'AIR' FOR EVERYONE\Flag football tournament attracts variety of teams to battle in\Balboa Park.

Byline: Eric SondheimerDaily News Deputy Sports Editor 

They came by the hundreds, young and old, fast and slow, limber and stiff. Many were ex-high school and college football players. Others were still young enough to dream of becoming stars one day. Some had beer bellies; others had physiques fit enough for the Marines.

Ranging in age from 8 to 62, the hundreds of players competing in Saturday's NFL Air-It-Out four-on-four flag football competition at Balboa Park in Van Nuys sure looked as if they were having fun.

Where else do you get the opportunity to test your football skills against the likes of actor Dean Cain, who plays Superman on "Lois & Clark"and joined a group of ex-Beverly Hills and Santa Monica High buddies competing in the Top Gun division.

"Let's see if he's faster than a speeding bullet," said one onlooker.

"I want to see him fly in the end zone," added a 9-year-old fan.

"I felt slow," Cain said. "It's too many hours of work."

There were 529 teams competing in four divisions, with the top teams advancing to today's championship rounds.

It was a day for reunions of old friends and old rivals. It was a day for remembering the past while taking a peek at the future.

In one of the early games, a group of Newbury Park High School players who set a state record this past season for passing yards went up against a group of mostly thirty-something attorneys. The Newbury Park team, led by quarterback Chris Czernek, barely won. The attorneys included ex-Chatsworth running back Eric Barnum, 29, older brother of USC fullback Terry Barnum.

"I looked at those guys and I knew they had more stamina," Barnum said. "We were going to have to be smarter. In the end, their athleticism won out over our intellect."

Ex-St. Genevieve quarterback Alex Muller, now a QB at Pierce College, was trying to figure out how his team lost its opener. "They were muchmore prepared - some frat boys," he said disgustedly.

The past, present and future Westlake High quarterbacks were on display. Junior Casey Preston directed perhaps the best team in the high school-age division. Also quarterbacking teams were Westlake sophomore Kjell Nesen, former Westlake QB Tim Kirksey and 12-year-old seventh-grader Cory Miles, a future Westlake QB.

"He (Miles) was awesome," declared Westlake freshman coach Mike Leibin.

Van Nuys High junior quarterback Robert Williamson had fun throwing touchdown passes to his favorite receiver, Damon Coleman. Monroe players Kenyatta Burris and Aaron Arnold teamed up with Kennedy players Waking Bailey and Aaron Lewis, showing former rivals could become friends and teammates.

Ex-Crespi QB David Lins, a top candidate to start next fall at Valley College, guided his group of former Crespi players to a 3-0 record in the Top Gun division.

One team of 12- and 13-year-olds made up of future Westlake players was so organized it had plays written out on small pieces of paper held together by a staple. One of their plays was named "Confusion."

Asked if it works, 13-year-old John White said, "Hopefully."

Cain attracted the most fan interest. A former defensive back at Princeton, he received some playful teasing when he dropped a pass. "That was his Clark Kent impersonation," one player joked.

But Cain more than held his own. And he demonstrated his friendliness by signing autographs and even posing for a picture taken by an LAPD officer.

Now, if only his team could win the Top Gun division and earn a free trip to the national finals in Orlando, Fla. His opponents might want to make sure there are no phone booths at Balboa Park today.

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(1) Thousand Oaks' Scott McEwan flings a pass to Jason Victor in the NFL Air-It-Out flag football tournament in Balboa Park. (2) Dean Cain, who plays Superman on TV, puts on his cleats before taking to the field in the NFL Air-It-Out tournament. John McCoy / Daily News