Late youth soccer coach honored with memorial bench, micro field

Kelsey Whitby had a quick wit that accompanied a bright smile and a passion for living life to the fullest. She loved the game of soccer, but even more so, she loved kids.

The late soccer coach dedicated much of her life to coaching young girls and taught them to always play, love and live life “Like a Boss.” She believed strongly in the power of play and love of the game, according to those close to her.

Whitby died in 2018 at the age of 31 from glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer, leaving behind her husband Derrick, son Otto.

Former players, friends and family members gathered recently to honor the longtime Flathead Rapids coach by dedicating a memorial bench and micro field in her honor at Smith Fields.

The bright yellow-painted bench features a cutout scene of children playing soccer and the quote “For the love of the game.” The Kelsey Whitby Memorial Field is a micro field with miniature goals set up on each end and is intended to inspire play for small children.

Whitby’s mother, Betsy Funk, says the memorial is several years in the making with numerous people involved to help it come together.

“It’s bright yellow just like Kelsey's spirit and the micro field is there and we hope that other young people are inspired to grow up and play,” she said. “The idea of play, not just soccer, but just play.”

Funks says the memorial field and bench will give all the people who knew her daughter somewhere happy to visit to remember her spirit. She said the girls Whitby coached were touched and inspired by her, and now they have a place that will remind them of the good times with their coach.

“I’m thrilled for the girls to have some place to go,” Funk expressed. “When she was dying in hospice, these girls came and stood by her bed, they stood by her as she died. Now they have a place that, instead of the sadness, they have a place that’s joyful to go to — that’s more of what Kelsey would have wanted.”

Whitby was a star goalkeeper and captain of the Flathead High School Bravettes, then later after college started coaching for the Flathead Rapids. She was a nanny in the valley too and loved sharing her passion for life with kids.

She was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 24 and was given around three months to live as a prognosis. Funk said especially at her daughter’s young age that it was a devastating thought. Whitby went through the initial treatments for the cancer and then, according to her mother, said she was going to live as hard as she could for the rest of her life.

So instead of quitting coaching as would be expected with all the treatments she was undergoing, she continued to show up for the people in her life and for the girls on her team.

“She coached with a scar on her head and a smile on her face,” Funk said. “She did it with a renewed passion and zeal for the kids to know how important it was just to enjoy being in this process.”

Whitby amazed and inspired so many around her as she went on to live for seven years after her original diagnosis — 15 months is the average life expectancy for people diagnosed with glioblastoma, according to the Glioblastoma Foundation.

Funk says her daughter lived in pockets of time between MRIs, fighting the anxiety of the possible return of the cancer at each appointment. Whitby lived a full life in the short amount of time she was given completing several items on her “bucket list,” getting married, becoming pregnant and having a son.

“She amazed all of us, and I think most of all she amazed herself,” Funk said. “Thousands of people she impacted, and people were just moved because she was such a force.”

Many of the young girls she coached during this time are now upperclassmen at Whitefish High School — players that led the Bulldogs to the Montana Class A State Championship last season and are so far undefeated this fall. And Funk says that her daughter did teach the game of soccer well, but even more so led by example of how to live a full, happy life and be good to those around them.

“She had this spirit that was indomitable,” Funk said. “The kids resonated with that and loved to play under her exuberance.”

At the recent dedication of the Kelsey Whitby Memorial Field, several of Whitby’s former players came to honor her and each placed a flower on the bench with tears in their eyes. A large group gathered for the memorial and both Whitby’s mother, Funk, and Flathead Rapids Board President Laurie Barron spoke in memory of Whitby.

Whitby’s 4-year-old son, Otto, placed a flower on the bench as well and had the honor of scoring the first goal on the micro field.

The memorial and dedication were made possible by several groups and people, including Project Whitefish Kids, Flathead Rapids, Smith Fields and the friends and family of Kelsey Whitby. The memorial was funded in part by the donations community members gifted the Whitby family during Kelsey’s fight with cancer as well as recent donations by people and organizations in the Flathead Valley.

There is also a merit-based Flathead Rapids scholarship available for one female player each season in the under-10 age group or older in honor of Kelsey Whitby.

The scholarship is called “Like A Boss,” in honor of Whitby’s iconic line she said to the girls she coached, which was her way of telling the girls to find themselves through the game of soccer.