AHEAD OF THE GAME FOR SOFTBALL PLAYERS LOOKING TO ADVANCE BY USING THEIR TALENT, TRAVEL BALL PROVIDES A LIFE OF DEDICATION AND A PATH TO COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

Before Christina Enea became the San Fernando Valley region's best softball catcher, she was just a regular teen-ager. She liked hanging out at the beach or the mall. She liked sleepovers.

Summertime was the best - three months of blissful freedom.

Then softball took over her life.

She was at the batting cage. She took lessons with private coaches. In the summer, nearly every weekend was spent at a travel-ball tournament somewhere, and that meant playing three or four games a day Friday through Sunday. Sometimes her teams played six games in one afternoon.

``I can remember crying to my parents, begging them not to take me to the game because I wanted to be with my friends,'' said Enea, who played high school softball at El Camino Real and travel ball with the San Fernando Valley-based Gordon's Panthers.

``But, thank God, my parents didn't let me quit. They kept pushing me, telling me this was the best thing for me. And they were right.''

Enea, who earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, is like countless other girls throughout the region who sacrifice time with friends, whose parents give up their weekends and thousands of dollars to pay private coaches and expenses, all for the chance to become a premier softball player and earn a college scholarship.

Is that achievement worth the cost?

``When it's every year, every summer, every weekend, it's overkill,'' said Chuck Ferrero, whose daughter, Elena, is a star player at Harvard- Westlake and a top travel-ball player. ``Thank God, I have sons coming up now. They play football, which means they'll play for their good old high school team. Which is the way it used to be.''

Last year the San Fernando Valley-based Stealth 18-under Gold team sent every one of its players to college, and many are now flourishing at the collegiate level.

The Stealth, founded by Don Harris is 1991, has sent more than 100 players to college over the years.

``The fact is,'' Harris said, ``if you're a player on a top-notch travel team, there is a place for you to play in college somewhere.''

The top players usually get started in club ball in junior high, often handpicked by club coaches eager to fill their program with young talent.

``You have to play travel softball if you want to play in college,'' said Meredith Cervenka, the record-breaking pitcher from Crescenta Valley and a member of the Southern California Athletics out of Orange County.

Cervenka, who will pitch next year at Long Beach State, hardly remembers a time when her weekends weren't devoted to softball.

``If you don't enjoy it, you shouldn't be out there playing,'' Cervenka said. ``This is what you have to do to get to the next level. It's a tremendous sacrifice, definitely. But if your goal is to get to the next level, you have to do this.''

Each summer the top club teams play in a handful of tournaments in which every player is dissected, analyzed, critiqued and inspected by nearly every college coach in America.

During the high school season, college coaches rarely stray far from campus. They're busy coaching their own teams, and it makes good sense to wait. Why crisscross the state and country every week to see one or two good players when you can go to summer tournaments and see the best players in the country compete against one another?

The biggest is the Firecracker Tournament in Colorado every July, offering college coaches a smorgasbord of talent. This year, 90 teams from across the country participated, and it gets bigger every year.

In addition, the 18-under Gold Nationals, which moves from site to site each year, provides coaches and scouts a chance to see the best. With the right timing and preparation, college coaches can secure their entire recruiting haul in one weekend.

``There aren't too many coaches who are going to come to a Marmonte League game to see a few good players if they can see all of the best players at one time,'' said Agoura High School coach Brandy Brennan. ``In that respect, it makes total sense.''

College coaches are not allowed to contact or talk to high school seniors until July 1, so they circumvent the process by using the travel team coaches as middle men.

``The most common question I get is whether or not someone is willing to go out of state to play,'' said Dale Moore, who coaches Panther's Gold. ``They want to know if a player is interested in them and if they have a shot at landing someone. They don't want to waste time recruiting a player who has no interest in them.''

The travel coaches, most of whom got hooked on coaching when their daughters played, wield a certain amount of power because their access to players forces college coaches to deal with them.

``When we were in Colorado, I'd say more than 100 coaches came up to me at some point, offering scholarships to my center fielder,'' Moore said. ``At the hotel that night, I sat with the player and her mother going over the offers and discussing all her options. It can get overwhelming.''

For parents, the financial commitment can be astronomical. All those plane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and costly meals on the road add up fast. Fund-raisers ease the burden somewhat, but most of the money still comes out of mom and dad's pocket book.

A typical travel team charges between $250 and $400 during the winter season, another $250 to $400 in the summer for uniforms and fees. The players have to fend for themselves for everything else.

``It's a huge financial burden for our parents,'' said Chaminade pitcher Christina Lupacchini, who opted out of travel ball this summer to concentrate on school and work. She'll resume club ball in the winter. ``And that puts pressure on girls. You want to get a scholarship to pay for college.''

Ferrero has escorted his daughter, Elena, to four out-of-state tournaments over the past month.

``That's pretty expensive even if it's just one parent and the child,'' said Ferrero, the athletic director at Valley College. ``What about a family with two daughters? What about both parents going with you or brothers and sisters? You start doing the math on the air fare and hotel rooms and food and it starts adding up, not to mention the time away from work. Even some of these tournaments in state get costly. A weekend tournament in Rancho Cucamonga adds up to a lot of gas and food.''

Of course, it always goes back to the objective of getting a scholarship.

``The funny thing is, if we had taken all the money we spent on travel ball over the years and put it into a big jar, my education would probably have been paid for,'' said one player, laughing. ``But the fact is, everyone who plays sports wants to get a college scholarship. You can call it ego or whatever, but it means something when someone tells you you're so good they're willing to pay for college. There is pride involved.''

To supporters, the experience also represents quality family time.

``To me it's a positive in a lot of different ways,'' said Gayle Lupacchini, Christina's mom. ``There's no doubt it can get expensive, but the bonds you create are lifelong. You're with friends every weekend watching your kids do something they love to do at a very high level. Those are good things.''

Christina Enea agrees.

``I wouldn't trade the experience for anything,'' said Enea, who has played travel ball since she was 12. ``I've traveled all around the country, seen things that some kids don't normally see and been to places some kids never go to. I'm not saying it's not a sacrifice, because it is. But this is what I love to do and, for me, it's been a blast.''

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. ... I'm not saying it's not a sacrifice because it is. But this is what I love to do, and for me, it's been a blast.''

- Christina Enea

Travel-team softball player

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) Harvard-Westlake pitcher Elena Ferrero, a top travel-ball player, has gone to four out-of-state tournaments over the past month.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(3 -- 4) Travel-ball players Elena Ferrero, left, and Michelle Willette are among the girls who sacrifice summers and weekends for what most hope will lead to a college scholarship. Below, members of Valencia's California Choppers watch the action during the recent All-American Fast-Pitch Festival at Lancaster City Park.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer