Sister Act at Wisconsin
October 16, 2007 | Women's Soccer
As a Wisconsin women's soccer player, sharing the field with a sister is nothing out of the ordinary. After 26 years of the program's existence, six sister duos have shared the love that is Wisconsin soccer. The latest pair, Tricia and Stephanie Krombach of Appleton, Wis., is the fourth set of sisters to play together in the last five years.
Playing on the same team together is nothing new for the Krombach sisters. Since childhood, the two have been swimming, running, playing and living side-by-side. The soccer field is just one of many things the duo shared while growing up. Up until Tricia left for college, the two shared every inch of their living space. Although some would view two sisters sharing everything a recipe for disaster, that was not the case for the Krombachs.
'My sister and I did not fight as much as one might think. Sharing a room together and spending too much time together were the only things that led to fighting between us,' Stephanie reminisced. 'We spent so much time together since we were always in the same sport, sharing the same room and following similar interests. But when tension started to build, we would try to take a break from each other and give ourselves some distance for a while.'
But soccer was not the first sport the girls were involved in together. Both joined the swim team as youngsters and swam competitively for years. And although both Krombachs earned varsity letters on the swim team, they chose to instead follow a different path in college.
The sisters first played soccer together when Stephanie was a sub on Tricia's youth club team. However, it was not until Stephanie entered high school that the girls saw real playing time together on the field.
'When we were playing on the same club teams as children, it did not seem to have as big of an effect on me as it did in high school,' Stephanie said. 'It was not until I was a freshman and Tricia was a junior in high school that our playing together really seemed to mean something.'
The Krombachs shared their high school soccer team for two years until Tricia graduated and moved away to play soccer at Purdue. The last game of her senior year, Tricia truly believed would be the last time she and Stephanie played competitive soccer together.
'I never thought that we would play soccer again after high school,' Tricia said. 'We had obviously taken our separate paths and when I left for Purdue. I thought Purdue was the school for me.'
Purdue was the school for Tricia, at least for her first three years of college. Redshirting her freshman year, Tricia played out her sophomore and junior years on the Boilermakers' soccer team.
Meanwhile, Stephanie was paving her own path back in Wisconsin. After graduating from high school and enrolling at the UW, for the first time, Stephanie was no longer the 'younger Krombach.' Competing in 12 games her freshman year for the Badgers, Stephanie proved she was more than capable of handling the field without her older sister by her side.
It was not until Tricia considered transferring her junior year that it really hit her that she might once again share the field with her younger sister.
'I never thought that I would play competitive soccer with Stephanie again until I thought about transferring to Wisconsin,' she said. 'Wisconsin was the right choice for me soccer-wise and it just fell into place that we ended up playing together again.'
Although the two set out in different directions to begin their collegiate careers, they have once again landed on the same soccer field as teammates, and both are proud to wear the Badger Cardinal and White.
'It has been a lot different having Tricia on my team again but since she 's been my older sister my whole life, I've always looked up to her and desired to live up to what she has accomplished' Stephanie said. 'With sports, there are always hard times that you have to overcome during the season, so it is always nice to know that through anything Tricia will always be there for me.'
However, Tricia is not the only one acting as a support system for her younger sister. Throughout the season, the roles have interchanged as Stephanie and the rest of the women 's team have been there for Tricia in helping her with the transition from Purdue to Wisconsin.
'The girls on the team have been here for me and I have been able to make a ton of new friends at Wisconsin,' Tricia said. 'They have all been a very good support system for me here, especially my sister.'
'Our family is really important to both of us and our playing together again at Wisconsin has really brought our family together again.' Stephanie added. 'They are able to watch our games together and now we are both there for them to cheer on. The fact that my sister and I share the field again brings that much more meaning to the sport of soccer ' it is back to the way it use to be.'
