SANDPOINT — Enthusiasm abounds in the Sandpoint girls soccer program, as the Bulldogs named Julie Pitre as the new head coach of the reigning 4A state champions this week.

Pitre, a 29 year-old currently teaching at the Monarch School in Heron, Montana, replaces Adam Tajan, who took over the boys program recently.

Pitre, who grew up in Louisiana and played in college at Louisiana State University, met with the Sandpoint seniors this week and says the excitement about the upcoming season was both palpable and mutual.

“If the girls are enthusiastic about it, it promotes excitement in me,” admits Pitre. “It seems like a really good group of girls coming off a state championship. Adam has done a great job and is handing off a good opportunity.”

Her coaching background is mostly at the club level, where she also excelled as a player in the Olympic Development Program, eventually earning a scholarship to play for LSU of the South Eastern Conference.

She loves what little she’s seen so far of the culture of sports in Sandpoint, and is eager to become a part of it. Her coaching philosophy is to treat every game as a blank slate, to guide a team that works the hardest and to act as a role model for her student-athletes.

“I believe in a lifetime of building individual ball skills,” says Pitre, who stresses fundamentals. “I’ll spend more time with ball skills than with tactical skills.”

Pitre was one of five candidates to interview for the coveted job, inheriting a program with a rich tradition. Her soccer background and personality were ultimately what led Sandpoint athletic director Tom Albertson to hand her the reins to the program.

“What impresses me the most is the way she deals with teenagers and young people,” says Albertson, adding he’s still looking at possible candidates for assistant coaches. “She has the personality to make a great connection with them. That, and the soccer skills, is exactly what we were looking for.”