Camargo Settles For More Home Games

SANTA ANA — Mater Dei forward Walter Camargo wasn’t offered big money to skip college and play professional soccer in Europe. But $2,000 a month, room and board, and the opportunity to play professionally for Auxierre, one of France’s premier club teams, sounded pretty good to a 17-year-old American who’s played soccer his whole life.

“I wanted to stay, but my mom made me come back home,” said Camargo, who was spotted this summer when playing in France for his Cerritos club team, C.R.S.C. Brigade. “She was crying.”

Had Camargo taken Auxierre’s offer, one of four he received from teams in France’s Division I pro club division, he would have forfeited his chance to play college soccer in the United States.

“Other kids will say to me, ‘I’d have taken it on the spot,’ ” Camargo said. “But when it really happens to you, you have to really think about it.”

Kris Hulgreen, Camargo’s Mater Dei teammate, knows the feeling. He was wooed by European club teams last year.

“When you’re over there and you’re in high school, it’s pretty tempting to sign,” Hulgreen said.

Camargo and Hulgreen appear ready to sign, but they will be signing college letters of intent instead of professional contracts. Both seniors are being recruited by Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and UCLA.

“I just worried about going over there and getting hurt,” said Camargo, who is still getting phone calls from soccer agents in France. “If I play pro soccer, then I lose my eligibility. If I get hurt, then what do I have?”

Camargo’s popularity abroad seems to have boosted his confidence and helped his play in the United States. After a shaky junior season at Mater Dei, Camargo has had a solid senior year. It started in November when he earned a spot on the under-18 U.S. national team, and has continued in the winter as he has scored 12 goals and handed out six assists for the Monarchs, off to a 13-1-2 start.

Camargo’s goal total already has surpassed last season’s mark of 11. Last season was one Camargo and his teammates would like to forget. The Monarchs were picked to be one of the county’s top teams during the preseason but they finished third in the South Coast League and were eliminated from the Southern Section division playoffs in the second round.

Camargo, who was playing his first year at Mater Dei after transferring from Cerritos Gahr, never adjusted to his new team or new school.

“It took him some time to settle,” Mater Dei Coach Martin Stringer said. “I’m not sure whether he was ready for the discipline here and he fell short of what he could have achieved.”

Camargo said he struggled on and off the soccer field last year.

“Mater Dei is different from Gahr and it’s not like any other private school,” he said. “I’m Argentinian and we play a certain style. Martin is English and he plays a certain style. It took me some time to learn that style. On paper, [last year] sounded good. I made first team all-league and was named MVP of my team. But I didn’t play to my highest standards.”

But then neither did Camargo’s teammates. “There’s a lot more coverage here than there was in Los Angeles,” Camargo said. “When I came here, it seemed like everybody was playing to get their name in the newspaper. They started playing selfishly and I started doing it too.”

This season, Camargo has a new position--he’s been moved up from the midfield to forward--and a new attitude.

“It’s not my natural position, but I’ll do whatever I can to help the team,” he said.

So far, Camargo is helping plenty. He has teamed with forward Tony Micheletti to give Mater Dei one of best one-two scoring punches in the county.

“He’s the speed demon and I’m the skillful one,” Camargo said. “We’re a pretty good combination.”

Said Stringer: “We needed another outstanding forward to complement Tony, and Walter has done that. We give a free role up front. He can do so much more for us up there than he could in the midfield. You’d be hard-pressed to find a player who holds the ball like Walter. He has such great control, such great balance.”

Hulgreen said even though Camargo was born in the United States, he doesn’t play like it.

“I believe he plays as a South American,” Hulgreen said. “He’s got that finesse style. A lot of dribbling and a lot of passing. He’s definitely got that in his blood.”

Maybe that’s because Camargo’s father, Oscar, who played professionally in Argentina, taught him the game. Oscar Camargo, who runs the Camargo Youth Soccer School in Cerritos, has taught his son well. So well that he’s become a hit in two countries.