O’Brien Byrd will find himself in an odd situation on July 1.
The longtime Whitefish High School boys head soccer coach will return to his roots and coach the Columbia Falls alumni team in the first annual North Valley Cup in Whitefish.
Twenty years of soccer tradition will converge at Grouse Mountain Field when former players from Columbia Falls and Whitefish compete at an all-day “soccer-fest” featuring youth and alumni matches and the new Flathead Rapids women’s team taking on the University of Montana alumni squad.
“It’s going to be quite the event,” Byrd said. “This will be a real showcase.”
The event will begin with boys and girls youth games between players from the two communities beginning at 10 a.m. The Whitefish women alumni will take on Columbia Falls at 1 p.m. The men’s teams will compete at 3 p.m. The Flathead Rapids adult women premier team will play Montana alumni under current head coach Mark Plakorus at 5 p.m. The Flathead men’s team will cap the event with a match against the Sandpoint Green Monarchs.
Byrd has dreamed of organizing an alumni gathering ever since moving back to the valley 10 years ago. When he was coaching in Pennsylvania there was an annual event that stuck in his mind years later when he returned to Montana.
“It was awesome because all the old guys and girls would come back and play and it was just a great reunion really,” he said. “It celebrated the program’s history.”
Byrd remembers growing up hearing about soccer games being organized for the first time at Grouse Field as early as the 1950s. High school club teams formed 20 years ago, and only 10 years ago Whitefish and Columbia Falls started state-sanctioned teams. Since then the valley has become a hotbed for soccer success. The Bulldogs have won the most state championships (four) of any team in Class A. Columbia Falls is next with three. The Lady Bulldogs have won the second most for a Class A girls team with two. The Columbia Falls girls have won one.
Aside from alumni, a few familiar faces will be on the sidelines, according to Byrd. Longtime Columbia Falls girls head coach Greg Trenerry will direct the Wildkat alumni team. Peter Browne, the boys coach in Whitefish before moving to Columbia Falls, will direct the Bulldogs alumni team. Former Whitefish girls coach Lini Reading will direct the Lady Bulldogs alumni.
“It’s just going to be a cool day and a real soccer-fest,” Byrd said.
Alumni can register for the North Valley Cup by downloading a form online at www.flatheadrapids.com and mailing it to Flathead Rapids, P.O. Box 260138, Martin City, MT 59926. For more information, visit the Rapids’ website or Facebook page.