INFLUX OF YOUTH PROGRAMS PROPELS WOMEN'S SPORTS.

Byline: Tara Sullivan New York Daily News 

If 1996 was the year of the woman at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, then all that United States female talent had to come from somewhere. And more so than ever, it can be found growing on a local level in the Amateur Athletic Union, Police Athletic League, Catholic Youth Organization and a multitude of other youth leagues that are more available than ever for young girls.

What was once a domain limited almost exclusively to boys is now a female pipeline from local talent to Olympic or professional levels.

``When we originally started an AAU team in the metro region, it was very unorganized for girls,'' said Vincent Cannizzaro, president and founder of the Liberty Belles, a 10-year-old AAU women's basketball club based in Middle Village, Queens. ``There were no clubs to play against.''

Cannizzaro, also the girls' coach at national power Christ the King High School, used to send his players to Philadelphia to play for the more competitive AAU teams there. Now, the Liberty Belles sponsor and coach teams in each age group from 10-18, and the organization recently had three of its clubs place in the top nine or better in national AAU tournaments.

``In the 10-year period, I've seen tremendous improvement,'' Cannizzaro said. ``I've seen it in the number of teams and I've seen it in the level of competitive ball.''

Indeed. In the 14-year-old AAU national tournament, the Liberty Belles team defeated a squad from Alabama, 110-92. ``For 14-year-old kids to combine for that many points is phenomenal,'' Cannizzaro said.

Wendy Hilliard, president of the Women's Sports Foundation, agrees that available programs at a young age has helped the growth of women's sports.

``One of our main charges is to improve grass-roots development,'' said Hilliard, who understands the benefits of athletics. She was a nine-time member, two-time captain and the first African-American athlete on the national rhythmic gymnastics team. ``The impact the Olympics had is that it provided so many female role models. It showed that we can use team sports as another option. Girls for so long excelled only in individual sports.''

In Atlanta, the U.S. won team golds in women's basketball, softball, soccer and gymnastics. The Americans won a total of 40 gold medals, 18 by women's teams or individuals. That performance by American women surpassed traditional leaders, such as Russia and Germany. China's women came closest to the U.S. with nine golds. France earned eight, Russia five and Germany four.

It is a remarkable upsurge for U.S. women and one that can be traced to the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972. The law, signed by President Richard Nixon, mandated full equality for women's school athletics.

The 1972 U.S. Olympic team consisted of 342 men to only 96 women. In each Olympics since, the ratio of men to women has decreased. This year it was 382 men to 280 women.

Hilliard has done her part by sponsoring an inner-city clinic for rhythmic gymnastics, in addition to running her own gym. One of her pupils, Aliane Baquerot, was a member of the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Atlanta.

``It's important to give these girls opportunities,'' Hilliard said. ``We have to keep girls in these sports because we still have a major dropoff as they get older, much more dropoff than with boys.''

Hilliard was surprised by some things at the Olympics, but certainly not by the success of women's teams.

``The biggest surprise for Americans was to see this commitment by women to their sport,'' she said. ``The pleasant surprise was how America embraced them. The local programs are so important, because, like anyone can tell you, you have to have a talented base to choose from. You want talent and you want people to support the sport after their career.

``Not everyone who plays reaches that highest level, but you need the people who once played the sport to be the ones to pay for tickets and be spectators. Men have had that over girls.''

``We really turned a major corner here,'' she said. ``The general public has finally started to get it.''

One fan of the women's basketball team was Chamique Holdsclaw, who would like one day to play for her country. A graduate of Christ the King High, she won an NCAA championship with Tennessee this year. Holdsclaw got her start in organized basketball with the Liberty Belles as a 14-year-old. ``I knew a lot of great girls who could play, but they couldn't play organized basketball,'' said Holdsclaw, who was named a Naismith All-American last season as a freshman. ``They didn't know fundamentals. That's what AAU ball can do. You get exposure to college coaches, and you get to travel and go different places.''

Holdsclaw is well aware of those who broke ground ahead of her.