SE: New Coaches, Same Goals for K-State Soccer
Aug 06, 2021 | Soccer, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
Walk in the front door at Buser Family Park and take a left at the game ball from K-State Soccer's first ever match in Manhattan.
Hang a right past the shovel from the stadium's groundbreaking in 2015 and follow the wall art commemorating the first Big 12 win in program history over Kansas two years later.
That's where you can find Don Trentham and David Romay's office, two coaches who are still learning the history of a soccer program barely old enough to have a history to begin with.
But make no mistake, that history is tucked down every hallway of the stadium, and it has the new guys fired up about the future in Manhattan.
"When I first started talking to Mike [Dibbini], I was really excited because I knew the team he had here," Trentham said. "I knew the foundation and the direction that it was going…During our conversation, I started to think to myself, 'Man, this would be a pretty cool place to be a part of something special.' I think that's what's happening here."
Trentham arrives from Missouri, where he served as Associate Head Coach with the Tigers, a team that reached the NCAA tournament in 2016. Before his time in the SEC, Trentham was an assistant at Colorado and spent nine seasons as the head coach at Montana State-Billings.
Romay took a different path, arriving in Manhattan from the Houston Dynamo, where he worked as a goalkeeper coach in the club's academy and with the NWSL's Houston Dash.
The 2019 and 2020 graduate of Texas A&M racked up the miles making the two-hour drive from College Station to Houston, where he spent three seasons with the MLS club.
Even as a Texas A&M undergraduate, Romay believed his future was in coaching.
"You get a lot of funny looks when you say stuff like that," he said. "But the reality is, people don't grasp the idea that we all have different things in life that drive us…I've always wanted to establish myself in a program like this and have the opportunity to wake up and be like, 'Damn, I'm the luckiest man alive.' You can't put a price on that."
The unique soccer identities of both coaches extend to the field, where Trentham will focus on the team's defense while Romay coaches the goalkeepers.
Just two weeks after arriving in Manhattan, both coaches are working through their tactical decisions before K-State's first exhibition game at South Dakota State on Thursday.
There's a lot to like between the lines at Buser Family Park.
Romay will work with three goalkeepers who bring starting experience into the 2021 season, redshirt junior Rachel Harris and sophomores Alaina Werremeyer and Peyton Pearson.
Both Werremeyer and Pearson earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors backstopping the Wildcats last season, while a returning starter in Harris missed the 2020 season due to injury.
"It's a luxury because the three of them are tremendous people and they understand that team-first mentality," Romay said. "It's not hard to find other circumstances where their [starting experience] could become a double-edged sword and fracture the locker room. They're making my job hard because I have to pick one, but they're making my job easy in that I know the three of them are always going to support each other."
Trentham is tasked with retooling what's been one of K-State's deepest position groups.
Avery Green and Shelby Lierz graduated after leading the defense in 2020, while Silke Bonnen became the first Wildcat to sign a professional contract, joining HB Køge in her native Denmark.
But seven returning players started at least one match for the Wildcats on defense last season, with Aliyah El-Naggar making an instant impact through the transfer portal in the spring.
Trentham knows first-hand - he was on the opposing sideline in Columbia when El-Naggar scored an overtime equalizer to help the Wildcats battle back from 3-1 down against Missouri.
"I knew her as a youth player and I wanted Aliyah but she ended up going to Ohio State. She had that game-tying goal, so I certainly know what she's capable of," Trentham said. "What I saw in that game was a team that had a fight to them. It's tough when you're down 3-1 on the road, but they took over the last 10 minutes of that game."
Romay had a similar feeling watching K-State tape from 2020 to prepare for his first season in Manhattan.
"Some college teams play extremely direct but there are others that try and possess a little bit more. For me, it was important to understand how the team played," he said. "When I came on campus, it felt like home. That's because of who Dibbini is. This program is on the rise, we're not necessarily where we want to be yet, but he's one of the good guys in this profession."
Trentham said his first visit to Manhattan came with Missouri, when the Tigers arrived for a spring match. Pulling up to the team hotel after dark and leaving a few hours after the match ended, he admitted that he didn't see much of what would become his new home.
His return visit this summer has been a different experience, from taking in the Flint Hills to understanding the direction of K-State Soccer. The Wildcats set the school record for wins in 2020 and reached their highest Big 12 finish in program history.
Ultimately, that might be the most important thing Trentham and Romay bring to Manhattan: a commitment to helping the Wildcats maintain the positive momentum behind the program.
And they're still getting moved into their offices at Buser Family Park. Trentham had time to redecorate with some gear from his favorite English club – Shrewsbury Town FC.
"There are a lot of Trenthams up there and we've had some good runs in the FA Cup," he said. "The only professional game I've been to in England was at Gay Meadow to watch Shrewsbury."
Considering the Shrews were a semi-professional club 18 years ago and K-State Soccer has been around for less than half that time, there might be a metaphor somewhere between Manhattan and Shrewsbury. The formula for success is certainly the same.
"This is who we are. This is what we've done, but where can we take it and what mentality do we need to get there?" Trentham said. "Everybody on this roster is after the same goal: we want to win and help this program keep going in a great direction."
Walk in the front door at Buser Family Park and take a left at the game ball from K-State Soccer's first ever match in Manhattan.
Hang a right past the shovel from the stadium's groundbreaking in 2015 and follow the wall art commemorating the first Big 12 win in program history over Kansas two years later.
That's where you can find Don Trentham and David Romay's office, two coaches who are still learning the history of a soccer program barely old enough to have a history to begin with.
