Reinkes learning from each other

It started off as a joke between a father and daughter.

As things started to fall into place over the summer, with recent college graduate Abby Reinke finding a job in Green Bay and the Bonduel High School girls basketball junior varsity coach Dan Stoltenow stepping down, it was the perfect opportunity for Reinke to step on the sideline alongside her father, Jerry Reinke.

The two, having been around the sport for the majority of their lives, see the game similarly.

“There’ll be times we kind of look at each other and I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to switch to man or whatever it is,’ and he’ll nod his head,” Abby said. “We’re normally on the same page, but sometimes he’ll turn and look for confirmation or see if I see something different that the other team is doing on offense or defense.”

Abby, a 2012 graduate of Bonduel High School, continued her basketball career at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, including two starts in 24 games in her senior season, while majoring in engineering.

Jerry considered leaving the boys program prior to the 2011 season to watch more of his three daughters’ games, but Abby and others convinced him to stay — and the boys ended up winning a Central Wisconsin Conference-8 championship. He resigned as the boys coach in 2013 but returned to head the girls program two years later.

Going from an all-conference player for Bonduel to a role player in college helped Abby understand how all the players are feeling, especially as she assists the varsity players while her father roams the sidelines.

“I think she’s helped tremendously from the bench, coming from a place she didn’t play a lot in college,” Jerry said. “She could relate to those kids pretty well. She’s been a great addition to the coaching staff.”

The Reinkes have taken a little from the Loras College playbook, meshing the deny defense with a pack-line defense in which teams have one player pressuring the ball while the other four drop toward the paint to protect the lane.

“I’ve probably learned more from her than she’s learned from me, believe it or not,” Jerry said. “And we’ve had our battles. We’ve looked at each other a few times, but I always win those.”

Abby, who works at KI in Green Bay as an automation engineer, presents a calmer sideline demeanor than her father, who is known for his intense in-game coaching style.

“He’s really passionate about the game, and he’s passed that on to all of us, and his ability to adapt during games is kind of what I’ve emulated and tried to do myself and learn from him in that aspect,” Abby said.

The younger Reinke already knew Bonduel’s current varsity athletes. She coached some of them in the Bonduel youth basketball program when she was in high school. Her younger sister Brynn is a sophomore on the varsity.

Abby wouldn’t have her first experience coaching any other way.

“It’s your hometown,” she said. “I think anybody would like to coach in their hometown.”