by Sarah Glass
During smoky summer months and cold winter months in the Bitterroot Valley, youth sports groups and seniors want access to indoor gym space without the drive to Missoula or late practices at school gyms. That need inspired the creation of the Bitterroot Valley Youth Sports Foundation (BVYSF), a new non-profit with a vision for expanded indoor recreation space in the valley.
While the local school gyms provide a tremendous service by hosting club tournaments and other activities, scheduling around school athletics can be difficult, explained Executive Director Shad Francis. Many groups are vying for the same space at times amenable to children.
Francis recalled his son’s basketball team being one of those groups. Hamilton BCB Basketball was practicing late one evening when he thought to ask the coach why. “I was talking with one of the coaches, and I was like, ‘Hey, we are practicing at 9:30 at night. We’re still here; my son has homework; I have to get up at 4 a.m.’”
The conversation led Francis to suggest that someone should build a new indoor gym with basketball courts.
“Somebody should,” the coach responded. As it would turn out, that someone would be Francis and the new BVYSF non-profit board.
Francis is an Air Force veteran with experience working as a civilian firefighter in the Chicago, Illinois, suburbs. He visited Montana after his sister and brother-in-law moved here. The impression that it could be a better place to raise his son stayed with him after he returned home. He was working in Washington for the City of Tacoma at the time; local drug issues and people shooting off guns near his home made the move an easy choice.
Francis recalled his son recently telling him, “I get more freedom here than I’ve ever had.” The 14-year-old now attends Hamilton High School.
Francis shared his appreciation for his son’s friends’ group and the demeanor of the kids’ parents. He has no regrets about uprooting from his childhood home and selling everything to come to Montana. He is currently employed by Ravalli County.
Speaking about his vision for an indoor gym, the BVYSF executive director said that, “Coming from Washington, my son had played youth sports there – basketball mainly – with competitive teams, and we’d seen these facilities. It was a common thing.”
What started with a goal to provide supplemental space for basketball has evolved, however. “[The idea] started out as just basketball… but it’s got to the point that it’s so much more now. We have homeschooled groups that need space; we have the Boys and Girls Club of America that needs space; I just recently spoke with the Special Olympics; they would love to have more space. Seniors as well. Seniors are a big thing, as well as focusing on kids; I felt that we really needed to focus on seniors during the winter and the smoky time of the year to have an indoor place to actually get healthy exercise. So many things have progressed from just the idea of basketball.”
BVYSF’s plan includes two phases. Phase A involves fundraising and finding an interim gym space to provide proof of concept to the public. It is also meant to ensure the public engages with BVYSF programming before beginning Phase B and the search for a parcel of land on which to build the new facility.
“We had to come up with a plan on how to keep it sustainable and how to not raise taxes because nobody likes taxes raised,” said Francis. The reasoning behind starting with an interim gym is two-fold, he explained: “One, we get our programming started way sooner. Two, it will kind of prove to the public that we can become sustainable through our programming and we don’t have to be 100% reliant on donations and grants. Those would mainly be used to start up. Once we become sustainable, our Phase B would be purchasing property, getting a building built.”
Francis expressed confidence in his board members, noting their involvement in the community. Brad Weston is BVYSF’s acting president and works as a Ravalli County Undersheriff. He is also involved in coaching and refereeing youth sports in the valley. Treasurer Tyler Monaco works at Stockman Bank, has children of his own, and is involved with Hamilton BCB Basketball. Also on the roster is Sandy McNamara, whose experience as a real estate agent with Glacier Sotheby’s International Realty may be integral as the project progresses.
At the time of the interview with Francis, two more members were soon set to be voted onto the board. With the group’s non-profit governance procedures completed, it will focus on applying for grants and hosting fundraisers to cover start-up costs. BVYSF has already been in conversations with local Rotary and Kiwanis groups about grant partnerships.
Regarding the Hamilton School District, Francis said he had spoken with them. “I would say that there is a mutual feeling of the need, I think. In our meeting, they seemed supportive.”
For BVYSF, the plan is to create an affordable space, ideally in the middle of Ravalli County, that offers sports clinics, weekend camps, skills training, open gym and other educational opportunities for youth and seniors alike. “It’s not intended to be just a Hamilton project; it’s intended to be a valley-wide project.”
BVYSF is currently offering t-shirt sponsorship spots to its 12 initial sponsors for $150. Monetary or land donations would also be gratefully accepted.
More information about the project is available at www.bitterrootvalleyyouthsportsfoundation.com. Francis can be reached through his Facebook page or by email at shad@bitterrootvalleyyouthsports.com.
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