But make no mistake, that history is tucked down every hallway of the stadium, and it has the new guys fired up about the future in Manhattan.
"When I first started talking to Mike [Dibbini], I was really excited because I knew the team he had here," Trentham said. "I knew the foundation and the direction that it was going…During our conversation, I started to think to myself, 'Man, this would be a pretty cool place to be a part of something special.' I think that's what's happening here."
Trentham arrives from Missouri, where he served as Associate Head Coach with the Tigers, a team that reached the NCAA tournament in 2016. Before his time in the SEC, Trentham was an assistant at Colorado and spent nine seasons as the head coach at Montana State-Billings.
Romay took a different path, arriving in Manhattan from the Houston Dynamo, where he worked as a goalkeeper coach in the club's academy and with the NWSL's Houston Dash.
The 2019 and 2020 graduate of Texas A&M racked up the miles making the two-hour drive from College Station to Houston, where he spent three seasons with the MLS club.
Even as a Texas A&M undergraduate, Romay believed his future was in coaching.
"You get a lot of funny looks when you say stuff like that," he said. "But the reality is, people don't grasp the idea that we all have different things in life that drive us…I've always wanted to establish myself in a program like this and have the opportunity to wake up and be like, 'Damn, I'm the luckiest man alive.' You can't put a price on that."
Excited to announce the hire of David Romay, Assistant Coach/Goalkeeper Coach!
— K-State Soccer (@KStateSOC) June 24, 2021
Learn more about @davidromay96 here, including his work with the NWSL's @jane_campbell1 -> https://t.co/99Fl0jY9zz#KStateSOC x GK Union pic.twitter.com/tlot1KlsMC
The unique soccer identities of both coaches extend to the field, where Trentham will focus on the team's defense while Romay coaches the goalkeepers.
Just two weeks after arriving in Manhattan, both coaches are working through their tactical decisions before K-State's first exhibition game at South Dakota State on Thursday.
There's a lot to like between the lines at Buser Family Park.
Romay will work with three goalkeepers who bring starting experience into the 2021 season, redshirt junior Rachel Harris and sophomores Alaina Werremeyer and Peyton Pearson.
Both Werremeyer and Pearson earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors backstopping the Wildcats last season, while a returning starter in Harris missed the 2020 season due to injury.
"It's a luxury because the three of them are tremendous people and they understand that team-first mentality," Romay said. "It's not hard to find other circumstances where their [starting experience] could become a double-edged sword and fracture the locker room. They're making my job hard because I have to pick one, but they're making my job easy in that I know the three of them are always going to support each other."
Trentham is tasked with retooling what's been one of K-State's deepest position groups.
Avery Green and Shelby Lierz graduated after leading the defense in 2020, while Silke Bonnen became the first Wildcat to sign a professional contract, joining HB Køge in her native Denmark.
But seven returning players started at least one match for the Wildcats on defense last season, with Aliyah El-Naggar making an instant impact through the transfer portal in the spring.
Trentham knows first-hand - he was on the opposing sideline in Columbia when El-Naggar scored an overtime equalizer to help the Wildcats battle back from 3-1 down against Missouri.
"I knew her as a youth player and I wanted Aliyah but she ended up going to Ohio State. She had that game-tying goal, so I certainly know what she's capable of," Trentham said. "What I saw in that game was a team that had a fight to them. It's tough when you're down 3-1 on the road, but they took over the last 10 minutes of that game."
Wildcat fans! Please welcome @CoachTrentham to our family.
— K-State Soccer (@KStateSOC) July 12, 2021
Don Trentham joins us as the Associate Head Coach after coaching stops at Missouri, Colorado & MSU-Billings.
Welcome to the Little 🍎, Coach Trentham!
Details -> https://t.co/rUxzJUPQpx#KStateSOC pic.twitter.com/Wz7iit7Bst
Romay had a similar feeling watching K-State tape from 2020 to prepare for his first season in Manhattan.
"Some college teams play extremely direct but there are others that try and possess a little bit more. For me, it was important to understand how the team played," he said. "When I came on campus, it felt like home. That's because of who Dibbini is. This program is on the rise, we're not necessarily where we want to be yet, but he's one of the good guys in this profession."
Trentham said his first visit to Manhattan came with Missouri, when the Tigers arrived for a spring match. Pulling up to the team hotel after dark and leaving a few hours after the match ended, he admitted that he didn't see much of what would become his new home.
His return visit this summer has been a different experience, from taking in the Flint Hills to understanding the direction of K-State Soccer. The Wildcats set the school record for wins in 2020 and reached their highest Big 12 finish in program history.
Ultimately, that might be the most important thing Trentham and Romay bring to Manhattan: a commitment to helping the Wildcats maintain the positive momentum behind the program.
And they're still getting moved into their offices at Buser Family Park. Trentham had time to redecorate with some gear from his favorite English club – Shrewsbury Town FC.
"There are a lot of Trenthams up there and we've had some good runs in the FA Cup," he said. "The only professional game I've been to in England was at Gay Meadow to watch Shrewsbury."
Considering the Shrews were a semi-professional club 18 years ago and K-State Soccer has been around for less than half that time, there might be a metaphor somewhere between Manhattan and Shrewsbury. The formula for success is certainly the same.
"This is who we are. This is what we've done, but where can we take it and what mentality do we need to get there?" Trentham said. "Everybody on this roster is after the same goal: we want to win and help this program keep going in a great direction."
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