Dozens of supporters gathered on Monday as Raquelle Trogden stood inside the high school she attends because of her exploits at the school she plays soccer at — to announce her new school.
Phew.
Trogden is a student at 1A DII Grace Lutheran — a stud for the Royals’ volleyball and basketball teams. But because the small Christian school doesn’t offer soccer, Trogden trekked across town to star on a Pocatello Thunder team that won the district title.
A veteran presence on a dynamic front line that also included Dita Masak, Lily Ottley and Kelia Tatom, Trogden found the back of the net seven times and notched three assists, helping the Thunder reach the 4A state playoffs.
“She’s one of those players who is so coachable but more than that, she’s a leader,” Pocatello coach Mark Wetstein said on Monday. “She is the type of player who everybody looks up to … Every coach dreams of players like (Raquelle).”
All while juggling an odd high school dynamic: Go to one high school, play for another.
“I really didn’t have any challenges,” Trogden said. “Poky was really welcoming with me going there and they were all open to me still going to school at Grace but playing at Poky. It was pretty cool.”
This is not a one-off situation. Last year, James Bodily may have been the best player on a Marsh Valley baseball team that went 25-0 in the regular season despite being a student at 1A II North Gem. Other Grace Lutheran students, too, venture to local Pocatello schools to play sports the Royals don’t offer.
Few have had as much success as Trogden, who made history on Monday as the centerpiece of the first collegiate signing at Grace Lutheran.
“I wanted to have it here because it’s kind of a cool opportunity to sign at Grace, and then I brought in my Poky coaches so it tied in Poky and stuff,” Trogden said.
“(It’s) kind of a big deal,” Grace Lutheran Athletic Director Jeremy Hess said as he introduced Trogden.
Indeed, and an event long in the making. Trogden used to be a ball girl at the Idaho State soccer games, on a college soccer field but on the wrong side of the white lines. Her drive to one day sign a scholarship formed around the orange and black, simmered for years and bubbled up while playing at Pocatello.
But it didn’t really become real, she said, until she visited the campus of Walla Walla two weeks ago.
“I was like, ‘This is actually happening. I’m super excited,’” Trogden said.
The wait to become a college soccer player will have to continue for a few months. Trogden still needs to graduate from Grace Lutheran – oh, and play on the girls basketball team over the winter.
“It keeps me busy,” Trogden said, “and it’s really nice to have a sense of family in every single aspect of sports that I play.”