Soccer tournament fills Plains complex

Amundson Sports Complex at Plains was all about soccer on Saturday when over 300 children from both Sanders and Mineral counties participated in the Randy Baker Memorial Tournament.

Kids from 4-13 years old from Plains, Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, and Superior competed on several fields at the complex for more than six hours. U6 and U8 kids had their normally scheduled games, but the tournament was designed for the U10 and U13 teams and was done in a round robin format, according to Dave Wrobleski, one of the tournament organizers. He said the best two records went on to the championship games.

Of the five teams of the U13 age group - one from Plains, two from Thompson Falls, one from Trout Creek, and one from Superior - the Plains Wolves, coached by Sam Carter, chalked up 12 points for first place, followed by the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks, coached by Adam Franklin and Michael Scharfe, in second place with nine points. The two faced off in the championship game in which Thompson Falls won 2-0. The Trout Creek Eagles U13 team was coached by Scott Donovan. The Superior Stompers were coached by Stephanie Quick.

In the seven teams in the U10 competition, the Thompson Falls team, coached by Brock Perkins, placed first with 14 points (based on their win/loss record at the tournament) followed by the Trout Creek Eagles, coached by Ruth Boyer, which collected 13 points. Hot Springs, coached by Ashley DePoe and Jessie Stephens, took third with 12 points. Wrobleski said the two Plains and the Superior teams came in at the lower end of the bracket.

Wrobleski said the U10 championship contest was 20 minutes long and a tense game between Thompson Falls and Trout Creek, but in the end it was the 12 players of the Trout Creek Eagles that came out on top. He added that it was definitely a great first soccer season for Trout Creek's U10 team, which had four wins, one loss and one tie. Ten teenagers served as referees for the tournament play, along with adults Alan Hafner and Dave Wrobleski, president of the Clark Fork Soccer Alliance.

This was the first soccer season for Trout Creek, which now has incorporated soccer into the school sports program, said Trout Creek School Superintendent Preston Wenz. The Eagles U13 team was comprised of nine players. "We are the only school in the county with a school supported soccer team that is not a club. We are super proud of our kids because most of them are multi-sport kids," said Wenz.

The Plains U10 teams were coached by Austin Turner on one and Claire and Andrew Wrobleski and Sarah Nestor on the other. The Thompson Falls U10 team was coached by Danny Moore.

The U13 games were 30 minutes long with 15-minute halves. Donovan's Eagles had three losses and one tie. The 14 players of the Thompson Falls Highlighters, was coached once again by Carole Jensen and her assistant coach, Nate Block. They had two wins and two losses. Superior also had a tie and three losses.

The Randy Baker Memorial Tournament began 19 years ago. Baker, a pastor at the Christian Alliance Church in Plains, helped begin the local soccer league shortly after moving to Plains in 2004, said Nick Lawyer, an avid soccer fan and coach of the girls Clark Fork Soccer Alliance team in Plains. Baker and his wife, Sybillia, were missionaries in Papua New Guinea in the 1980s. Lawyer said that is where Baker's love for soccer began. The soccer program in Plains grew to include players from Saint Regis, Superior, Haugen, Hot Springs, and Trout Creek. Baker passed away in 2009 and the annual tournament was renamed in his honor, said Lawyer.

On Saturday, U6 and U8 soccer teams also took to the field. With the younger players, it wasn't as athletic looking, though they might be considered more fun to watch. Chuck Standeford's Plains Ninja Turtles took on Rachel Fairbank's Thompson Falls players in the U6 age class, where the coaches served as referees. Fairbank said they try to teach them the very basics and they rarely call it when the kids go out of bounds, unless they are way out - and they often do.

"Sometimes they score in the closest goal, even if it's the wrong one, and they cheer that they scored," said Fairbank. There are no keepers until it gets to the U10 level, so there's no one at the goal, and they don't keep score.

"We've been practicing passing, but it hasn't really happened yet," said Coach Sean Adams, whose U8 Thompson Falls Warriors faced the Plains Mustangs, coached by Mike Marier. The Warriors won 12-5.

U6 and U8 teams Saturday also included other teams from Plains, Thompson Falls and Superior, though no scores were available.