Spring soccer season kicks off

It's a new soccer season and although the newest team didn't win either of its first two games, they didn't lose either.

The Clark Fork Alliance U20 soccer team in Plains played its first two preseason games on Saturday at Amundson Sports Complex. Both games ended in ties, said Joshua Allday, the team's head coach, who is nevertheless optimistic for future games.

The Plains team is part of the Wildhorse Youth Soccer Association, which is part of the Clark Fork Soccer Alliance, a combination of Plains, Thompson Falls, and St. Regis soccer clubs of the spring season, said Dave Wrobleski, league president, who also noted that Hot Springs is planning to start a club. There are 82 registered players from age 7-20 and six teams - U20, U15, U12 (one Plains and one Thompson Falls), and two U10 teams. The teams are mostly coed - the U20 is an all boys team. Wrobleski said that St. Regis doesn't have any spring season teams, but has players on two Plains teams. There was no spring soccer in 2020, due to COVID-19, which is why the Montana Youth Soccer Association established for the first time a U20 team for this year, said Wrobleski, who was a referee on Saturday, along with Darren Pullen of Plains and Eric Nygaard of Thompson Falls.

U20 Nate Schrader scored first for Plains Saturday morning on a free kick from 12 yards against the Stevensville Sabres keeper Ben Hirning. The Sabres claimed a 4-2 victory against the Missoula Strikers a week earlier, but Plains held them to a tie game Saturday. Plains keeper Martin Wrobleski made several saves, but late in the second half a Sabre slipped one past the 17-year-old Wrobleski, who also served as keeper in the second game against Polson, which also ended in a 1-1 tie. 

Polson had the lead at halftime in game two, but Plains came back to tie things up. "For our first games after only one week of practice I felt the team played well, very gritty and spirited play," said Allday, a Thompson Falls resident with 15 years of coaching experience under his belt. Allday has 23 players on his roster from Plains, Thompson Falls and St. Regis, but had only 13 players on Saturday. It was Schrader who also scored in game two. The team's first official game is scheduled for Saturday, April 17, at the Amundson Sports Complex in Plains. Allday said they plan to work on fitness, technical skills, as well as offensive and defensive strategies.

Games scheduled for April 17 include Thompson Falls U13 versus Kootenai U12 at Libby. Their second game, also at Libby, is against Flathead U12. Clark Fork (Plains) U13 takes on Stevensville U12 at Stevensville, followed by a game against the Polson U14. Clark Fork U15 takes on Stevensville U14 and Polson U14, also at Stevensville. At Plains on April 17, Clark Fork U20 goes against Flathead U19 in game one, then against Stevensville U18 in the second game.

On April 24 in Plains, Thompson Falls U13 goes against Flathead U12, followed by a game against Kootenai U12. Clark Fork U13 takes on Kootenai U12, then Flathead U12. Clark Fork U15 plays Flathead Rapids U15, then Flathead United U14. Times for the games have not been set yet. Games continue until early June.

Wrobleski said there are a lot of new players this year, even more than normal. "People have moved into the community and they are interested in youth activities," he said. Wrobleski noted that soccer - called football/futbol in the rest of the world - is the most popular sport in the world.

"Soccer boasts about 4 billion fans, and because of the large team sizes, is a highly strategic and creative sport. It requires a tremendous level of athleticism and tends more toward a team sport than one of individual superstars," said Wrobleski, whose children Andrew, Katherine and Claire also play youth soccer. He also coaches the Clark Fork U15 team. "That's one of the teaching points of our soccer club - focusing on building players into a team that works as a unit and is far stronger because of it.  We want every player on the pitch to contribute to the play and be a threat to the opposing team," added Wrobleski.