It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for the Newcastle Jets’ Andrew Hoole.
It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for the Newcastle Jets- Andrew Hoole, but the 19-year-old local product is determined to stay grounded and continue putting in the hard work that has earned him his first professional contract.
The former Broadmeadow Magic player made his A-League debut in the Jets- 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar a fortnight ago.
Just days later, Hoole was rewarded with his first professional contract and backed it up with an appearance off the bench in last Saturday-s F3 Derby.
“It was really, really good to finally get the chance to play in the A-League,” Hoole said.
“To sign my first professional contract was a privilege and for it to be at my hometown Club is an honour.”
Hoole said the initiative by the Jets to field their youth team in the NBN State League competition during the A-League off-season had been a catalyst for his rapid ascension to the senior ranks.
“The NBN State League is a good platform for us as young players. It-s nice and physical and that-s what you want,” Hoole said.
“Obviously the NBN State League isn-t up to the same quality of the A-League but the physical presence is obviously there and it was good to experience the physical side of that.”
After getting his initial taste of first team action, Hoole said he is focused on maintaining a high work ethic at training to ensure he gets more opportunities over the remaining rounds of the A-League season.
“Obviously it-s going to be hard to get into the starting XI, but just to get into the match day squad is my goal and just to get in amongst that group and stay there,” Hoole said.
“Obviously the step-up from youth league to the A-League has been hard, especially backing up from my first game against Brisbane, but hopefully as I get some more games under my belt it should become a little bit easier.”
