July 27, 2011

Hired in late January, Montana soccer coach Mark Plakorus hasn't wasted any time proselytizing every player he can find, no matter their age or soccer skill level. In the Gospel According to Mark, it's a players' game, and it should always be just that: a game. Work hard, but never forget to have fun.

It started in early February when he was introduced to his own team prior to its three-month off-season conversion training program.

This summer it's been kids ages 5 to 18, both at the Grizzly Soccer Academy and at the long-running Flathead Soccer Camp in Kalispell, which Plakorus has been affiliated with since its start.

In mid July Plakorus hosted the Li'l Griz Academy, an Advanced Academy and an Elite Academy, all at South Campus Stadium, right during the height of the World Cup frenzy.

While most summer camps have, above all else, as their top priority good times and laughter, Plakorus - always the teacher - isn't afraid to put on a more serious camp, one where occasional failure isn't necessarily viewed as a bad thing.

"We challenge the kids every day to train hard and be at their best," Plakorus explained about his camp philosophy.

"We have fun, but it's a camp where we try to give kids an avenue to get better and learn things they did not know before. We put them in situations where they have to experiment and make decisions, and that means getting them out of their comfort zone and occasionally failing.

"That way they're growing as players, and by the end of the week hopefully they've gotten better."

Plakorus had plenty of help from his own players at the camp. He was aided by Lauren Costa, Britta Hjalmarsson, Erin Craig, Alyssa Nystrom, India Watne, Stephanie Carl, Maddie Simmel, Kristen Hoon and Charlotte Dugoni.

"Camp is a way for us to present how we are going to play the game and how we think the game should be played," Plakorus said. "It gives kids a chance to look at the game in a different way.

"We had other coaches there, but it's always a good thing to have your own players, especially when it's a local camp. We want the girls there so they can establish relationships and be identifiable to the kids who are at camp."

Plakorus last week returned to Kalispell for the Flathead Soccer Camp. He was one of the camp's original founders back in the late 1990s, and no matter where he's been in the meantime - Colorado, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas - he's made nearly every annual camp since.

The camp is hosted on the property of Mike Stebbins, a Kalispell orthodontist and farmer, who turned part of his hay field into three manicured Field-of-Dreams-type soccer fields, specifically to give Kalispell area players more of an opportunity to train.

Plakorus has kept up his association with the camp "because it was always a way for me to come back to Montana."

But he also wants to continue helping Stebbins, a kindred spirit in the game whose motivation is 100 percent philanthropic and zero percent economic.

"Mike is someone who always wants to give back to the kids," Plakorus said.

"Coaches from all over the country are brought in to give the kids a different variety of experiences every year and expose them to different styles of coaching.

"Mike profits a little from the camp, but he turns around and uses that money to support the local soccer community. He does anything he can to help kids out."

The more camps Plakorus works, the more the benefits, both personally and professionally.

"I love camp. It's always a fun time for me personally.

"I love teaching at camp and being around all the kids, helping them and experiencing that time with them.

"I also think it's important for the people around the state to see me as much as possible (in my new position) and for me to be involved. I want everybody in the soccer community in the state to know I'm here to help any way that I can, whether it be giving a coaches clinic or helping out at a camp.

"I want to help soccer continue to grow in the state of Montana, and I'll do anything I can to help make that happen."