Inside or out, learning doesn’t stop at St. Francis Summer Soccer Camp

LA CAÑADA — Now past the quarter-century mark, the St. Francis Summer Soccer Camp continues to pick up steam.

With a bit of ash from the Sand Fire in the Santa Clatita Valley scattered on the track and field at St. Francis High’s Friedman Field, between 40-50 participants came prepared to learn a series of skills and break down video with veteran St. Francis Coach Glen Appels.

Appels, who has won three CIF championships and one Southern California Regional title since taking over the coaching chores at St. Francis in 1989, had the campers ready for action on and off the field.

“We started the camp about 27 years ago and we’ve always geared it for them to have fun,” said Appels, a former All-Area Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year and current English teacher at the school. “There’s also a heavy emphasis on teaching them the skills they need to learn in order to be successful later down the road with their club teams and at high school.

“We look at it as a valuable learning experience in that they can learn about passing, shooting, trapping, heading and more. It’s about having them take a step or two forward in the process.”

The event began Monday and will finish Friday. Several of Appels’ assistants, along with former players, helped Appels conduct the camp. The camp, geared for ages 6-18, included participants who reside locally and in neighboring towns. A handful of current St. Francis players attended the camp to brush up on their skills.

In addition to learning drills, Appels had the campers adjourn to a classroom adjacent to Friedman Field for some video sessions. The campers sat in desks and broke down video of past soccer games for about an hour.

“They get to see the video and learn about the tactical situations,” said Appels, who led St. Francis to CIF Southern Section championships in 1996, 2001 and 2003 and a regional crown in 2009. “There’s more to the game than just playing it, so we can break down a game between Spain and France and see how the players marked their opponents and going over the correct way to get to a ball for a scoring opportunity.”

After Appels brought the nets on to the field, current St. Francis players James DeRose and Michael Bazarevitsch were set to go through a group of drills.

DeRose, a center back, and Bazarevitsch, a goalkeeper, had attended the camp in recent years.

“I have seen how it prepares me for high school and how to compete against older players,” said DeRose, a Pasadena resident who will be a senior in the fall. “I’ve also learned about coach Appels’ coaching style and see what he expects and how practices are run.

“I’m trying to work on my left-foot shot and improving the transition game. You have the advantage of learning those things directly on the field and by watching video. There are a lot of tools available to help you out.”

Bazarevitsch, a junior, returned to the camp to work on proper positioning while guarding the net.

“I can come here and learn how to defend the top corners of the goal,” said Bazarevitsch, a Pasadena resident. “I can also figure out more about footwork to help me get from one post to the other and how to be aggressive going after the ball.”

For other participants, such as Tim Murphy of Arcadia, attending the camp had another purpose.

Murphy, 10, attended the camp for third consecutive year.

“I mostly play defense,” Murphy said. “I’m trying to learn about being able to play other positions.

“We might be playing a game and somebody might get hurt, so you might have to be ready to play another position. That way you are prepared for that situation, if it happens.”