The entire Warren community is deeply saddened after news of the passing of Paul Trina, who served as the athletic director at Warren G. Harding from 1997 until his retirement in 2014.
Trina was born on September 14, 1958. Growing up on the west side of Warren, Ohio, his passion for sports began during his childhood years in the 1960's on the baseball diamonds at Perkins Park. As he got older, he extended that labor of love between the lines and on the hardwood as he started at both quarterback and point guard for the football and basketball teams at Warren Western Reserve High School.
Trina as the quarterback for Warren Western Reserve in 1975.
After graduating from Reserve in 1976, Trina went on to play quarterback at Findlay College. There, he was a three-year letterman who completed 60% of his passes and threw for 37 touchdowns. As a result, he earned all-Hoosier-Buckeye Conference honors en route to finishing his career with a record of 27-4-2 as their starting quarterback. After leading the Oilers an NAIA National Runner-up finish in 1978, he led them to the national championship in 1979.
Trina handling the basketball during Reserve's 1975-76 season.
In 1980, Trina was an Academic All-American as he graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting the same year. He'd eventually go on to earn his master’s in Sports Administration from Ohio University along with a second master’s degree from Youngstown State in Educational Administration. In 2003, Findlay inducted him into their Athletic Hall of Fame.
In 1985, Trina began working in the Warren City Schools system as a math teacher. Over the course of his first 11 years in education, he also spent time coaching football, baseball, basketball, and track & field. After serving one year as an assistant principal at Warren G. Harding, he was named their athletic director in 1997. Over the course of the next 17 years years, he was responsible for the hiring of over 90 coaches into WCS.
Trina as the Harding athletic director in 2005.
When Trina's retirement became official on June 1, 2014, it put the exclamation point on a 30-year career in education. A few months later on Sunday, October 19th, 2014, he was inducted into the Trumbull County Sports Hall of Fame as a sports administrator and for football. He'd go on to settle in Fort Myers, Florida.
We, the staff at www.wghfootball.com, and the Warren G. Harding Raiders Fans Facebook page, send our deepest thoughts and condolences to the family, friends, and all who were touched by the life of Mr. Paul Trina.
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