By Tia Crabtree
On a lively evening at Base Camp, the energy in the room reflected something new and exciting happening in Idaho sports. Fans had gathered for a watch party celebrating AC Boise, the city’s new professional soccer team.
While soaking in the excitement of the night, I found myself in a conversation that perfectly captured the heart behind the moment. Sitting across from me was Susan Bodily, the proud mother of Eagle native and professional soccer player Blake Bodily. What began as casual conversation quickly turned into a glimpse into the life of a family that helped shape one of Idaho’s own into a professional athlete.
For Blake, the love of soccer didn’t arrive later in life—it was simply always there.
“He just always had a soccer ball,” Susan told me. “From the time he was little, that was the thing he loved.”
Blake grew up in a family where sports were a constant presence. His siblings played soccer as well, including his sister who continued the sport through college. “My daughter played club and played in college,” Susan said. “So there was always a soccer ball around the house.”
Blake officially started playing around age seven, but even before that, his parents noticed something different about him on the field. “There was a time when he was pretty young where I was watching him play,” Susan recalled. “And I just thought, this kid is going to be good. He’s going to play professional soccer. You could just tell.”
As Blake grew, his talent quickly became clear. He often played on teams with older players, challenging himself at a higher level even as a kid in the Treasure Valley. His early club soccer days included playing for a team called Mercury before the program later merged with other local clubs.
“He started playing two years up,” Susan explained. “They had the boys team called Mercury, and he played with them when he was about eight. He kept playing with that group for a long time.”
Eventually, Blake was recruited to play for another elite club program in the region. “Bill Taylor got ahold of him,” Susan said with a laugh. “I still remember that because he kept asking all these questions and finally talked him into playing.” Even while joining new teams, Blake often continued traveling with older squads because he had already proven he could compete at that level. “He was always playing up,” she said. “He’d play his age group but still travel with the team that was a year older.”
Blake’s talent eventually drew attention beyond Idaho, leading to an opportunity that would change both of their lives. When he was sixteen, Susan made a bold decision many parents would find difficult.
“He and I moved to Portland so he could play for the academy,” she told me. “Dan, my husband, stayed here in Eagle. We had two households for a couple of years.”
The move allowed Blake to train and develop within the system connected to the Portland Timbers. “There were academies where he could have lived there by himself,” Susan said. “But I wasn’t ready to be done parenting him when he was fifteen or sixteen. So we moved together.”
While living in Oregon, Blake trained and competed at a high level and began playing professionally with the club’s reserve team while still in high school. “He started playing with Timbers 2 while he was still in high school,” Susan said. “He played with them the rest of those years.”
After graduating, Blake honored a commitment to play for the Washington Huskies men’s soccer at the University of Washington. His impact was immediate.
“He was Pac-12 Freshman of the Year,” Susan said proudly. “He earned All-American honors his junior year and was Pac-12 Player of the Year that same season.”
Those accomplishments established him as one of the most successful players to come out of Idaho in recent years. His professional journey eventually took him to multiple teams and cities, including time playing under soccer legend Landon Donovan.
“Landon loved him,” Susan said. “He had a really good experience there.”
Like many professional athletes, Blake’s career included moments of both opportunity and frustration. At one point, he realized what mattered most was simply getting the chance to play. “He got to a point where he said, ‘I just want to play,’” Susan explained.
That desire ultimately helped lead Blake back to Idaho and the opportunity to help build something new with AC Boise. The decision surprised many in the soccer world because it meant stepping into a new league while helping launch a brand-new club.
“He chose to step down from the USL Championship despite having offers from teams there,” Susan said. “But the chance to come home and help build something in Boise was really meaningful to him.”
The connection came through a former coach who believed in Blake and invited him to be part of the project from the start. “He was the first player they went after,” Susan said. “They called him right away.”
For Susan, watching her son return to Idaho to play professionally feels like a full-circle moment. Now, with Blake back in the Treasure Valley with his wife Lauren, much of the Bodily family is once again close together.
“With Blake moving here, we’ve got four of our five kids nearby,” she said.
From a little boy kicking a soccer ball in Eagle to a professional athlete helping build a new chapter of Idaho soccer, Blake Bodily’s story is also a story about family, sacrifice, and believing in a dream from the very beginning.
As Susan told me that night, sometimes the signs are there from the start.
“You could just tell,” she said with a smile. “He loved the game his whole life.”
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