Bell-Trinity soccer rivalry friendly, still intense

Sports rivalries are something special. Whether a championship is at stake or the teams are at the bottom of the district, there are always bragging rights at stake.

And, in the case of the L.D. Bell and Trinity soccer teams, the rivalry has some additional twists.

For example, Bell boys coach Scott Campbell and Trinity boys coach Tracy Duren are great friends. In fact, Duren helped Campbell get hired to coach the Trojans 10 years ago.

“Coach Campbell and I are very good friends. I even recommended him to the coordinator at Bell when they were looking to hire a new boys soccer coach,” Duren said. “He and I coached together many years ago for a select organization where we first met.”

Duren is in his 21st season at Trinity. He’s coached both the girls and boys soccer teams, and he said no matter the team, he loves the rivalry between the schools.

“I have seen it from the girls side, the football side, and the boys soccer side,” he said. “I love the competitive aspects of it. It is a friendly one, and many of the kids have grown up playing against, or with, each other in rec and competitive leagues before they ever get to high school.”

Since Duren went to Bell, his teams hold an 7-5-7 record in the series, including a 1-1 tie earlier this season. The teams were set to play for the second time at 5:30 p.m. Monday after a weather postponement, and of course that game was expected to have the same intensity as they’ve had for years.

“Every game for the past 10 years has been either a tie or a one-goal victory,” Campbell said. “It is a friendly rivalry because of the friendship between the two coaches and players.”

Kurt Clawson, in his 14th season as Trinity girls coach, said, “Every sport versus them is important, because the kids remember it the rest of their lives. Kids at school measure your season on whether you beat Bell or not. Because the teams are so close in talent, you like to win that game because it feels like effort, execution, and willpower won it when you do.”

Perhaps the teams are so close in talent because the players grew up near each other, often playing on the same recreation and club teams.

“Proximity, playing each other since they were kids,” said Bell girls coach Corey Rolf, in his 11th season, explaining the series being a rivalry. “I think that many of the girls have friends at Trinity.

“I used to coach a few of the Trinity girls as they were growing up. It’s nice to see them play in high school.”

Likewise, the girls series has been close throughout the years, though Trinity leads 16-9 since Clawson took over. This season, Bell won the first meeting 1-0 and the teams are playing for a second time at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Like any rivalry, the series has had its heated moments.

“The girls are either friends because club, church and rec soccer growing up, or they can’t stand each other,” said Clawson. “The game usually gets pretty heated, and the fans urge that along.

“It used to be worse, I think because we played varsity boys and girls back-to-back. Once upon a time we would quadruple-header (including two junior varsity games), but (the administration) didn’t like staying half a day. And we played it as the last game of the season once upon a time, but that doubled the pressure on all sports, so it was reordered by someone.”

As in all rivalries, the Bell-Trinity soccer series has had its special moments that each participant will always treasure.

“My hundredth win as coach at THS was last year’s Bell game, and we came back down 2-1 at the half to win 3-2,” said Clawson.

“My favorite memory was when Bell won in the final five seconds of the game,” said Campbell. “The victory occurred in my first season at Bell.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Bell-Trinity soccer rivalry friendly, still intense."