COLUMBIA FALLS — College soccer comes to the Flathead Valley with two exhibition games being played this weekend and, of course, a youth camp being hosted by the Montana Grizzlies.
“It made me feel special because they came all the way from Missoula just to teach us, 13 to 14, all the way down to 5 (years old). It's just amazing,” local Columbia Falls soccer player Rexx Dziowgo said.
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For the third straight year, the Griz team made a trip up to Columbia Falls for the Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase.
This year, three women’s college soccer teams will make appearances, including Mount Royal University from Calgary, AB, Gonzaga and UM.
The event is highlighted by two exhibition games between the three teams and a youth camp with the Griz for the kids in the Flathead.
Local soccer player Casey Wehunt said she has enjoyed her experience the past few years.
“I've been able to do it twice, and that's just amazing,” Wehunt said. “A lot of other people can't get the opportunity.”
For most of the Griz team, this was their first trip up to the Flathead area with 17 new players and a new head coach in Stuart Gore.
“We were all looking out the window on the bus ride up and amazed by all the mountains and the scenery,” Gore said. “Joining in with the community and people that a lot of these kids grew up are Griz fans and showing that Griz Nation is everywhere in this state.“
On Friday, fans in the Flathead were ready for their first opportunity to see the new-look Griz in action against Mount Royal.
Gore is anxious to see his players take the field and even took inspiration from one of his colleagues.
“When I was in the cafeteria (on Wednesday) I was talking to (Griz football coach) Bobby Kennedy, and he said, ‘It’s great to go and hit somebody else,’” Gore said. “ I’m going to take the Bobby-K way of looking at it.”
For Gore and his players, it was important to keep the tradition going of interacting with the Flathead community.
“Meet college soccer players, and hopefully they want to be one of those, and maybe we'll have a kid from Columbia Falls on the roster at some point, and they get to come out and do this in front of their home crowd,” Gore said.
With so many kids attending Thursday’s camp, Gore may have inspired more than a few players to live out that dream — like Elizabeth Davidson, who found new inspiration working with the players.
“I really want to be a higher-level soccer player,” Davidson said. “Depending on what I want to do for college, I will more than likely want to go to the Griz.”
The Griz were scheduled to kick off against Mount Royal on Friday at 8 p.m.
Gonzaga will also face Mount Royal on Saturday at 7 at Flip Darling Memorial Field.
