A Pioneer in Double-Teaming : Soccer: Hampton might have to choose between games with Simi Valley High and national squads.

Craig Hampton is faced with a difficult decision.

The Simi Valley High midfielder, 18, has come a long way since he started playing youth soccer at age 3. So far, in fact, that he was selected an All-American by the National Soccer Coaches’ Assn. of America and Parade magazine.

Along with his status have come opportunities to train with the national team for players 19 and under. This month’s practice was to have coincided with the Southern Section 4-A Division playoffs. It was pushed back two weeks, however, allowing Hampton to play in the first round last week and in today’s quarterfinal match against Mater Dei.

The camp’s new schedule, however, might conflict with the 4-A championship on March 2. Hampton, a senior, already has committed to attending the spring session.

“Hopefully, it won’t conflict,” said Hampton, who has missed seven high school matches this season because he was traveling with the national team. “But if I have to, I will (go with the national team).

“(Pioneer Coach Andy Silva is) behind me, though I’m sure he doesn’t want me to go, and I don’t want to (leave the high school team), this is what I’ve worked for my whole career. I feel it takes priority.”

Hampton’s fiery zeal for soccer was fed even more when he met Pele, a former standout for Brazil’s World Cup championship teams in 1958 and ‘70, at a luncheon in Cincinnati honoring All-Americans.

“I was pretty much overwhelmed. We got to take our picture with him and shake his hand,” Hampton said. “When you see the greatest player that ever played, it sort of makes you want to look up to him and try to be like him.”

Midfielder, though, is not his position of status. Hampton, at 6 feet, 155 pounds, specializes in playing defender but moves forward for the Pioneers because “the defense is solid enough,” he said.

In early January, Hampton got the opportunity to display his defensive prowess as a U. S. national team member in Guadalajara, Mexico, during three no-pressure matches with Mexican national teams.

However, Marmonte League opponents of Simi Valley, the top-ranked team in the 4-A, sport different opinions of Hampton’s impact on the Pioneers.

Westlake Coach Mike Williams acknowledged that Hampton’s offensive and defensive capabilities are of Division I quality but emphasized that Simi Valley plays better without its star.

“I think we played a better game against them the second game (when the Warriors lost, 4-2),” Williams said. “The first time they had to do it without Craig and they played much better as a team (in a 3-1 Pioneer win Jan. 2). The second time, I think, they were relying on Craig to carry them.”

Added Williams: “I’ve seen him play sweeper for Simi and now he’s a midfielder. In both cases, he is a threat defensively and offensively. That’s what makes him a well-rounded player.”

Possibly Hampton’s most well-honed talent is his precise head-passing. That and a tremendous vertical leap are trademarks that undoubtedly helped him earn the Gatorade Circle of Champions Player of the Year award for California in January.

“He can sky. He can sky with the best,” Silva said of his protege’s leaping ability. “There’s a little story behind that one.”

Silva said Hampton did not play soccer during the ninth grade at Sequoia Junior High. Instead, Hampton was the starting point guard on the school’s basketball team, which went 24-0.

After 10 years of dribbling with his feet, Hampton opted for a break. A fast break.

“A lot of players get burned out playing year-round soccer, or any sport year-round for a number of years, and I just felt like I needed to get away for a little bit,” Hampton said. “It was fun. It was a great variety.”

Hampton’s skill at shooting a ball with his hands rather than with his feet and his rocket-like vertical jump--which Silva estimated at 40 inches or better--grabbed the attention of Bob Hawking, then the basketball coach at Simi Valley High.

“(Hawking) asked me if I knew what Craig Hampton was going to do--whether he was going to play basketball or play soccer,” Silva said. “I really didn’t know.

“When he did register, he did sign up for soccer and didn’t play basketball and Bob said, ‘You got a good one here.’ ”

And good he is. But Royal Coach Peter Schraml said that his third-ranked Highlanders avoid special defensive treatment for Hampton when playing Simi Valley.

“We don’t double- or triple-team him because that would leave us too vulnerable,” Schraml said. “Simi has too many scoring threats.

“We put one man on a close man-to-man marking. If (Hampton) goes to the bathroom, that means (the defender) goes to the bathroom.”

Added Schraml: “He’s very dangerous.”

OK, so Simi Valley has a nationally renowned defender playing midfielder. He’s probably leading the teams in goals, right?

Wrong. Hampton, who has slipped 16 shots past opposing goalkeepers in 20 matches this season, is but third on the team scoring list. Forward Kenny Greninger leads the Pioneers with 20 goals and forward Brian Weaver has 17.

Gotta be a ball hog then, huh? A real egomaniac?

Not at all. Hampton is a team player all the way. His accurate passing and comprehension of on-the-field situations would make him a catalyst on any team.

And Hampton is not afraid to celebrate when he scores.

After outmaneuvering opposing fullbacks and, eventually, the goalkeeper, he storms downfield, waving his right index finger above his head and then he high-fives several Pioneers before visiting the sideline to carouse with his coach and other teammates.

But aside from his post-scoring antics, Hampton will not let extra-rough play and verbal abuse from opponents affect his game.

“I try to stay that way, otherwise it just takes it out of your game,” Hampton said of his ability to maintain composure. “I try to stay as cool as possible.”