THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: State high school soccer in North Idaho ... why not?

It’s funny. 

If you lived elsewhere in the state and watched the state soccer tournaments on the NFHS Network, you’d think North Idaho was filled with artificial turf fields. 

All three tourneys up north were played on turf — War Memorial Field in Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene High’s Viking Field, and The Fields at Real Life in Post Falls. 

Unless I’m forgetting somewhere, there’s only one other spot in North Idaho with artificial turf fields — the Field of Dreams complex in Ponderay, north of Sandpoint. 

I remember writing about the idea for that project in the 1990s when I was at the Daily Bee. I was pleasantly surprised to see the good folks in Sandpoint kept pushing for that project after all these years, and finally got it done. 

Also, Lewiston now has an artificial turf soccer field, on its new football field at the P1FCU Sports Complex at Lewiston High. 

IT WAS Sandpoint’s first time hosting the state soccer tournament, and while it was a little bit chilly, you can’t beat the setting, with Lake Pend Oreille in the background. 

The Idaho High School Activities Association is slow to change, but has been open to change, particularly in recent years. 

For years, Sandpoint was “too far away” to host some state events — though Sandpoint used to host state volleyball. Coeur d’Alene was OK, though, so what’s an extra 45 miles? 

Besides, going anywhere for state in Idaho could be considered “too far away.” But it’s just the way it is in Idaho. Deal with it. 

“It’s quite a travel day,” said Madison Brown, girls coach of Owyhee of Meridian, the defending 6A champs, after Thursday’s first-round win over Lake City. “But weather was great today — gorgeous, and it’s beautiful up here. I’m just glad we get the opportunity to play on this brand-new turf. ... Next year, if they (Owyhee players) want to play on (at college), they’re going to have to get used to traveling.” 

It was a little unusual for Lake City, which impressively bounced back from that first-round loss to bring home a trophy by winning the consolation championship. The T-Wolves were playing in North Idaho — just not in their home area. 

“We're in North Idaho; we’re at a great facility,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “A little bit different, it changes our routine from not being at home, and not being in Boise and on the road, so we’ve had to adjust because it’s something I haven’t done in 22 years. It feels like we’re not at home, but we’re not traveling. We’re kind of an in-between space.” 

WATCHING the NFHS Network webcast of the Lake City-Bishop Kelly girls consolation championship game in 6A, I enjoyed listening to the insight of Conor Baranski, former Sandpoint girls soccer coach and former Bulldog player, and Will Love, Sandpoint girls basketball coach and a former sports writer. 

Baranski coached against Lake City and Bishop Kelly numerous times — Lake City as part of the combined two-classification Inland Empire League, and BK many times at state, including several memorable title games. 

Kudos to Bishop Kelly for choosing to “play up” to 6A in soccer — the Knight girls won nine state 4A titles between 2007-22. BK’s boys won state in 2021. 

With the new classification designations and enrollment boundaries this year, BK is a 5A school enrollment wise. 

The good news is that Sandpoint, a 5A school, gets to host a state 5A tournament in the near future. Unlike state volleyball, where the Idaho High School Activities Association won’t let teams play on their home courts, that doesn’t seem to be the case in soccer.  

Part of it is the desire to play on artificial turf fields, which limits the number of sites.

This year’s state 6A boys tournament was at Coeur d’Alene High’s Viking Field, so Coeur d’Alene would have played on its home field had it qualified. 

And The Fields at Real Life in Post Falls, home of the state 4A boys and girls tourneys this year, is the home pitch for Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy. Both Charter teams qualified for state, and the Charter boys played in the state title game Saturday for the first time. 

According to the IHSAA calendar, Sandpoint is tentatively scheduled to host the state 5A boys tournament in 2026 (Coeur d’Alene is tentatively slated to host 5A girls soccer in ‘26). In 2028, Sandpoint is “suggested” to host state 6A boys soccer, Coeur d’Alene 6A girls, and The Fields at Real Life the 4A boys and girls.

Imagine the Bulldog boys, a couple years from now, playing in a state title game on a late-October afternoon, in a stadium packed with their own fans ... 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.