Foothill’s Soccer Squad Having Banner-Waving Season

There are so many Southern Section championship banners hanging in the Foothill High School gym these days that the Knights are running out of places to put them.

They signify Foothill’s success in such sports as football, basketball and baseball, but Knight soccer Coach Robin Winstone thinks there’s room for at least one more.

The Knights, who had never won a soccer playoff game before this season, can earn that banner by defeating Culver City in the Southern Section 4-A championship game at 8 tonight at Gahr High in Cerritos.

These are unlikely times for the Knights (17-2-4), however. They finished fifth in the Century League last year, and were second behind Canyon this season.

And if Foothill defeats Culver City, it will be an Orange County first. No county team has ever won a 4-A title, and only one--Santa Ana in 1981--has advanced to the championship game.

To reach the final, Foothill recorded three straight playoff shutouts. Only Bishop Montgomery has scored against them in the tournament.

So, how did Foothill make such a dramatic turnaround in just one year? At the center of the Knights’ success is Winstone, a youngish-looking, 46-year-old former lecturer at England’s Loughborough University.

Winstone, who played at Oxford United and Brentford and coached at Elizabeth College (1976-80), came to the United States to coach at a soccer camp at Pepperdine.

He enjoyed it so much, he decided to move his family to Southern California in 1980. He worked as a banker until he became Foothill’s coach last June.

Now, soccer is his full-time occupation. In addition to coaching the Knights’ boys and girls teams, Winstone runs a soccer school for youths under age 16 at Foothill twice a week in the evenings.

“There are a lot of motivated and well-conditioned teams (in Orange County),” Winstone said. “But it’s frustrating because coaches over here can’t give the detail. I’m talking about inches and angles in passing and shooting. It’s one thing to give out the Gatorade and say, ‘C’mon guys,’ but few coaches give such detail.”

A case in point: When Winstone started coaching the Knights, he noticed that once players got the ball in the midfield area, they went straight for the goal. Winstone got the Knights to pass first and use teamwork to set up for an easy shot.

“Everyone says, ‘Who’s your star?’ No one. We haven’t got any. But we haven’t got any weak players, either,” Winstone said.

He also has trained his players to combat the rough and tumble tactics of some opponents with skillful play.

The Knights’ sudden success hasn’t been overlooked at the school, either.

“Here I was, screaming and jumping up and down like I didn’t have any sense,” said football Coach Ted Mullen, who watched the Knights’ 1-0 semifinal win over Palos Verdes Tuesday.

Said Winstone: “The myth is that he used to have a sign on his desk that said, ‘Soccer bleeps,’ but after the game, he came up to me and gave me a big hug. So, he’s turned full circle.”

The players also have noticed the change.

“A change in the program and we’ve finally got some respect on campus,” said midfielder Kevin Kaufman, one of three seniors on the squad.

And a win tonight would ensure the Knights soccer team a spot in posterity--not to mention a niche among banners hanging in the Foothill gym.