Sports

Track and cross country fun

By Logan, 8th grade 


Starting spring of 2023, this cross country and track season is full of promise for a few young athletes at Swan River. Mickey, an 8th grade student, is the only student in the middle school running track, but a handful of sixth graders are having fun in cross country. Cross country events are held at Swan River School, but track meets and practices are held at Bigfork Schools.


Practices for cross country take place on Monday and Thursday after school, and the meets are on Tuesdays at four. Track meets are held every Friday. Mickey has been doing very well this year and won fourth place in hurdles, as well as placing in many other events. Micky really enjoys running and working to better her health. Mickey is not a single sport athlete because she also plays girls basketball.


When asked what her favorite part of track is, Mickey stated “I really like track because it gives me an excuse to run with friends.”  She hopes that next year, more kids will join her and enjoy the sport of running. 

Basketball girls gained grit

By Savanah , 7th grade


Starting on January 2, 2023, the fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth grade basketball teams started their season. The girls played every other day starting at 4:00 pm at Swan River and surrounding schools. As the season went on, they played Smith Valley, Deer Park, Creston, Marion, Stillwater Christian, Kila, Cayuse Prairie, Flathead Valley Homeschool, St. Matthews, Fair-Mont-Egan, Helena Flats, and Whitefish Christian Academy. 


With a lot of practice and helpful pointers from the coaches, both teams won games and gained plenty of experience. The coaches, Jami Grende,  Emma Pouwer, and Mr. Verzba helped the older girls win about thirteen games. The younger girls also played hard all season. Throughout the tournament, the seventh and eighth grade teams won games and lost games, but still had many takeaways from the teams they played. On the other hand, the fifth and sixth grade teams are continuing to improve every season and we can’t see what they do next year.


Seventh grade player Ceiley said, “Other than the shared practices, I really enjoyed playing with my fellow classmates and eighth graders. This team was really special, and we basically knew what the other players were going to do." Along with that, coach Jamie felt this school team was better than the other travel team she coached. 

Great season for SRS cheer teams

By Becky and Savanah, 7th grade 

This year’s fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade cheer teams started on October 4. The team all agreed they love working with Coach Avery, a former Swanie. There were around 8-9 cheerleaders on each team. A lot of the cheerleaders plan to try out for next year's team. 


The  cheer team practiced Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour. The team says they love the cheers and the coach. Usually they did a half time show at basketball games for the audience to help build team spirit. Both teams think practices are a perfect amount of time to rehearse their cheers for the boys basketball games.


The cheer team worked well with coach Avery. She chooses the cheers, and then the 5-6 and 7-8 teams practice until they master them. Finally, they perform the cheers to the SRS audience at the games.

Busy boys basketball season

By Becky and Savanah, 7th Grade


Starting on October 17, to December 4, 2022, fifth/sixth, and seventh/eighth boys basketball was in for another spectacular season. These boys practiced every day of the week, and their coaches Andy Guy and Mr. Vierzba worked hard to create successful plays for three games each week. 


Some of these boys had been on the team since fifth grade, and some of them had just started this year. These boys learned what being a team player is all about. The fifth and sixth grade team just finished their tournament and won sixth place, and the seventh and eighth grade unfortunately didn't place in their tournaments.


When asked Mr. Vierzba gave his opinion on his team and what he thinks about coaching. “Coaching is just another opportunity for me to teach,” he replied with a smile. All the boys loved their coaches Mr. Vierzba and Andy Guy, and several of the players stated that they had a great time, and their coaches were very understanding. 

St. Matthews, Marion, Deer Park, and Home School are some of the many teams Swan River School basketball boys played against. The Swan River boys played games at surrounding schools and at our home gym. 

Photo taken by, Ashley Lau

Another great volleyball season!

By Kinsey, 8th Grade

From September through mid-October, volleyball was a blast for 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Swan River School's volleyball! The girls worked hard and had an amazing season. They participated in many games, and the players practiced at least once a week. The 7th and 8th grade players were undefeated until losing against the Homeschool Crusaders, ending a 6-game winning streak.

Mrs. Henderson, the head coach, and Amy Wisman, the assistant coach did an amazing job teaching and coaching the girls to be the best players they could be.

Sadly, our 7th and 8th grade team didn’t get that far in the tournaments at Cayuse Prairie. The team played against Cayuse and lost, putting Swan River in the losing bracket. Two days afterward, they lost against Kila, and that put the team out of the tournament.

Kila, Marion, Cayuse Prairie, and St. Matthews were among the schools the volleyball team visited. All schools had different skill sets, so our volleyball team had many learning experiences. Overall, it was a great season for our Swan River School volleyball team!

Football season kicked off with a bang

By Brody, 7th grade


The Bigfork Middle school football teams had another great year. The 7th grade team went 8-0, and the 8th grade team played well. The football season started towards the end of August and ended in the beginning of October. Both teams had Swan students. Riley, Jayden, and Brody played on the 7th team, while Braxton, Nixon and Brady played on the 8th team. 


People interviewed were 7th grader Riley and 8th grader Braxton. Both were asked questions about their experience and what positions they played last season. When asking Braxton if he was going to play Football in high school, he answered, “Yeah, I plan on playing next year.”  When Braxton was questioned about the positions he played this last season he replied with, “I played outside linebacker, cornerback, and wide receiver.”


The teams had a lot of fun and learned a lot of life lessons about responsibility, keeping grades up, and teamwork.