Soccer world converges at St. Lawrence
CANTON — The sport of soccer took center stage worldwide with the staging of the World Cup in South Africa this summer.
The enthusiasm generated for the sport is continuing this week at St. Lawrence University with the Saints' campus hosting a second consecutive week of the famed Lake Placid Soccer Center Camp. This is the 18th season SLU has hosted either one or two weeks of the camp, which began in 1977 in Lake Placid.
Led by a renowned international teacher of soccer skills, Alf Galustian, the camp presents what is known as the Coerver Method.
Galustian, one of three owners of the camp along with SLU alumni Larry McFadden and Mike McGlynn, is the Worldwide Director of Coerver Coaching and Technical Director of the camp.
He considers the Coerver Method to be No. 1 in the world, and the facilities at St. Lawrence also among the best he's seen.
"I've worked with the English Federation, the French Federation, the Italian and the Premier League, maybe the best league in the world, and have come to the U.S for the last 30 years," Galustian said.
"I've worked at top pro clubs, top Federations and these facilities at St. Lawrence are as good as anywhere. The first thing I'd say about St. Lawrence is the facilities are top notch. I certainly enjoy working here."
The camp also features a distinct international flavor with 22 coaches on hand this week from Japan, which recently finished in the top 16 at the World Cup, a strong finish for that Asian country.
"We have coaches from all over the world. We get coaches from China, England Australia, Norway. It's a unique experience for the American kids," Galustian said.
SLU men's soccer coach and Canton native, Bob Durocher, is the director of the SLU Program at the camp that featured about 175 young players last week with about 250 more on campus this week, including players from 40 states and provinces and 20 countries.
There are actually three camps going on at one time — the regular camp, the team camp and the junior elite — with players age 8-18 on hand. Entire teams come to the camp together as well as individuals.
"Everyone gets a session with Alf. He takes individuals and makes them better players," Durocher said.
"It's unusual to have three different camps going on at once. And we're one of the few 7-day camps left. There is also a local aspect to the camp with players here from Canton, Potsdam, Lisbon and the St. Lawrence County area.
"They're day campers and are able to attend at a much lower cost," added Durocher, stressing the international component of the camp.
"It brings a whole different flavor to what's going on here. They've brought in some unbelievable stars over the years. It's like having Michael Jordan at your basketball camp. This week, the Japanese coaches are extra guys for us. They observe our youth camps and learn. And I was working with some of their coaches and it's amazing on the soccer field that the language barrier is not there," Durocher said.
"It's awesome Japan did so well in the World Cup," said McGlynn, who was on the ski team while an undergraduate at St. Lawrence. "Bringing the camp to the SLU campus widened the opportunities available for the kids.
"The facilities are so good, it let us do some things we couldn't do at Lake Placid. We've expanded our team camp. And if it rains here, we go inside the field house," McGlynn added.
"It's great to come back here to St. Lawrence. This is helping to build the soccer tradition. It's about the camaraderie. It's about the kids having fun."
