidence, like, ‘hey, this is something I can do,’” O'Rourke said.
Women in sports leadership, particularly when it’s male dominated, has its own set of difficulties which Coach O’Rourke touched on as well.
“There's so many challenges to coaching, but I think there's huge hurdles to women in coaching that are unique to them,” he said.
"And for us to be able to help with that and grow up the base because that's really what keeps people involved in sports is, what is your coaching experience? What experience that I have with my coach? So, if we can have a positive impact on what that looks like. We know the numbers. We know most kids quit at 12 years old, right? Because they didn't have fun, right? So if we can make it so it's fun. I know, USA Hockey is doing an amazing job at that. I'm such a promoter of that because they're making it fun. Now it's just hopefully for me, I can, and our staff, can kind of jump on this and bring some coaches into the fold to watch what we do and learn and give back.”
Two things are apparent in speaking with O’Rourke: he knows the Pacific Northwest; and being here is a natural fit for the Canadian native.
Love For The West Coast Clear With Seattle's New Coach
“I'm just excited to be back on the West Coast. I'm an avid mountain biker that loves to be outdoors, and it just excites me to have this, and my partner is getting me back into road riding, so I know the city’s crazy that way," he said.
“It's gonna be fantastic to be out here, and just said the other night the level of, for lack of better words, the zen I feel out here and connected to nature and the city- it's a big city with just such a small city vibe to it, right? And it doesn't feel as busy. I know the West Coast, they work differently. It's not the hard nine to five. ‘Why is there traffic on the road at three o'clock?’ People want to enjoy the outdoors. That's why they're out on the road at three o'clock, right? Yeah, I know these things from living out here, so I'm excited to see that again.”
“Just to see parts of Seattle and the scene here. I love music as well- coffee, all the stuff. These are things that I love, and that's why I'm so excited about coming here, because I think it fits who I am really, really well,” he continued. “You don't always get that choice in our sport, but, here, we’re in a beautiful city that we have an opportunity to say something great, right from the start.”
From his familiarity with the area to his plan for local charity work, PWHL Seattle found an enthusiastic and genuine addition to the team in new head coach Steven O’Rourke.