The Wildcat varsity boys soccer team is very young this year, but it’s also packing a lot of talent. The combination lends itself to a promising season, and possibly, an even greater future.

“This year’s team is the most talented team that I’ve been able to work with in the last six seasons,” said head coach O’Brien Byrd. “That being said, this is the youngest varsity team I have worked with in 17 years.” Byrd said that while nothing is set in stone, it’s quite possible the starting lineup could have six sophomores and a freshman.

This year, the players are bringing skill sets that create a much more offensive-style team than the Wildcats have seen in a while. There’s also an incredible amount of speed on the team.

“It’s exciting. It’s the brand of soccer all coaches want to play, but you can only execute this game plan if you have the talent to support it.

And we do,” Byrd said.

In previous years the team has had to be more defense-minded, relying on an exhausting strategy of stingy defense and counter-attacks. This year, it’s different.

“We are a team that’s all about attack, that’s all about keeping the ball,” said Byrd. “We’ll be stingy on defense, but we don’t have to rely on our defense as much if we have control of the ball for the majority of the game, which is our game plan, and that will be our tactic.” Byrd attributes the change in skill to the intensive focus in recent years

that Columbia Falls coaches have been placing on younger players before they reach high school. The emphasis is on building solid foundational skills within younger players so that when they get to high school, no one is playing catchup.

“Now the kids we are getting that are coming into the high school are very experienced, they have the technical ability,” said Byrd. “They’re passionate about soccer because they’ve played competitive soccer for years before they even got to high school. So the culture’s changing.” “Our main goal is to establish a new style of play at Columbia Falls High School, and to start a new tradition of attractive, attacking, possessive- style soccer, which is every coach’s dream,” said Byrd.