Oldja and St. Pete continue to improve

By JEREMY RASMUSSEN

©St. Petersburg Times, published March 3, 1998
(This is the uncut version)

ST. PETERSBURG - When the U.S. faces Yugoslavia in the opening round of the World Cup this summer, Americans will see a skillful, colorful brand of soccer played by our Balkan counterparts. For a sneak preview, check out tonight's Class 5A, District 10 final at St. Petersburg High School.

At least one player, St. Petersburg's Johnny Oldja, has shown flashes of Yugoslav style with his ability to attack the goal, ward off defenders, and above all, shoot with deadly accuracy. This is due in part to the instruction of his father, John, who was a professional player in Yugoslavia.

""My dad taught me how to open myself up as a striker and to use space.'' Oldja said. ""I'm always ready to take on a defender and head to goal.''

More than any other Pinellas County player this year, Oldja has gone to the goal. In fact, his 47 scores are nearly twice that of his closest competitor.

And as Oldja's scoring proficiency has increased over the past three years, so has the Green Devils' success as a team. Oldja had 10 goals as a freshman, and St. Petersburg advanced to the Class 5A regional quarterfinals. He had 28 as a sophomore, and it got to the regional final. Can a state tournament berth be far behind?

""I think we're going to finish a little better than we did last year,'' Oldja said cautiously. "Every year we've been improving, moving forward. Our senior leadership this year is excellent.""

The Green Devils (19-2-1) have already won more games than they did last year and garnered respect by beating Countryside 2-1 in the Pinellas County Athletic Conference title game on Feb. 20. "But we want more,'' Oldja said. ""We want to go all the way.''

St. Petersburg coach Mike Clayton said that Oldja's success has come not only from his athleticism but from his increasing awareness of the game.

""Johnny's got a quick first step,'' Clayton said. "But besides physically, he's matured in the way he thinks about the game.''

Clayton said that passing was not Oldja's strong suit in his first two years on the team. Now, Oldja's finding out that being a more giving player can actually be a selfish act.

""Johnny has boucoup assists this year,'' Clayton said. ""His ability to pass better when he's being double-teamed has actually created more scoring chances for him. They can't mark him as tightly when he can pass it off to an open teammate.""

Whether that teammate is Vaso Arsenis, Harris Ambush, or another high-scoring Devil, Oldja says: "It really doesn't matter who scores as long as we win.''

Still, the thought of going after Kevin Alvero's county record of 66 goals in one season intrigues him. ""I didn't know (Alvero) had that many, but I'd like to try to beat him,'' he said.