After finishing his maiden season coaching in Germany's Pro A and Regionalliga leagues, we caught up with the 34-year old to discuss how he started his coaching career, his stops along the way, and what advice he'd pass on to other coaches looking to follow in his foot steps.
This article will be the start of a four-part series with the former Myerscough man, with a new instalment coming on the next three Fridays (30 May, 6 & 13 June).
From undertaking his Level One award as a 15-year-old in South West England, working across the Talent Pathway at its various stops, to now working professionally for German-based Tigers Tübingen, where he is involved with both the Pro A, Regionalliga and youth teams, Culley has undertaken nearly two decades of progression through his coaching career to date.
It’s a pathway, in the man’s own words, that started somewhat without his knowledge.
“I was reminded the other week, that in October 2026, it’ll be 20 years since I did my Level One,” Culley says with a smile.
“I started playing late, when I was about 13 or 14, and then did my Level One when I was 15. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it like that.
“The town that I lived in, people were playing basketball a little bit, so I gravitated towards it. And then it was okay, let's find a club, and back then I had to get the Yellow Pages out, and find the closest club to us!
“The closest at the time was Torbay Tigers, based at Churston Ferrers Grammar School, which was set up by Rick Wooldridge and Norman Waldron back in the 70s. That was my first introduction to club basketball.
“And it all kind of started from there. Rick, in his infinite wisdom, tricked me into coaching. He said that by doing my Level 1 course and helping him coach, that it would make me a better player, because I started the game late.
“I’m not sure it did! But that’s how it all started.”
Being a young coach in a sport that was still relatively new to Culley wasn’t without its challenges, but looking back, the 34-year-old sees the opportunity he was given as 'unique’ rather than anything else.
“I remember when I started and was coaching our U16s, the main player on that team was actually my younger brother, who at the time was 14 or 15 and in the National Team set-up under Simon Fisher,” Culley recalls.
“So, it was very strange. But looking back, I think those four years where I was Rick's assistant, or he was my assistant, and vice versa, I think he gave me a unique coaching start.”
With Culley’s introduction to the discipline being somewhat inverted to the norm, beginning almost at the start of his playing career rather than at the end, it’s no surprise that his further ventures into coaching didn’t follow a typical path, either.
Far from a Plan B once the legs had given in or other priorities came to the fore, the Devonian had instead started to focus his efforts with a clipboard rather than the ball itself before he even reached 20.
Whilst his brother’s playing journey had taken him to Reading’s John Madejski Academy to rub shoulders with the likes of Kofi Josephs, Adam Thoseby, Lewis Champion and more, Wooldridge instead steered Troy toward a different venture that would open his eyes to a whole new realm of development and learning.
“Rick pushed me towards coaching in the South West, and from there, I got my first experiences of basketball overseas,” he adds, recalling his first ventures into regional coaching, and what would eventually become the Aspire level of the Pathway.
“Something that was set up in the region was that we would travel five times a year to different tournaments, so over a three-year period, I went to 15 different tournaments overseas.
“And that's where I really got the bug for seeing basketball in different countries. And that's probably where the dream really started. I want to do this some day. I want to be coaching overseas.”
With his eyes opened and the seed firmly sewn, Culley started to think more deeply about where coaching could lead him.
With little more than a conviction that he really enjoyed coaching, and a desire to begin working at a higher level, he began considering his next steps.
Little did he know that his next opportunity would be waiting around 230 miles along the South Coast, and some North American networking would see Culley move to Kent.
“I had conversations with Rick back then around wanting to leave, to work at higher levels. By chance, I worked with a Canadian, Mark Crncich, who was also in the South West, and he’d moved to Kent and was working with Jesse Sazant at Medway Park Crusaders.
“Mark and I always kept in touch; I was his assistant in the regional set-up and we travelled to those European tournaments together, and from there I made the decision that I wanted to move and do something different.”
A university place was a logical part of swapping the South West for the South East, but it was Culley’s involvement with all levels of the Crusaders and Sazant’s ability to nurture his talents, that really set the next step of Culley’s coaching plan in motion.
“In my first year, Jesse didn't give me a team to head coach. I was just able to assist any team I wanted, get a real feel for them, what a club structure looked like from top to bottom, what the NBL pyramid was like.
“They had sides in NBL Division One, D4, U18 Premier, U16 Premier. That really allowed me then just to throw myself into coaching and learn as much as possible.”
Three years at the Crusaders flew by, with Culley soaking up information and learning his craft. By 2016, it was time for another step, and this time it was even further than his previous jaunt along the coast.
280 miles up to Myerscough, to be precise, and the start of something big.
“Myerscough,” muses Culley. “Yeah, that was game-changing.”
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Main image credit - Dennis Duddek
