Tuesday night lights: Coach makes pitch for soccer lights

Columbia Falls has Friday night lights for foootball, now it could have Tuesday and Thursday night lights as well — for soccer. Boys soccer coach O’Brien Byrd has been working for the past couple of months on bringing lights to Flip Darling Field. On Monday night, he presented his plans to the Columbia Falls school board with hopes of getting its blessing.

Byrd said he’s lined up an electrician willing to wire the lights, an engineer in board member Jim Henjum to design the lights and Flathead Electric Co-op has agreed to donate four 80-foot poles and install them.

Byrd said he also found a private donor willing to purchase the lights, which will cost about $30,000. The cost to the district, he said, would be electricity, about $3 worth every hour they’re on. The board made no formal endorsement of the lights or the project, but it didn’t object, either. 

The next step involves the city of Columbia Falls, where Byrd will need to take the project to the Board of Adjustment for review. That process will gauge neighbors’ reaction to the project. Flip Darling Fields are adjacent to a subdivision. But Byrd said the four sets of lights will be put on the west side of the field so they shine down and back toward the school — not on homes.

Byrd claimed there was several advantages to night games. For one, students would miss fewer classes. The current schedule has games at 3 p.m. and again at 5 p.m. Lights would allow for students to finish school, or at least most of their classes on home game days.

Later starts would also allow more fans to watch games.

He said there’d be about five to eight games under the lights each season.

The board will take up the matter formally at its next board meeting. Byrd said he’d like to have the lights up by this fall, optimally before the season starts. The company that makes the lights builds them to order, and that process takes about six weeks.