BEHIND THE MASKS, FENCERS ARE ATHLETES : TEAMS ARE LOOKING FOR FANS.

Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer

Being fencers at Chaminade High School doesn't afford the 18 athletes much attention. Their friends are among the few who know they participate, and some students probably don't even know there's a fencing team on campus - even though the sport is year-round.

``It's kind of unfortunate,'' senior Brook Schaaf said, echoing the sentiments of many of his teammates. ``Because it's not a team sport (like football or baseball), people can't come to a stadium and cheer on a fencer. There aren't draft picks for professional fencing teams.''

But come this weekend, the fencers will be in the center of things when the school hosts the Pacific Coast Championships, an annual competition that brings together the 210 best high school fencers from around the state and parts of Nevada.

The competition begins Saturday at 9 a.m. at the West Hills campus.

Only Chaminade, Monroe and Harvard-Westlake field fencing teams in the area, and the sport is not sanctioned by the Southern Section, yet the schools will be well represented.

Chaminade recently won the Southern California League title, defeating Harvard-Westlake, Monroe, Bellflower, Norwalk and Victor Valley in both epee and foil competitions. Additionally, Chaminade junior Issac DiIanni and sophomore Juan Capdet finished first and second in the men's epee; and Harvard-Westlake's Cameron Hill beat out Schaaf for top individual honors in the foil. All are expected to compete this weekend.

The epee and foil are types of swords used in competition. Each requires a fencer to hit different targets on the body. In epee, the entire upper body (arms and head included) is a target. In foil, just the torso is acceptable. There also is a sabre, but Chaminade has no one interested in using it in competition.

``Even though the school doesn't show appreciation all the time, I can go to meets and people will say, `Nice move,' and they'll congratulate me,'' Capdet said.

Fencing is a strenuous sport, many said, as evidenced by the sweat on everyone's face during a recent practice.

``It works the whole body. It's definitely taxing,'' DiIanni said. ``You can see it on my face. I've been practicing five, six minutes and I'm already dripping.''

``They say to be a fencer, you have to have the stamina of a wrestler, the thinking ability of a chess player, the agility of a dancer, or something like that,'' Schaaf said.

Schaaf said he laughs at the notion that fencing is a violent sport.

``I would feel fencing is much safer than football,'' he said. ``Football has more body contact, and it's a lot more aggresive.''

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Photo: CAPDET