Soccer Teams Stop Game to Stand for National Anthem in Montana, Coach Explains Why

Children playing soccer in a field in a stock photo Jewl Samad/Getty Images

A video showing how a high school soccer’s girl team responds when the U.S. national anthem starts to play has gone viral over the years.

Every day at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, the anthem is played over the speaker system at 4:30 p.m. as the U.S. flag is lowered, according to Montana Sports.

The Great Falls High and CM Russell teams play across the street at a park from the Air Force Base.

When the anthem plays, the teams stop whatever they’re doing and stand the anthem, the report said.

The girls do it every time there's a game or practice YouTube / Montana Sports

Video footage of the teams stopping has gone viral over the years. The Bison girls were hosting Butte in a Class AA playoff game when the anthem began. Both teams and the referee stood for the anthem.

Footage of their games has gone viral over the years YouTube

CMR girls coach Willie Pyette said it’s a tradition that started several years ago after he took over the program before moving practice to the field.

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He said it’s not designed to be a political statement.

Their coach says it's not a political statement YouTube

“I have our team stop, stand at attention and honor the anthem,” Pyette told the website. “Then we go back to practice. We all stand and show respect.”

He said the tradition will continue.

Another Viral Anthem Incident

Roofers in the state of Maine dropped their hammers and stood up to show their respect for the national anthem on Saturday, Oct. 14.

Michelle Lyons Cossar, an Old Town resident who took the photo, told Fox News on Monday, Oct. 16, that the three men, all stood for the national anthem “even though they didn’t have to.” They were working nearby Waterville High School’s football field.

Cossar explained how she was standing for the anthem before the start of Saturday’s football game when she heard someone in the stands point out that the workers had also risen.

“When I looked over the fence, I saw them standing and respecting the flag,” she told Fox News. It was at that moment she decided to take a picture of the roofers.

“It is a respect thing for myself—we did not do this to prove a point,” one of the roofers said. He also added that he wasn’t aware that a photo had been taken of them.

Bowen Xiao contributed to this report.