VIKINGS GET HART INJECTION : SOCCER COACH ARRIVES FROM RIVAL'S PROGRAM.

Byline: Bryan Winchell Special to the Daily News

For Jerry Stupar, his return to the past was beneficial.

Stupar graduated from Hart High School in 1989 and returned to the school to help with the boys' soccer team the past three seasons.

While gaining valuable experience under varsity coach Robert Benevidez and junior varsity coach Ray Hill, Stupar was finishing his bachelor's degree in kinesiology at Cal State Northridge and thinking about a future as a coach and teacher.

``I learned a lot from Ray and Robert about how to handle a team,'' Stupar said. ``Because Robert is busy, I put in a lot of time. I figured rather than sharing a team, I should try to get one of my own.''

Enter Valencia High School. Stupar coached some of the current Vikings at Hart before Valencia opened. When he learned Valencia was looking for a boys' soccer coach, Stupar applied and was hired for the job in mid-June.

``Looking into my future, this fits in with my goals in life,'' Stupar said. ``I think Valencia High School is the school of the future and that I can be a big part of that.''

For the past five weeks, Stupar has been familiarizing himself with 35 potential Valencia players at a summer soccer camp at Valencia High.

One of his top goals is to unite the team.

``The first thing the team has to have to be strong is they must work well together,'' said Stupar, who played at Northridge through 1994 and still plays with the semi-pro South Bay Bruins in Torrance. ``I think that's what Valencia lacked the last couple of years.''

Secondly, Stupar stresses the importance of effort.

``The secret to my success has always been hard-work ethic,'' said Stupar, who also has coached girls' soccer and softball. ``As long as we have hard-work ethic, I think we'll have the opportunity to compete with anyone.''

While working with his players during the summer camp, Stupar is looking for their strengths and weaknesses. He believes that a team is only as good as its worst player, and the key to improving a player is to turn his weaknesses into strengths.

The best way to do this is to play as often as possible, he said. That's why a big part of his approach will be encouraging his players to play for the Santa Clarita United club soccer team in the off-season.

Stupar has seen boys' participation in clubs drop a lot since he played in high school, while girls' attendance has increased rapidly.

``It would be nice if both groups had a high interest in playing club,'' Stupar said. ``We need high school coaches to be active in saying to their teams, when they are done with the high school season, to get out and play club as well.''

While Stupar is excited about the coming season, he knows there will be some pressure.

``The biggest challenge will be the great expectations put on me,'' Stupar said. ``I'm coming to a program which has suffered a bit, and people know I come from a successful program, so there will be a lot of eyes on me.''

While certain to face plenty of challenges, one of Stupar's biggest thrills will come when his team takes on Hart.

``It's going to be very exciting playing them,'' Stupar said. ``I feel bad because a lot of the players were disappointed I left, but I had to tell them it had nothing to do with them. This was for my future and for my career because there was more of an opportunity at Valencia than at Hart. And I've been at Hart my whole life.''

Sounds like a good time to move on.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Potential players at Valencia High's summer s occer camp watch as new coach Jerry Stupar initiates a drill.

(2) A young athlete is put through his paces by boys' soccer coach Jerry Stupar.

David Crane/Daily News