CHARLO — The day Bret Thompson wakes up in the morning and doesn’t want to go to basketball practice, he won’t.

Good thing the Charlo girls basketball head coach still enjoys coaching after 23 years.

“I guess the big thing is being able to get up and be happy that I can come back one more time,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here if the girls didn’t want to work.”

This season, the Lady Vikings will be inexperienced, with five freshman and two players who haven’t played recently. This doesn’t scare Thompson.

“We are athletic,” he said. “We are pretty quick on the floor. It makes up for our lack of height. So far, the girls are staying in there. Even with the old guy around.”

Last year, Thompson won his 400th career game, something he never expected to achieve, but was proud of.

“It was kind of a relief to have it over,” he said. “The players knew it was coming and they focused on it. It took the monkey off our backs.”

Support from the team and community made the moment better than he could have imagined.

Entering his 24th season, Thompson started out coaching the boys basketball team when he first arrived in Charlo. He than coached both the girls and boys teams, when the girls played in the fall and boys in the winter, as well as coaching the track team.

“It was tough, but it was fun,” he said of coaching sports during all three athletic seasons.

During his fifth year, girls  he coached as freshman were finally seniors after four years of hard work.

“They were part of my reason for staying,” he said. “I just wanted to see what I had been doing.”

Nineteen years later, he coaches just the girls team and the varsity track team while teaching middle school History, Government, History of Regions and U.S. History.

In his time, he has experienced the ups and downs from having 11 girls total for a whole season to having 20 girls out. He has experienced not making it to the divisional tournament and winning a state championship.

“I’d say we’ve had a chance to see a little of everything,” he said.

Highlights of his career so far include that championship.

“It was a group we put a lot of time into,” he said. “It meant a lot to know that you could put that kind of time in and get that ultimate goal.”

His philosophy on the court is to focus on defense.

“No one gets an easy shot,” he said.

He also believes in working hard.

“Don’t settle for second best,” he said. “It’s not even a win or loss thing for me, it’s more of if we’re not putting everything into it, than it’s kind of a waste.”

Thompson puts in a lot of effort for coaching, between opening up the gym during the summer, helping with the little dribbler program in Ronan and coaching the senior all-stars, knowing the fun comes from the hard work.

“Anyone in athletics knows, that’s why we do it,” he said. “It’s not all glamour, it’s a lot of work, time and effort.”

Thompson expects his team to give 110 percent during every game and practice.

“They can have a good time but when its time to go, they are willing to work hard,” he said.

When the day comes that his team isn’t willing to work for him is the day he hopes he is smart enough to get out, he said.

“I just hope they do it before the season starts,” he said. “I want them to be successful, even if it’s not with me.”