After They Conquer, Rast Twins Must Now Divide : Soccer: Defenders for national champion Santa Clara will be opponents for first time in upcoming Olympic Festival.

Everyone knew about Cam Rast. The Simi Valley product had not only led Royal High to a state soccer championship, he had played a big part in the Under-19 U.S. national team’s rise to the semifinals of the Youth World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 1989.

Virtually every college coach in the country wanted Cam Rast in 1988.

Almost everyone knew about Matt Rast. Cam’s twin generally was regarded as a better player than his brother until he tore a ligament in his knee in August, 1985. The fullback underwent reconstructive surgery, took a year off to rehabilitate his knee and wore a brace for his final two years of high school soccer.

Few college coaches, it seemed, wanted Matt in their programs as much as they wanted Cam.

The brothers, both of whom will compete in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Minneapolis next month, had decided long before college recruiters came calling that they wanted to attend the same school. Little did they know what ugly possibilities could lie behind such a decision.

“Some coaches made it clear to Matt that they would take him just to get Cameron, that he would get no playing time,” said Patty Ally, mother of the two college juniors. “Then they would call me and say that Matt was just dividing the scholarship package. Cameron could get the whole package or it would just be divided in two.

“Matt felt bad about it and the way he was treated made it worse.”

While other schools said they would take both, Santa Clara Coach Steve Sampson gave strong indications that he wanted both.

“All along, I was recruiting both together or each as individuals,” Sampson said. “Despite Matt’s injury, I felt he had the potential to be one of the better players in the country. I made it clear that I wasn’t recruiting Matt because he was Cam’s brother. I was interested in Matt independent of Cam.

“A lot of coaches ignored Matt Rast’s ability.”

It turned out to be shrewd recruiting by Sampson.

Both players figured prominently this past season for national champion Santa Clara. Cam, an All-American selection as a sophomore, scored 11 goals and dished out eight assists from his sweeper position. Matt, meanwhile, contributed three goals and two assists as a center back and was named most improved player on the team.

So Cam, already a member of the U.S. Olympic team, is still the star. He will play in the Olympic Festival as a member of the East team, which features seven players on the U.S. Olympic team. Matt, one of 30 players given an outside chance of making the Olympic team, will play for the West.

When the twins go head to head in one of the Twin Cities, it will mark the first time since they started playing soccer at age 7 that they will have played on opposing teams.

If their mother had her way, she probably would red-card Festival organizers. During a practice at Royal, it was Cameron who delivered the fateful kick that jeopardized Matt’s career.

“It’s always been a rule, ever since they were little, that they not play against each other,” Ally said. “Because when one boy won, the other one lost. I told them to tell the Olympic (Festival) Committee that their mom didn’t like them being on opposing teams,” she said with a laugh.

Interestingly, many agree that Matt was the better player at one time. And could be again.

“Matt struggled for a while with whether or not he still had the talent,” Ally said, “while Cameron has always known that Matt has the talent. Maybe a little more than he did.”

Sampson said that even though Cam, a member of the Olympic team since January of this year, is a “solid member” of the squad, Matt could soon elevate his play to a level higher than that of his brother.

“Cam would have to play poorly for a long period of time” to lose his position on the Olympic squad, Sampson said. “Knowing Cam, that won’t happen. And Matt has surpassed the level that he was at before the injury.”

While Cam has called soccer “his life” and plans to stick with it in some regard for as long as he can, Matt does not see a future in it beyond his last couple of years in college. That is, “unless something really special happens.”

The start of that could be in Minneapolis in a couple of weeks.

Then, will everybody want the Rast brothers?