Bigfork’s soccer players are out on the newly redone Carlyle Johnson fields this week for One. Soccer Schools. Kids from kindergarten to high school will be taught by coaches from all over the world; including Ireland, Uruguay, England, Mexico.

Bigfork Soccer Club, which is hosting the camp, originally ran summer soccer on their own.  

“There’s not a lot of coaches [in the Valley], and coaches are getting overrun...,” Bigfork Soccer Club Vice President Adina Rutherford said. “Bringing in One. Soccer is a whole new set of eyes on the kids and a new perspective on the game.” 

The camp has raised attendance from around 80 participants to 200 in the spring and fall.  

“I think the program has grown here in Bigfork, there’s been an influx of people but we’re also offering more. We used to just have recreational, now we do competitive,” Rutherford said.  

The program historically has been run by volunteers. Also volunteering their time this season were landscape companies Flathead Valley Sod, Doepker Landscaping and Zavala Landscaping, who donated the work to revamp Carlyle Johnson fields.  

“It’s just somewhere for them to be, a positive environment for them to spend time playing the sport they love,” Rutherford said.  

Registration for Bigfork Soccer Club’s fall competitive is open, available at www.bigforksoccer.org.