Krombach sisters bring special bond
September 23, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Collaboration outside of simple family life is nothing new to the Krombach sisters. As natives of Appleton, Wis., where youth soccer is very popular, it was natural for them to start playing soccer at an early age. Their parents started older brother, Kyle, in soccer and shortly after the girls followed.
They grew up playing youth soccer on different teams as Tricia Krombach is two years older than her sister, Stephanie. It was not until Stephanie was a freshman at Appleton North High School when their talents were truly united.
'It was fun because she was a junior,' Stephanie said. 'She was team MVP that year, too. It was nice because it was like having your team leader right in your family, so if you had any problems it was easy to discuss them. I mean we shared a room. We basically shared everything and it was nice having her around. She was my biggest role model on the team.'
When Stephanie was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, Tricia was playing her second year of soccer at Purdue University (she redshirted her freshman year). Last year, Tricia transferred to Wisconsin to play soccer. For Tricia, playing soccer at Wisconsin is a dream come true and it just happened to come with a familial perk.
'This has been my dream since I was seven,' Tricia said. 'I have always been trying to chase my dream and track it down and I think Wisconsin happened to have the things I need to keep pursuing my dream. It is really nice that Stephanie can be here to share it with me.'
Tricia was a big influence in Stephanie's soccer career throughout high school and was always someone that Stephanie could look up to. Last year, it was finally time for the younger sister to help guide the older sister. After already having a year of Wisconsin soccer under her belt, Stephanie was able to help Tricia with the transition onto a new soccer team at the collegiate level.
'She helped me with the dynamics of the team and not just on the field; you have to be close with your team outside of the field as well,' Tricia said. 'You have to be able to bond outside of the field. Stephanie knew every little story of the team and she was able to fill me in on the background of every player. I was able to click a lot faster with the team because Steph was there and that was a huge payoff.'
In addition to having the opportunity to play soccer with her sister again, Stephanie saw another perk when Tricia transferred to Wisconsin. Throughout the years, their shared love and dedication for the game of soccer has allowed them to share a common bond. It has not only brought them together as sisters, but it has brought their entire family together.
'My biggest advantage is that my family gets to come,' Stephanie said. 'When Tricia was at Purdue they had to split time between the two. It's really nice for all of them to come to the home games and to see us. It's nice because I can talk about the game afterwards because my family is there and I'm right there with one of my teammates.'
Coach Paula Wilkins sees the sister duo as not just a benefit to each other, but to the Wisconsin women's soccer program as a whole.
'If you can't run for your sister and encourage your sister then I don 't know who you can run for,' Wilkins said. 'When Bo Ryan spoke to our team he said it was a sisterhood. I think for Stephanie and Tricia, this truly is a sisterhood. I think you see this when you see them competing. I remember last year during the winter season we were doing the mile and at the last stretch of the mile you could see them battling each other and trying to knock each other down to be the first one there. I think there has been some competitiveness with them because they grew up competing against each other. I think that really adds to the team and it adds to the cohesiveness to the team. '
This is the last year that Coach Wilkins will see this duo in action together. This is Tricia's last year of eligibility and both sisters are truly excited and thankful for all of the experiences that they have shared together.
'This is something that we can share for the rest of our lives,' Tricia said. 'It's something that we can always look back on and share stories with and we can tell our kids. I can't wait to be able to share this experience with my family and it is something that Steph and I can always talk about. '
