VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- If Joe Tucei had his way, his 400th career win might have passed by without any notation or acknowledgment. His players, assistants and supporters, however, were not about to let that happen.
"I didn't know it was a thing until everybody made a big deal about it," he smiled. "I just go about my business every day and all of a sudden, I'm doing an interview, there's an article in the paper and it's kind of embarrassing actually, but here we are."
"It's pretty amazing, honestly," senior midfielder Skylar Miller added about her coach. "He deserves it. He's a good coach, always has really good advice to give and when we're all nervous, he just really knows how to calm us down."
Tucei picked up the milestone victory during the Patriots' 8-0 win over Bayside on April 19. The first ten seasons of his career were spent coaching the First Colonial boys team before making the shift to the girls program, where he's spent the last 21 years. He has no trouble keeping busy, juggling coaching with his teaching job at the school and managing a Virginia Beach restaurant.
"It's a great place to work," Tucei said of First Colonial. "I love teaching, but the best part of my day is out here on the field."
The program has reached new heights under Tucei's guidance. The Patriot girls won their first state title in 2018, followed that up with another crown in 2021 and advanced to the state championship game in 2022. Year in and year out, the squad is among the favorites in the Beach District, Region 5A and the state and there are plenty of memories packed into those 400 victories for the head coach.
"The first season I coached with the boys, that was really a fun season," he recalled. "Obviously the first state championship and the one coming after COVID and being on our home field and the boys winning afterwards was a special moment."
2024 is a little bit more special for the coaching veteran, as his daughter is a freshman on this year's Patriots. Chances are he'll be on the sideline throughout the duration of her career, with no plans to hang up his whistle anytime soon.
"I'm still having fun," he noted. "As long as I have fun, I'll still be doing it."
"Every season, we see more fire from him," Miller said. "He's out here, we get him dancing, so it's fun."
First Colonial is 9-0-1 on the season and faces Tallwood on Friday night.
