“I missed it. I love how the kids volunteer to be out there for the love of the game. They want to represent their school. When I train kids outside of school, I work with them and then I watch them go back to their teams and I go watch them play. I was like, ‘I need to get back into this.’””

New Jordan High girls soccer coach Rennie Rebe

Following 21 highly successful years of coaching at the high school varsity level, Rennie Rebe stepped away in the spring of 2018.

Her hiatus, however, was brief.

After spending a year as the executive director and head coach of G10 Academy FC, an Austin youth training club, Rebe will find herself back on a high school campus this fall. She is the girls head soccer coach at Jordan High, Katy ISD’s ninth high school that opens in August.

Rebe formally announced the move on Twitter on Feb. 22.

“I missed it,” Rebe said. “I love how the kids volunteer to be out there for the love of the game. They want to represent their school. When I train kids outside of school, I work with them and then I watch them go back to their teams and I go watch them play. I was like, ‘I need to get back into this.’”

Jordan is Rebe’s sixth high school stop. She has coached at Franklin, Stony Point, Kingwood, Austin Westlake and Pflugerville Hendrickson. She won a state championship with Hendrickson in 2017, beating Tompkins, 2-0, in the final.

“It’s a huge accomplishment to beat a program like (Tompkins), so if I can jump in there and mix things up, I think that will be fun,” Rebe said.

Rebe’s teams have reached six regional finals, two regional semifinals, and won 14 district championships. The El Paso native is a Texas Coach of the Year, nine-time district Coach of the Year, and was a four-year starter and team captain at Texas A&M.

Tompkins assistant coach Hope Ward played for Rebe as a senior at Kingwood.

“She had mentioned to me in the past how she wanted to get back into high school coaching,” said Ward, who is in her second year with the Falcons. “There’s something about high school sports and that atmosphere. She’s a competitor. She loves to be a part of programs that compete and are good and strong. She really thrives in that environment.”

Ward said she loved playing for Rebe and expects Jordan players to feel the same way.

“She was a very hard coach who came in with high expectations and stuck to those expectations,” Ward said. “Our team really enjoyed that. We absolutely loved her. We were a very fit team, and she made sure of that. She definitely taught me how to be more mentally tough.”

Rebe has signed her contract with the district and formally starts at Jordan on Aug. 5 for new teacher orientation. Until then, she expects to be meeting with new faculty at Jordan often during the acclimation period this spring.

Rebe assumes there will be more preparation involved with a new school, and she is thrilled about what lies ahead. The Warriors will play junior varsity soccer in 2020-21 before going to varsity in 2021-22.

“I watched when they first opened Seven Lakes, which was at the top in getting to the final four a couple times, and then I watched when Tompkins opened,” Rebe said. “When I saw Jordan was going to draw from those two schools, I figured if the district does as good of a job opening Jordan as they did Seven Lakes and Tompkins, it has the potential for that same success.”

Rebe spoke with the Katy Times more about her new job.

Q: At what point did you realize that you wanted to get back to high school coaching?

A: Around the playoffs last year. I had coaching friends that I stayed in touch with, and when they were going through it, I was helping them game-plan or scout or bounce some ideas off of. There’s nothing like the playoffs. There’s something beautiful about high school, where the team is the most important piece. You only go so far and do as well as the team. I missed that. I knew at some point I was going to get back in. I was just waiting for the right opportunity.

Q: What was it about Jordan that made that the right opportunity?

A: I’ve heard nothing but really good things about Katy ISD. I feel like their teams across the board, not just in soccer but in other sports, are successful. They obviously commit to all their high schools and all their teams doing well. I like the idea of starting a school from scratch and being able to create your own culture and establish your norms. I don’t know if coaches really get an opportunity to do that. You’re usually working with what was there before. This is a clean slate. The sky’s the limit.”

Q: In what ways, if at all, did working with the G10 Academy make you a better coach?

A: I was able to work with the kids younger. When you get them in high school, you usually have a four-year window, so you hit the ground running. To be able to work with kids at the youth age, you can really help with skill development and impact the trajectory of their careers. That was really rewarding. I also liked to vary it up when I’m individually training, so it really challenged me as a coach to figure out how to focus on the same skillset, but in a way that was continually interesting and different and creative. It pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was able to get back to basics and figure out how to individually address particular needs in the context of soccer. It really rejuvenates your love of working with kids.

Q: How would you describe your coaching philosophy?

A: It’s about individual player development. The whole offseason is designed to make each individual player better and build that player’s confidence. I like my teams to be relentless, fit, never quit, battle. I want us to get into every game and compete. The outcome is not the goal, because I think when you do those things, the outcome will take care of itself. I want to outwork you, and if you bring your ‘A’ game and outwork us, then you win. But it’s going to be daunting for them to outwork us.

Q: You’ve mentioned the strong tradition Katy ISD has in soccer. What makes the area so strong in the sport?

A: It’s the expectation for excellence. I’ve been in districts where you had one or two top teams and then the district competition was weak. I do think that a district where you have to bring your ‘A’ game every game helps prepare teams for what they’re going to see in the playoffs. I like the competitiveness of having to play hard across the board, or you can lose. That makes the preparation more fun, because kids have to learn how to deal with challenge and stress.