Three Blind Refs: Weathering the storm
<p>Rain clouds start to form in the sky during a soccer game for the Three Blind Refs. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Flathead Force's Daniel Camp, right, and Columbia Valley's Jake Swallow battle for the ball during a U-13 game of The Three Blind Refs tournament at Kidsports Complex on Saturday, May 30, 2015 in this file photo. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
As black clouds rolled in and heavy raindrops started to fall, officials at the Three Blind Refs soccer tournament waited and hoped the storm would do like all storms typically do during the tournament: move south and miss the playing fields entirely.
For more than a decade, the tournament has been played in beautiful weather in the Flathead Valley, allowing the nearly 300 games that will be played this weekend to go off without a hitch.
Saturday’s storm wasn’t typical, however. When it got within five miles of Kidsports Complex and its 14 active games, officials blew an air horn and called a delay.
It took some time, with some marshals driving a cart around to the outside fields to notify the players to stop play and move indoors. Officials at Kalispell Middle School had already called a delay between games and games at Glacier High School were called independently minutes before.
The Flathead Rapids U18 girls had just finished warmups for their first contest of the tournament when the delay was called, throwing in some extra difficulty to the process of getting ready for a game.
“We got warmed up, got loose, went through our warmup and then we had to sit there for 20-30 minutes and try to get fresh again,” Rapids coach Philip Lodein said.
“It was a weird adjustment. The ground was dry when we warmed up and it was soaking wet when we came back out again. So you’re trying to adjust to that as well.”
The Rapids adjusted quickly enough, defeating Canadian team Rangers Athletics 4-0 following the rain delay.
As the weather cleared, leaving a bright, cool and sunny day, the Rapids continued their strong run, defeating Columbia Valley 3-0 to stay undefeated in their bracket.
“Despite the rain, despite the adversity of the weather, we played well,” Lodein said. “It’s a testament to these ladies.
“They were so pumped up to play, it just added to the excitement. They wanted to play, then they had to wait, so they were even more excited.”
Tournament play continues today at 8 a.m. with only a 20 percent chance of rain in the forecast. The championships will be played in the afternoon.