Practice begins for fall sports

The time to practice has arrived; the time to play is not very far away.

High school teams from around Sanders County will hit the football fields, the volleyball courts and the running trails en masse beginning this Friday.

An interesting season of football is in the offing this fall as Thompson Falls drops down to the 8-Man game for the first time in decades. The 8-Man football leagues will no longer be associated with Class B or C designations, it will be simply 8-Man football, regardless of what classification schools are in for other sports.

This means that Thompson Falls, which is Class B in all other sports, will now be able to renew their football rivalry with Plains, which will remain Class C in sports other than football.

Although coach Jared Koskela and his Hawks will regain football rivalries with C schools like Plains (at Plains Oct. 4) and Troy (at Troy Oct. 17), they will lose games with traditional gridiron rivals like Eureka and Bigfork.

Thompson Falls will open its season with a non-conference game against another team making the move down to 8-Man football, the Choteau Bulldogs, on a neutral field in Philipsburg, Saturday, Aug. 31.

Fresh off a third place finish at the Western B divisional tournament last year, coach Sandra Kazmierczak and her Lady Hawks will open the season in the Choteau Invitational Aug. 30-31.

The Thompson Falls cross country team, again under the direction of Sarah Naegeli, will begin the season competing in the Deer Lodge Invitational Aug. 30.

Complete fall sports schedules from other Sanders County schools have not been made available to the Ledger as of yet.