Five-Star Athlete of the Year

Jeff Purcell, captain of the United States Australian Football Leagues Phoenix Scorpions has been named a Five-Star Athlete of the Year by Wrangler Jeans. A profile of Purcell, who also recently captained the U.S. National Team the American Revolution at the International Cup in Melbourne, appears in a special advertising section of the Dec. 16, 2002, issue of Sports Illustrated the United States premier weekly sports magazine.

The Wrangler Five-Star Athlete of the Year program was instituted this year to recognize five amateur athletes chosen from hundreds of nominations that represent the broad spectrum of athletics in the United States, who excel in the athletic pursuit theyve chosen, and who are competing because they simply love sports.

Purcell started playing Australian Rules Football in February 2000. The Scorpions captain has been a member of the national team for two years, having played for the first time with the Revolution at the Atlantic Alliance Cup in 2001 in London. Purcell also is Director of Junior Development for the USAFL.

- Brad Rinklin
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