How Women’s Sports Have Changed With Griz Soccer’s Betsy Duerksen

Last weekend, Montana Grizzly Soccer celebrated 30 years. Over 70 former players and coaches celebrated the accomplishments of the Grizzly program that started in 1994. After the fun weekend, we had to reach out to the original Grizzly Soccer Head Coach Betsy Duerksen, who we unofficially named South Campus Stadium's press box after - the Duerksen Den. Duerksen visited Missoula to celebrate all of the program's accomplishments.

"It's really cool for me to see that the program has lived on in such a strong way," said Duerksen. "I think the current coach Chris (Citowicki), he does a good job talking to his player, sometimes, about the history that they represent."

Duerksen's tenure was a successful one. She was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in 1999 and won at least a share of the first 4 Big Sky Conference titles. Duerksen laid the groundwork for Grizzly Soccer and the program has done a great job to build on it. In 2024, Duerksen sees the current women's soccer product in a better state than when she coached in Missoula.

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"It's much improved. Players are better now than they were back then," explained Duerksen. "Of course, like, there's so much more resources being poured into these young athletes. The game continues to grow and improve... Clearly the athletes are better, but they should be. Way more money is being poured into their development, as it rightly should be."

Like many others recognized, Duerkesen is happy with how women's sports have grown in popularity.

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"They used to say 'Oh, pro teams like Barcelona or Paris St. Germain, they won't have a women's soccer team because that won't draw a crowd.' But now we all know they draw 50 thousand to come to those games," said Duerksen. "Women's soccer is something viable that people enjoy watching. I would say that about women's sports as a whole, like the WNBA or whatever. The mentality of humanity has changed about watching women's sports is enjoyable."

Listen to the full interview with Coach Duerksen below.