Prep players get taste of next level

Prep soccer players from across the

Flathead will be stepping their game up next week when they join

collegiate-level players on the pitch during a four-day camp.

Team members from Northwest

University’s soccer squad will be in Whitefish Aug. 8-11 training

with 40 select high school players, including a few from the

Whitefish Bulldogs. Northwest coach Gary McIntosh says he will use

the camp as preparation for his own squad while also getting a

chance to check out the local talent for recruiting purposes.

“I always find guys out here,” McIntosh

told the Pilot.

Currently, six players from the

Flathead are on Northwest’s team, including Whitefish graduate Joe

Galbraith.

“There’s not a lot of top blue-chip

talent here that the bigger schools are looking for,” McIntosh

said. “I come out here and no one is getting recruited. As a

smaller school, it’s a perfect opportunity for us.”

The “competitive” camp will give his

staff a chance to look at upcoming graduates while prep players get

to share the pitch with a college team.

“A lot of high school players out here

don’t get a chance to see what the college level is like,” McIntosh

said.

“It’s bigger, faster and stronger. It’s

a much quicker game with more physical play. The players have to

think a lot faster.”

He says few Montana graduates are able

to keep up with the collegiate pace.

“What’s tough for Montana is that the

competition isn’t that good,” McIntosh said. “You can talk about

the next level, but until they go through a practice, they don’t

understand.

At the camp, prep players will get a

chance to see how much they need to step up to be considered for

recruitment, McIntosh said. Northwest will hold their standard

college practice session each day, which the prep players will join

in on. Later in the week the college team will host an inter-squad

scrimmage.

Northwest players will do some

community service around town while they are here, including a

painting project at Smith Fields. The Wave has offered the team use

of their pool and showers for the week.