Brits help Bandits

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

Forty camp participants, a handful of parent-coaches and two British soccer coaches were quite the site to see August 17 at Carlysle Johnson Field in Bigfork.

The campers, who dressed up their coaches in varying costumes during the camp's Friday Frenzy, took part in the Challenger Sports soccer camp, hosted by the Bigfork Bandits Soccer Club. The camp ran August 13-17 and was about more than just soccer.

Marc Briggs and Mike Garrod, the two British coaches, challenged the campers with soccer skills as well as geography, traditions and culture of soccer playing countries with the camp's Camp World Cup Tournament. The campers were divided into four teams and played a World Cup Tournament on the last day of the camp. Team Germany was the victor, beating out France, Brazil and Argentina for the title.

"We teach them technical work and try to have as much fun as possible," Briggs said.

Challenger Sports is the No. 1 soccer camp provider in the United States and Canada. During the summer, more than 500 British soccer coaches mentor more than 80,000 boys and girls in soccer skills.

Bigfork Bandit U-12 girls coach Steve Koch researched the program and made it possible for Bigfork soccer players to participate in the Challenger Camp.

"I was hoping for 60 campers," Koch said. "The coaches said anything over 20 would be a success, so we met in the middle."

Briggs and Garrod coach at camps in the Northwest region for the challenger program. That region includes Idaho, Washington, Alaska, Vancouver, Oregon and Montana. The Bigfork camp was Garrod's second camp in Montana. He had previously coached at a camp in Bozeman. Both he and Briggs grew up in northern England playing soccer, but on opposite sides. They agreed that Bigfork was one of the better camps they coached.

"We were impressed with the standard of skills and the level of enthusiasm," Briggs and Garrod said.

The coaches were also pleased to see the campers asking questions when they did not understand something. Briggs and Garrod told Koch that the Bigfork coaches should keep doing what they're doing. Koch has already signed up to have the camp in Bigfork for another three years.