[3] Trakh was born in Amman, Jordan and moved to the United States with his family at age 4.
Trakh's grandparents are from the Caucasus Mountains and moved to Amman in 1918 to escape Communist rule in Russia.
[1][4] A baseball and basketball student-athlete, Trakh graduated from Lakeland Regional High School.
[1] After high school, Trakh attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, before joining his family in Southern California and transferring to Fullerton College in 1977.
[4] Trakh was boys' sophomore head coach for Western High School in Anaheim in the 1979–80 season before becoming girls' varsity head coach at Brea Olinda High School, a position he would hold from 1980 to 1993.
Inheriting a program that won only four games in the previous two seasons,[6] Trakh had a 354–45 overall record with four state titles (1989, 1991–93).