Montana Grizzlies Headline Soccer Showcase in Columbia Falls

This weekend is the 3rd annual Glacier Park College Soccer Showcase in Columbia Falls at Flip Darling Memorial Field. The event brings collegiate soccer to Northwest Montana, something the area had never seen before.

"It was an explosion of energy," said O'Brien Byrd, president of Flathead Rapids Youth Soccer, about the first-ever Showcase three years ago.

It's back for another year with two preseason exhibition matches. Your Montana Grizzlies will play Mount Royal, out of Calgary, at 8 pm on Friday, August 7th, followed by Gonzaga playing Mount Royal on Saturday, August 8th, at 7 pm.

"So it's actually an international exhibition match, which I think is just fantastic," expressed Byrd.

It's a great opportunity for the area to see such high-level soccer, but the core values of the event are about inspiring the kids.

"The mission of the Showcase, I'll start with that, is to, literally, bring high-level soccer into our backyard - the Flathead Valley - to inspire our younger generation of soccer players."

To accomplish that, Byrd and the rest of the organizers and teams are hosting a youth camp on Thursday, from 4 to 5:45 pm.

"The college athletes themselves execute the stations and all the drills and the activities... By the end of the clinic, the college players know the names of the kids, and the kids are looking up to these amazing athletes, but know their names... It's just a unique opportunity."

For tickets, event times and more information, check out the link here.

The Montana Grizzlies soccer team begins its regular season with a home match against Bucknell on Thursday, August 13 at 5 pm.