Soviet Coach Makes Real Difference For Storm Foe

In the beginning, Real Santa Barbara Coach Valery Volostnykh had his players run over hurdles, run with a medicine ball, run up stairs, run on the beach, run around the neighborhood. Run, run, run.

``They were in not good physical condition,'' said Volostnykh, who became the first Soviet coach to guide a U.S. pro club this season. ``I increase their physical condition. That is first most important thing. In the beginning, the players did not like.''

According to Alex Basso, the team's captain, the tough early workouts are the reason for the team's success. At 7-4, Santa Barbara is considered the surprise team of the Western Soccer League.

``The players that understood his ways stuck it out,'' said Basso. ``Some people thought it was too much. We went through 40 players.''

The Seattle Storm, undefeated in seven league home games this season, should receive their sternest home challenge at Memorial Stadium Friday from the Real players that survived Volostnykh's workouts.

The remaining players have had to overcome more than his workouts, though. Because drought has rendered most of the city's fields unplayable, the club has had to improvise many of its practices.

``The more I think about what we've done, the more amazed I get,'' said Basso, a veteran of first-division soccer in Argentina. ``We don't even know where we're going to practice from day to day. Sometimes we just go to a tennis court and kick the ball over the net. The reason we're winning is because of him.''

Him is Volostnykh. When he moved to this country in 1988, he left behind a distinguished 27-year career as a player and coach in the Soviet Union.

As a coach, he was one of a select group sent by the USSR Football Federation to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina to study tactics. In 1984, he served as an assistant for the 20-and-under Soviet national team that placed second in the European Championships. Among the honors he has received is the title Master of Sports.

``We're very fortunate to have him,'' said Basso, in his 11th year of pro soccer. ``He's the type of guy you can actually still learn the game from. There are very few of them.''

Santa Barbara players learn more than the game from Volostnykh. They must polish their cleats before practices.

``He's a disciplinarian,'' Basso said. ``He doesn't let things get out of hand.''

Players are fined for being late to practice, drinking alcohol, and using profanity. Volostnykh said he was shocked at the amount of profanity he heard during his previous coaching position at Burlingame High School, south of San Francisco.

``I don't like those words,'' he told the Santa Barbara News-Press. ``If you use them in the Soviet Union, the first time is a 25 rubles fine, then you are suspended.''

According to Basso, who played for the San Francisco Blackhawks last season, the professional attitude Volostnykh exhibits in game situations is a chief reason for the club's success.

``My past season, the coach set out a game plan and it pretty much changed by halftime,'' he said.

More glaring to Basso is the behavior demonstrated by other clubs.

``There's the Blackhawks, where you have the coaches and players just yelling at each other on and off the field,'' he said of the club with the highest payroll in the league. ``You don't find that here. There's no bickering or arguing, which is really nice. This is the kind of stuff where you're scared for it to end.''

He would like to be considered a candidate to coach the 1994 U.S. World Cup squad.