Badgers’ title played down

Last weekend, the Bonners Ferry High School boys soccer team won its first 3A Idaho State soccer title. Our school and community are very proud of this achievement. Congratulations to all the boys and their coaches.

Sadly, The Spokesman Review didn’t seem to think this was newsworthy. From reading the coverage one would think the only schools involved were 5A and 4A schools. Three teams played in the semifinals – Coeur d’Alene’s boys, CdA’s girls and BF’s boys. One team made it to the finals – Bonners Ferry. But the headlines read: “Vikings blanked in semis” (boys article by Greg Lee) and “Idaho’s North down, but not out yet” (girls article by Mike Saunders). The only mention of BF is in the weekly scaled-down prep roundup.

After Saturday’s competition, Bonners Ferry won the 3A championship and both CdA teams took third place. Again the focus goes to the 5A schools with headlines: “Vikings capture third place” (Saunders) and “CdA claims third place” (Lee). The only mention of BF is a small article in a roundup.

That is ridiculous. North Idaho has some good teams and some good athletes in the 3A, 2A, and 1A schools. It is unjust to not highlight their accomplishments within your coverage. Many of these athletes never get a look from recruiters because they go unnoticed.

Fair is fair. Spread the coverage to the small schools.

Gordon Allured

Bonners Ferry