THOMPSON FALLS – Thompson Falls and Plains have never hosted high school football games.

That will now change. The two schools in Sanders County will play their first boys’ and girls’ soccer seasons this fall as part of the Montana High School Association’s programs.

“Starting in 2019, we started asking school systems to add soccer as a school sport,” said Nick Lawyer, who will coach the Thompson Falls-Plains girls. “That took a couple of years to go through all the rounds of what are the challenges? What are the problems? Are there enough kids? Are we going to be competitive?”

Lawyer said Thompson Falls School Superintendent Bud Scully was instrumental in moving the talks forward, and that Plains School Board member Ellen Childress also deserves credit for “doing a lot of the heavy lifting to make football possible between the two communities.”

The cooperative was officially founded in the spring.

“Thirty-eight different donors agreed to fund this program with varying amounts,” Lawyer said. “Within six weeks, we had a little over $60,000 pledged and $25,000 in the fund ready to go.”

Both soccer teams are 100% funded by the community. Existing and pledged donations will fund the programs for this year as well as the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

For Lawyer, a Plains native who has been involved in Sanders County youth soccer for 16 years, this has been a long consideration.

Children from Thompson Falls and Plains – and the surrounding communities of Trout Creek, Noxon and Hot Springs – have enjoyed a thriving youth soccer scene for 25 years, with more than 200 children participating in these club programs each year.

Now the young people who have been playing this beautiful sport since they could walk can take a leaf out of the university players’ book.

“All these young kids have something to look forward to because they can now go to high school (soccer) instead of going to a club,” said Zacarias Palacios, a 12th-grader from Thompson Falls who started playing youth soccer at age 5. Because there was no high school program, Palacios stopped playing soccer for a few years before recently starting again.

“I’m very proud to be able to play for my school,” added Solveig Nygaard, a junior from Thompson Falls. “I’ve been playing club soccer since I was a kid, but being able to represent the Blue Hawks is just cool for me. And I get to play with these girls that I’ve been playing with for years, that’s just awesome for me.”

An additional advantage, according to boys’ coach Michael Scharfe, is that the soccer players now feel some of the school spirit that also exists in other sports.

“They also take pride in playing their school sport for their school and getting the recognition that other sports in schools already get. Now they get to experience that at the football level — their lockers are decorated on game day, they get to ride the bus to the game and back home and they’re decorated, they get a chance to go to the playoffs and state championships and things like that,” Scharfe said. “It’s a good opportunity for them to represent their schools at that level.”

Will Grenda is a new student at Thompson Falls High School. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and has also been playing soccer since he was a teenager.

Although he is unfamiliar with the high school football landscape in Montana, Grenda, a senior, can already sense the excitement for the Blue Hawks.

“It’s just another way to bring the school closer together,” he said. “People get to know each other better. It just creates a stronger sense of community among the students.”

This sense of community extends far beyond the football field. Thanks to donor-funded programs, athletes can see and feel the support of their communities.

“It’s really great to have the community support you in becoming a school sport,” said Katherine Wrobleski, an eighth-grader on the girls’ team. “We’ve always been a club sport and had success with it, and now we want to take the next step to the high school (level). And it’s great to have the community support you in doing that.”

“This community offers so many opportunities for its youth,” Nygaard said. “Soccer is just an important part of the community, and now we’re playing it for the school, which is even better.”

Both the boys and girls have had a lot of success at the club level, so these won’t be typical freshman programs when they begin playing in the always competitive Northern A, which includes Whitefish, the reigning Class A boys and girls champions.

“When I was playing on the junior team, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just having fun here.’ That’s still true today, but I didn’t take it as seriously. But now that we’re a varsity team, I think we can compete,” said Ava Lawyer, a sophomore at Plains. “It’s not fun just winning games and beating people by 10+ points every game, so real competition will be fun.”

The Blue Hawks begin their inaugural season on August 31 with home games against Lone Peak.

“I can’t wait,” Ava Lawyer said. “I’m really excited to be here and play in front of my community and stuff, and at a higher level than JV. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to.”

“It’s a tribute to the hard work of a lot of people,” Scharfe said. “It’s a tribute to how big football has become in this country and I’m so excited. I’m so looking forward to it.”