As a coach for the Hicksville-American Soccer Club, I was given a very important lesson - "Take the kid with the most confidence and place him in goal." Why? When the ball goes in, only the goalie is to blame.

On March 18 at Temple Beth Torah, America's most famous soccer goalie delivered a talk. His name is Shep Messing.

Shep is a Long Island product whom we can be proud of. Born in the Bronx, he moved to Roslyn and went to Wheatley High where he played football, basketball and baseball.

When his high school dropped football, he felt he needed a fall game. Soccer filled the bill. He went to Harvard where he was an All-American. Later, he played in the Olympics and also in the World Cup.

Shep was the goalkeeper for the first American team to qualify for the Olympics in 1972. This was the year of the infamous games held in Munich, Germany. As the entire world watched, 12 Israeli athletes and coaches were taken hostage from the Olympic Village by terrorists and murdered. Shep stated that he lived 50 yards from the Israelis.

At 5 a.m. the German Authorities rounded up all the Jewish athletes and took them to a secure complex, for quarantine. He said he somehow felt safe through the entire ordeal.

There is no memorial to the murdered athletes at Lake Placid and little or no mention of them. Because of this painful chapter in his life he cannot look at Olympic sports in the same way, It was, and is, a painful lesson.

Over bagels, tunafish, gefilte fish, coffee and rugelach we learned of Shep's career and the positive aspects of sport. He mentioned Pele as one of his idols.

Pele's creed was do your best and be a great person. His three cornerstones are family, education and religion. Shep is also very proud of Sarah Hughes' accomplisments.

With 50 kids sitting on the floor and about 75 adults listening with rapt attention, Shep fielded questions such as:

Q.How does it feel to coach your own kids?

A. Very difficult.

Q. What are you doing now?

A. I am an international sports representative to soccer players and I broadcast Metro-Stars games.

Q. Can you still play?

A. Playing on Astro turf was a factor in my needing a hip replacement.

Personally, I remember Shep as an outstanding goalie for the Cosmos, Boston Minutemen and for the New York Arrows. His inspiring heart-to-heart talk to the children and adults in the audience at Temple Beth Torah showed him to be a real gentleman. He exhibited an intelligent and reasonable view of sport. I admired his views on life and the solid, true values that are necessary in today's complex world.