Sandpoint soccer tradition thrives with Green Monarchs
SANDPOINT — Sandpoint has a storied history of having a town soccer team. In the 1970s and ’80s, some athletic locals and transplants from as far away as England and New England represented the town in friendly inter-village matches and regional adult tournaments, many of which were across the border in Canadian hockey towns.
Games were not always friendly and the off-season Canadian hockey players usually sent the Yanks packing, bruised and busted. Much camaraderie cultivated among these founding fathers of inland northwest soccer.
As the members of the town team began having families, team interest dwindled, the team disbanded, and these players became coaches of their soccer playing grade schoolers. By the early 1990s, Sandpoint youth soccer was building a name for itself, producing dominant teams and star athletes.
The high school program inherited this funnel of talent and became a powerhouse, consistently producing collegiate and professional players and highly respectable teams. In the past 13 seasons the SHS boys and girls programs have combined for 13 state titles. This soccer “family” continues to thrive in the same cyclical fashion.
While giving back to their program as coaches, alumni of Sandpoint soccer have been carrying the sport forward on the competitive men’s scene since the late 1990’s. The tradition is for recent SHS alumni, and graduated collegiate players to join forces with local players to compete in summer events.
The highlight of the summer season has been competing in JulyFest in Kimberley, B.C., the largest adult tournament in western Canada, now in its 41st year. After a couple surprise JulyFest victories around the turn of the century, the core group formally organized the town’s team, formed and named a football club (FC) and have been representing northern Idaho for about a decade now.
Legend clouds the origin of the team name. Whether named after the most ferocious butterfly in the animal kingdom, or the infamous, mystic mountains towering over Lake Pend Oreille, the Green Monarchs Football Club continues to grow the world’s sport, and represent Sandpoint’s soccer nation.
As the club’s tradition grows, so does the honorary roster of Green Monarchs. The club itself does not even know which Monarchs may make their presence felt at matches. The sometimes tightly-guarded roster includes players from many honored collegiate programs, the MLS, and other professional leagues in the Americas and Europe. The Green Monarchs have brought home JulyFest’s Championship Happy Hans trophy 8 out of 12 years.
In Friday’s exhibition main event, The Green Monarchs battle arch rival the Montana Rapids from the Flathead Valley. This past weekend the Monarchs avenged a string of losses to the Rapids, by winning Whitworth University’s men’s tournament in commanding fashion, downing the Rapids 6 -1.