Harbor College Is the New King on the Block : Soccer: Despite small budget and tough competition, Alan King has turned around Seahawk fortunes in only 2 years.

The Harbor College men’s soccer program has struggled for an identity since it first fielded a team 42 years ago. It competes against rival El Camino for many of the South Bay’s top players, plays in the South Coast Conference, which includes defending state champion East L.A., and shares a practice field with the football team.

But Alan King, in only his second season as coach, has given the program a huge lift. King, 50, has put together the best team in school history and the Seahawks are battling for their first-ever berth in postseason play.

It hasn’t been easy and even King is surprised at how quickly it has happened.

King, who is also the boys’ coach at Peninsula High, has guided Harbor to a first-place tie with El Camino in the SCC. Last year Harbor placed fifth in the conference at 2-6-4 and 7-8-4 overall.

Currently the Seahawks are 12-3-2 overall and 5-1 in the SCC.

“It’s hard to melt that down,” King said. “Hopefully the kids will realize they don’t have to go to El Camino to get a fair shake.”

Most soccer programs in the SCC provide players with basic materials, such as shoes, and have a stadium for the team to play in.

Not Harbor. The Seahawks’ low-budget program cannot even provide permanent nets for the small practice field adjacent to one of the school’s parking lots.

Because the football team has priority, Harbor must play its home matches at 6 p.m. after the football practice.

Once on the field, however, the Seahawks appear to have a first-class program. Harbor has 10 shutouts, one of them against East L.A., 3-0, earlier this month. The Seahawks’ only conference loss was at El Camino, 1-0, on Oct. 18.

“They play very well and they’re a tough team to beat,” El Camino Coach Norm Jackson said. “I was very surprised. They’re very good.”

Harbor has eight players back from last year, including All-SCC defenders Tim Bohan and Mike Savell. Last year’s most valuable player, Humberto Benitez, and his brother, Amado Benitez, are also key returners. Humberto is a center-half and Amado is a halfback. Henry Martin, a Rolling Hills graduate, returns to the fullback spot.

King also has several talented newcomers, including his son Tim, an All-CIF goalie at then-Palos Verdes High last year. Freshman Gerrardo Benitez, Humberto and Amado’s younger brother, starts at center-forward. Forward Luis Solorio and center-half Marcus Wittman are two older players whose experience has helped the team greatly.

Solorio, the SCC’s top scorer, was a kicker for Harbor’s football team and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Wittman was an All-CIF soccer player at Palos Verdes in 1985. He graduated from UC Berkeley but never played collegiate soccer.

King says “strength and character, not technical skill,” are responsible for his team’s success.

“We’re excited about soccer now,” Harbor Athletic Director Jim O’Brien said. “I felt we could be successful with Alan, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast. Every kid comes to practice now and they love the coaches. That’s something we’ve never had here before.

“I don’t want to knock past teams, but this team plays excellent soccer. They play clean, hard and by the rules.”

A lot of that is the discipline King demands from his players. He insists that they be in top physical condition and that they refrain from fighting during games.

The work ethic has brought King success at Peninsula, where he also teaches health and drivers’ education. He started the boys’ soccer program at then-Palos Verdes High in 1972 and has earned more than 360 victories.

Under King, Palos Verdes won two CIF 4-A Division titles and reached the semifinals of the CIF playoffs 11 times. He is a nine-time Bay League coach of the year and a two-time CIF coach of the year.

King’s 1989 CIF champion team went 33-0 with 23 shutouts. His 1990 CIF champion team went 29-2-2.

“He’s a great coach and he gets along with everybody,” Gerrardo Benitez said. “The whole team works together and whatever Coach King tells us we do it without question because we really respect him.”

King was a linebacker and center for Harbor’s football team in 1958. He played football and rugby at Cal State Long Beach for three years and competed in the L.A. Soccer League after that.

He coached the defensive line at Harbor from 1974 to 1976 and was an assistant football coach at Palos Verdes in the early 1970s and early 1980s.

Teaching full-time and coaching two teams is extremely hectic, but King says he accepted the Harbor job for a good reason.

“I always felt Harbor got a bad deal, a bad rap,” he said. “El Camino has a good stadium and a good reputation, so the local kids either go to El Camino and win or they go to Harbor and lose. I heard Harbor was looking for a coach and I thought it would satisfy a goal I had.”

Since high school boys compete in the winter, most of King’s time is spent at Harbor in the fall. He conducts a brief practice at Palos Verdes from 7 to 7:50 a.m, teaches all day, then rushes to Harbor for afternoon practice.

“I’m still enthused,” King said. “When I get unenthused I’ll quit. For now it’s still exciting. I love doing this.”

King has a loftier goal than simply bringing respect to Harbor’s program. As with the school’s baseball team, he wants to make soccer a powerhouse.

“I want to have a perfect season,” he said, smiling. “I did it with a high school team and it would be nice to try that at the (community college) level.”