‘Kids just love him’

Saturday, April 22, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

Las Vegas Strikers captain and midfielder Noah Braun moved a bit gingerly, with a sore hamstring, Tuesday on the field behind Cashman Middle School.

However, none of the six dozen or so kids, divided into six teams on three minipitches, seemed to mind his slower pace.

Braun's presence was all that mattered.

"He's impressionable," said Sal Savini, director of the Las Vegas' After-School All-Stars (ASAS) program. "The kids just love him. He connects with them, and that's one of the most difficult components to find. Anyone can go up there and go through the motions.

"To get someone who commits to them, who shows interest in them and gets positive feedback, that's hard to find."

Strikers owner Frederick Apcar, who is on the ASAS board, has made his players part of the program for almost five years.

Savini said it started out as the Inner-City Games, more than 10 years ago, to offer direction and guidance to at-risk children who often have neither.

Six elementary and four middle schools have participated in ASAS, which combine academics, athletics and other activities so kids can learn about setting objectives and reaching goals.

Savini cited studies that show the value of a one-on-one relationship with an adult for a child in his or her formative years.

"A lot of kids here don't have that with their parents," he said. "When I get an instructor who can do that, we're making strides. There's always one person, a fourth grade teacher who taught them 'this' or 'that.'

"Some of them out here might one day sit in a restaurant or with friends and say, 'You know what? I remember my soccer coach at Cashman. This guy Noah was just incredible.' That's the effect you need."

Impressions

It took a while for Braun, 22, to click with the kids after he started working with them last fall.

"They don't just accept anyone," he said. "Now, we fit right in. They accept us, and we're having a good time. They're in class all day, then we come out here and have fun."

Giving them something to look forward to and someone to look up to are Braun's main goals for the middle school students. He hopes to involve more Strikers via clinics at ASAS schools.

"Maybe in the future some of these kids will be like, 'Hey, I remember you. You helped me do this and this.' " Braun said.

A long day

Peter Johann Memorial Field will be heavily used today when UNLV plays host to a triple header of exhibitions.

The women's team will play its annual alumni game at 11 a.m., and the men's team - hey, let's play two! - faces a club team from Alta Loma, Calif., at 1:30 p.m. and then UC Riverside at 6:30.

While acknowledging the rarity of playing two matches in one day, new Rebels men's coach Mario Sanchez said it will be a good test.

"It will extend us," he said, "and be a mental exercise."

Serge on the move

Congrats to Robyn Serge, a 1994 Las Vegas High graduate who is the new women's coach at Division-III Benedictine (Ill.) University. The Eagles were 1-18 last season.

Serge formerly coached at Rockford (Ill.) College, where she was a four-year MVP. She also played softball and basketball for the Regents, and she was named the school's female athlete of the year, as a junior, in 1996-97.

Away goals are key

Reader Ioan Moise pointed out that we mistakenly reported that Rapid Bucuresti and Steaua Bucuresti battled to a 0-0 draw in their first leg of the UEFA Cup quarterfinals March 30.

That game was actually 1-1, and Moise - before the second leg at Steaua - noted there's a big difference. Indeed, the second game was a 0-0 draw, and Steaua advanced because of the away-goals rule.

(That, incidentally, could be AC Milan's undoing in the Champions League semifinals. Milan lost at home, 1-0, to FC Barcelona on Tuesday, to the delight of several Barcelona natives at the Crown & Anchor.)

Steaua is in a two-leg UEFA Cup semifinal against English side Middlesbrough, and Schalke 04 plays FC Sevilla in the other semifinal. The UEFA Cup title game is May 10 in Eindhoven.

Gigi Becali, who owns Steaua, recently visited monasteries in the Athos Mountains in Greece for some help. "I prayed to God to help Steaua reach the final and then win it," he said.

Good luck, Ioan.

Quoteworthy

From FIFA president Sepp Blatter's press conference last week in Geneva:

"The greatness of football ... is that it makes no distinction between the color of people's skin, their sex or income. That is why I believe so-called supporters who display racist tendencies are the negation of football."

Corner kicks

Match of the week

2 de Mayo at 12 de Octubre, Wednesday

Again, only in soccer ... can two clubs, in Paraguay's Primera Division, be named after dates. And there's a third - 3 de Febrero.

And, get this: 2 de Mayo was founded on Dec. 6, 1935. 12 de Octubre was established on Aug. 14, 1914.

Huh?