Photo credit: RocketFAN

By Regan Bartel

New communications & social media guru

Carrying the legacy: Troy Durrell’s passion for sports

Feb 13, 2025 | 9:00 AM

If a father’s greatest legacy is his son, Bill Durrell certainly succeeded. Troy Durrell, the Kelowna Rockets’ director of communications and social media, has inherited his father’s deep passion for sports, with hockey and football at the forefront. The apple truly doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

Bill, who passed away in March 2023 at the age of 68, was a dedicated sports fan, and his middle son Troy shared that same love, especially for football, just as his father had. 

However, hockey doesn’t take a backseat for Troy, who was hired this summer by the hockey club to take over. 

“I was in Medicine Hat [with the Tigers] two seasons ago, getting my feet wet in the league doing everything,” Durrell told RocketFAN. “My dad passed due to cancer and I made the decision to move home to be closer to my mom.” 

While grieving the loss of his father, Durrell noticed that Paige Bednorz was leaving her role as director of communications and social media with the Rockets and decided to throw his hat in the ring. 

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“I was actually involved with a student practicum with the Rockets in 2017, and I really enjoyed the month I was here, saw the job, and thought it would be a cool opportunity to get back in the league, and so here I am.” 

The pride of Cochrane, Alberta, grew up playing hockey, and it was his father’s influence that led him to develop a love for the Canadian Football League. 

“My dad was from Moose Jaw, so he was a big Roughrider fan growing up,” Durrell shared about his father’s ‘Rider Pride’. “My dad met my mom, who is a Stampeders fan, so growing up in my house, it was a rite of passage to watch football.” 

Durrell, despite being an Alberta boy and cheering for the Calgary Flames in the winter while growing up, is oddly a Hamilton Ti-Cats fan. 

“My dad had a recording of the 1989 Grey Cup game, which is Hamilton and Saskatchewan, and it is widely regarded as the best Grey Cup game of all time. Instead of watching cartoons, I watched that on repeat religiously. My dad was rubbing his hands thinking my boy is becoming a Riders fan, but I chose the Ti-Cats instead.” 

“I loved the zoo as a kid, and Tigers were my favourite animal, so when I saw the Ti-Cats, I thought, I guess this is my team.” 

Durrell has visited Tim Horton’s Field in Hamilton many times to watch his team play, attended eight Grey Cups with his father until his passing, and has been to every CFL stadium except Ottawa. He says it’s been a long 25 years cheering for his team without a league championship win. 

“I like the X’s and O’s of the game,” Durrell explained when asked why football fascinates him. “It’s like chess. The defense is trying to match up with what the offense is doing, and the offense is seeing they are playing man coverage, thinking about how they’re going to attack it.” 

Durrell’s focus shifts quickly from football to hockey with the changing seasons. He spends long hours at Prospera Place doing stats, game notes, press releases, and ensuring the Kelowna Rockets are represented on various social media platforms. At the end of the day, it’s rewarding, but a lot of hard work. 

“Writing press releases, doing graphics, and getting information out to people is the fun part of my job,” he added. “Bruce [Hamilton] and Curtis [Hamilton] were great to deal with at the trade deadline, providing me with the details as soon as they were aware of them, and in my first year, I couldn’t have asked for it to go any smoother. The fact that we traded Andrew Cristall and Caden Price was cool to be a part of. It’s part of Rockets history.” 

With the 2026 Memorial Cup next May, Durrell will be especially busy next season as the hockey world turns its attention to Kelowna for the 10-day tournament. 

“I trust the process of what we are building,” he said about the team’s moves, including trading marquee players for future success. “Maybe things aren’t going our way the way we want this year, but we have two elite hockey minds in Bruce and Curtis, along with our scouts, who will put the roster together for next year.”

Despite a season of change both on and off the ice, Durrell is confident that what he learned in year one on the job will serve him well moving forward. 

“I’m excited to see what the rest of this year brings, what next year brings, and I’m definitely excited about the Memorial Cup.

“It was always a tournament I followed, and to be able to be a part of it from a team standpoint, instead of just a fan, will be a great experience.”