New Saint Paul soccer coach, Nathaniel Crea, brings energy and experience to the team

By Bill Doyle
CFP Correspondent
 
Becoming coach of the Saint Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School boys’ soccer team which posted a 1-13 record last fall and lost nine of its 15 players to graduation, may not seem ideal, but Nathaniel Crea believes otherwise.
“I couldn’t be happier that I’m coming in with such a young team,” Mr. Crea said, “because now I can create a culture that this organization has been looking for, for years. I have eight freshmen that are going to lead this team three years from now. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.”
Mr. Crea, 40, has an upbeat, passionate, inspiring outlook and St. Paul’s athletic director Jim Manzello was immediately impressed with it while interviewing him to replace Ryan Murphy. (Mr. Murphy stepped down after one year as head coach to become vice president for advancement at Anna Maria College.)
“He was highly recommended to me,” Mr. Manzello said, “and two minutes into meeting him I’m like, ‘Yep, he’s exactly what I was hoping for.’ He knows he’s coming to a small Catholic school that’s coming off a tough season, with not a lot of kids, and he just loves soccer and he’s looking forward to the challenge.”
St. Paul’s has no freshmen or junior varsity teams in boys’ soccer, just a varsity team. Of the 15 boys on this year’s team, one is a senior, two are juniors, two are sophomores, eight are freshmen and two are seventh-graders.
If they need inspiration, all they have to do is listen to Mr. Crea.
“He has an energy in his voice and it allows you to be motivated and work hard,” co-captain Aidan Coppinger said.
“I think inspiration and coaching go hand in hand,” Mr. Crea said. “You have to believe in what you’re doing. When you’re coaching, you’re not just teaching the kids about the game of soccer. You are essentially giving them the ability to tell themselves, ‘You can do anything. Anything is possible.’ And I do firmly believe that.”
 Mr. Crea said his only expectation for this year is to have his team play hard and give their full effort.
“Scores and records are secondary,” he said. “We have to work on being a team first. Then we can work on everything else. As long as everyone is doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability, that’s all I care about.”
If you get the idea that Mr. Crea enjoys coaching, you’d be correct. This fall, he will not only coach at St. Paul’s, he’ll also coach his and his wife Erica’s sons, Grayson, 11, and Camden, 10, in Holden Youth Soccer and at Soccer Asylum. Fortunately, HYS practices are only once a week and plays on weekends and Soccer Asylum is a training program that takes place only on Fridays. In his spare time, he’ll help coach Camden in fall baseball. He also volunteers on the board of directors of Holden Youth Soccer and Holden Youth Baseball and serves as director of fields and equipment for HYS and treasurer for HYB.
Somehow, he manages to squeeze in his full-time job as a supervisor for a medical software company, Medical Information Technology in Canton. Fortunately, he can work from home four days a week.
No wonder he finally stopped playing in a men’s pickup soccer league this summer. Mr. Crea said that, like his father, he’s passionate about volunteering his time and effort to the community.
“I’m a busy guy,” he said, “and I don’t mind it one bit. It kind of keeps me going.”
Mr. Crea said he wanted to coach his sons, just like his father, David, had coached him. Mr. Crea began playing soccer at age 4 and went on to play wing and defense for Framingham High School and New England College.
His father coached him in youth soccer and on travel teams in Framingham, including one travel team that lost in the state championship game when he was 13. David Crea coached all five of his children.
Mr. Crea said he learned everything he knows about soccer as a player and a coach from his father, who died at age 69 last year. Most important of all, his father taught him about staying composed and remaining in position on the field.
“He is my lifelong mentor,” he said. “So if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing any of this today.”
St. Paul’s has a lot of young players and Aidan, a senior goalkeeper, and fellow co-captain Tanner Kreft, a junior center back, will be counted upon to lead them. Mr. Crea also coaches Aidan and Tanner at Soccer Asylum.
Aidan faced a lot of shots last year. “He’s tall, versatile, fast,” Mr. Crea said. “He’s got a great foot and he’s a very composed individual.”
Mr. Crea rates Tanner as the team’s most talented player and he’s impressed with his high soccer IQ.
“He is going to add a significant amount of value,” he said. “The one thing I can already see about Tanner is his leadership. He has the ability to get the team going. Both him and Aidan do a great job of that.”
The co-captains are excited to be playing for Mr. Crea.
“I like him,” Aidan said. “Obviously, it’s never good to have three coaches in four years, but I think what he’s going to do, especially with our young team, is going to be beneficial in the next couple of years.”
“I really like him,” Tanner said. “He pushes us a lot harder than our past coaches. He really wants us to do well. It really works out well because all these kids want to do well on this team.”
St. Paul’s may not win a lot of games this fall, but Mr. Crea expects the Knights to learn a lot and have fun.
“I’m actually honored to coach these boys this year,” Mr. Crea said.    
“He gets it, he knows where we are,” Mr. Manzello said. “Obviously, he knows where he wants to go, but it’s going to be a challenge.”