State title-winning coach tabbed to lead Bravettes softball

Jack Foster, who led Post Falls High School to the 2010 5A Idaho state championship, has been named the new head softball coach at Flathead, pending school board approval.

Foster takes over for Tasia Gates, who stepped down last month. Gates, a 2004 Flathead grad, compiled an 8-35 record in two years at the helm.

Foster is a retired former middle school teacher who relocated to Kalispell in 2015, one year after stepping down as the softball coach at Post Falls. He led the Trojans for 17 seasons and said the retired life wasn’t exactly suiting him.

“I retired in May (2015) and by November I had to do something,” Foster said. “It didn’t last very long. I realized [coaching] is what I do and I enjoy doing it. I enjoy being around the kids. I’ve got plenty of time to retire later.”

After sitting out the 2015 season, Foster was hired as the junior varsity coach at Glacier and spent this past spring with the Wolfpack. While he didn’t see any Flathead games at the varsity level, Foster was impressed with what he saw of the Bravettes JV team.

“They had a lot of kids that hadn’t played a lot but they played hard, they were having fun and at that level that’s an important thing,” Foster said. “I liked the way they were playing. They were out there doing the best they could.”

Flathead’s varsity team won six games last season, including a crosstown upset (3-2) of Glacier on April 21, but the Bravettes lost four straight to close the year and missed out on the state tournament for the ninth straight season.

Foster’s extensive experience through both winning and losing seasons in Post Falls is something both he and his new boss view as a major positive.

“I’ve been through it and have a little more patience,” Foster said. “In Post Falls, we had great years and we had some really poor ones. I’ve been through both sides of it.”

“He’s been there, he’s done that,” Flathead Activities Director Bryce Wilson said. “He’s had success, he’s had winning seasons, and he talked about not having a successful season and that it still can be fun and a learning experience for the kids.

“It mirrored where we’re at with our program. We’ve had some success, it’s on a solid foundation and I think he can give us some things and even increase on that success.”

Gates, despite her record as coach, made significant progress with her team in 2016. The Bravettes ripped off a four-game winning streak at one point and won four more games than in her first season despite a roster that included only two seniors. Flathead should return its leading hitter from a year ago in Jayden Russell (.452 average) along with Kylee Meredith (.344) and Becca Knutson (.327).

Foster has not yet met with his team, although he plans to do so next week.

“My big thing is I want the kids to play hard, play with class and have fun doing it,” Foster said. “I like to run, if we can, and put the game in motion because it keeps kids involved. It gets them feeling part of everything that’s going on more.”

Softball teams across the state are permitted to begin practicing on March 13.