Corner Canyon soccer coach hopes to score big with Handel’s ice cream franchise

By Katherine Weinstein | [email protected]

Last year, soccer coach Krissa Reinbold's brother sent her family four quarts of Handel's Homemade ice cream from his franchise in California for Christmas. Krissa's husband, Matthew, said, "We were watching TV and thought we'd try it. We were blown away!” 

The family couldn’t stop eating it. “We knew it was something our friends would enjoy and other people would like too," Matthew said. The Reinbold family will open the first Utah franchise of Handel's Homemade Ice Cream this month in Sandy on the Draper border.

Managing the ice cream store will be a new venture for Krissa, currently assistant coach of girls soccer at Corner Canyon High School. Finding a balance between work and family inspired her to make a career change.

As head coach, Krissa led the team to victory in the state championship last October while simultaneously juggling responsibilities to her own family. "I realized that my focus was getting too stretched and it wasn't fair to the girls — or my own kids," Krissa said. When her children’s activities increasingly started to conflict with the soccer game schedule, she decided it was time to step down as head coach.

Matthew and Krissa have two children, Rylee, age 13 and Nolan, age 10. Both are involved in many extracurricular activities including mountain biking and tournament golf. Nolan is an aspiring actor who has performed in productions at Draper Arts Council and Hale Centre Theatre. Supporting their kids in their endeavors is important to Krissa and Matthew. “There’s this small window of time when you feel like your kids really need you,” said Krissa. 

She still finds time for the CCHS soccer team. As assistant coach, “I’m still there quite a bit,” Krissa said. “I show up and I go to practice, I can focus on that.” She enjoys the camaraderie with the players. “They are a fantastic group of girls.”  

Krissa will continue as assistant coach while managing the new Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream. “We’ve always wanted to own our own business,” she said. “What better way to do it than with such a great product?”

Matthew and Krissa visited the Handel’s headquarters in Ohio where they sampled 60 flavors of ice cream. “Sometimes when you try ice cream, it can be hit or miss,” said Matthew. “At Handel’s, it was hit after hit.” 

Matthew’s favorite flavors include coconut cream pie, strawberry cheesecake, raspberry chocolate and pistachio. Krissa is partial to the cotton candy flavor as well as chocolate peanut butter brownie. “There is no bad flavor,” she said with a smile, “but I might be biased.”

The Reinbolds feel that the key to the special taste of Handel’s ice cream is that it’s made fresh daily in small batches right there in the store. Each batch has to freeze for 24 hours before it is served. “The quality of the ice cream is what sets it apart,” Krissa said. “This is unlike any ice cream I’ve ever had.”

The couple is returning to Ohio for two weeks of training in a corporate store to learn the art of ice cream making as well as the nuts and bolts of managing the store. 

Matthew summed up the reason behind the family’s new business venture: “The primary drive is that ice cream makes people happy.” 

The new Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream will be a walk-up store located at 26 West 11400 South with a 1,000-square-foot patio outside for seating. Forty-eight flavors of ice cream will be offered daily including dairy-free options.