The Boone County boys soccer team won the 33rd District and 9th Region championships on the way to the state semifinals in the first year of the current format in 2012.
The Rebels came back the following two years and made it to the region tournament under current boys basketball coach Nathan Browning.
But the Rebels have not been back to the region tournament since. In the past eight seasons, Boone County has gone 41-87-13 under three different head coaches. The highest win total during that time came in 2015 at 8-11-2 under current Highlands girls head coach Chris Norris.
The Boone County administration just hired Tony Trenkamp to try to change those fortunes. Trenkamp takes over for Ryan Black, who coached the Rebels the last two seasons. Trenkamp has been a Physical Education teacher at Ockerman Elementary since 2007. His wife Alicia is an English teacher at Boone County High.
“He has a lot of experience at the high school level, especially in our district, so that was one thing we were excited about. He’s someone who coached and had success at the varsity high school level before,” said Lance Melching, Boone County Director of Athletics. “He’s been in two different programs so he’s seen different things. What also just really excited us is he’s a teacher in our feeder program. We called a bunch of kids who were interested down to the room and there were a lot of kids who remembered him from when they had him in elementary school so it’s really cool to have someone who knows our students and where they come from. So he comes into the position knowing everything he’s getting into.”
There is not one middle school in the Boone County system that feeds just one of the high schools. The Ockerman students end up at either Boone County or Ryle.
“That was one of the things I was excited about,” Trenkamp said. “Being at (Ockerman Elementary), some of those kids I’ve known since Kindergarten, six years old, so it will be fun to see how they grow and develop not just as soccer players, but as young men. I’ll help them be the best person that they can be. I like the diversity of our school system. We get kids from all different backgrounds, different parts of the world. It’s fun to see how they can all come together on the soccer field.”
Trenkamp is familiar with the challenges of the 33rd District. Trenkamp got involved in soccer at a young age and played all through high school graduating from Conner in 2001 before becoming an assistant coach there.
Trenkamp then became head coach at Conner for two years guiding the 33rd District rival Conner Cougars to a 24-15-3 record during the 2018 and ’19 seasons. The 2018 team made it to the region tournament for the first time since 2008, beating Ryle in the district semifinals before losing to Cooper in the district championship game and at Dixie Heights in the region quarterfinals. The 2019 squad won the 33rd District Tournament title for the first time since the current format came about in 2012 before losing to Newport Central Catholic in the region quarterfinals.
“Year in, year out, it’s one of the better districts throughout the entire state,” Trenkamp said. “Every year, a good team or two will be left out of the region tournament because that’s just how tough that district is. It’s a fun challenge. I look forward to being able to do it again.”
The 33rd had one of the last four standing in the state last season, Ryle as a state semifinalist.
Trenkamp said he just met with the team. He wants to learn their strengths and what they are comfortable with before implementing specific formations.
“What I like to stress to my kids when we get to starting the games is make sure we stay disciplined defensively and make sure that we connect our passes,” Trenkamp said. “We want to attack the other team offensively. The big thing is to shore up the defensive side of the ball.”
Trenkamp spent the last two seasons assisting Trey Crone at Dixie Heights. The Colonels finished 31-7-5 during those two seasons, winning two 34th District Tournament championships.