Glacier hires Blackburn as girls’ soccer coach

Glacier High School has settled on a new girls’ soccer coach and it is Damion Blackburn, a long-time Flathead Valley youth coach.

Pending school board approval, the 37-year-old will take over for Brenden Byrd, who stepped down after guiding the Wolfpack to the first State AA championship in the fall of 2020.

“We are excited to have Damion become part of the Pack,” Glacier activities director Mark Dennehy said in an email. “Damion brings an extensive coaching and playing background and his skill set will fit well within an established culture created by Brenden Byrd at Glacier High.

“Damion’s passion for soccer is clearly evident in all that he does.”

An Ohio native, Blackburn walked on at the University of Dayton and ended up getting on the pitch a bunch his junior and senior seasons. In 2004-05 he appeared in a total of 30 games played with 12 starts, two goals and nine assists.

He continued playing after graduation, including three games for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, along with the Cincinnati Saints of the Major Indoor Soccer League and Professional Arena Soccer League.

He is currently the Technical Director of Coaching for Flathead Valley United and the Flathead Soccer Club. He has over 20 years coaching at the youth, club and professional level. An extensive bio can be found at flatheadsoccer.org.

Efforts to reach Blackburn on Monday were unsuccessful.