FOLLOWING IN THEIR . . . FOOSTEPS : Younger Brothers and Sisters of Prep Stars Have to Deal With a Magnified Pressure

Getting involved in high school sports isn’t easy for a lot of youngsters. Teen-agers’ common fears of rejection, ridicule and failure are magnified in the competitive world of athletics.

When a teen-ager arrives at high school in the shadow of the accomplishments of an older brother or sister, the usual problems can be even greater. If a star athlete’s younger sibling enrolls at the same school and tries out for a team, coaches and students will have certain expectations.

Some will expect the younger child to be just as talented. Others will be sure that the younger child will fail.

The younger child has expectations as well. He may pressure himself with the idea that he has to be as good as his older brother or sister. Or he may figure he can never be that good, and quit. Or he may avoid the sport altogether.

On the other hand, some teen-agers cope well with the pressure of having a talented older sibling. Such a youngster doesn’t let the great expectations of others bother him, preferring instead to set his own goals and live up to his own standards.

Four San Diego athletes with older siblings who were sports stars indicated just such a range of reactions and emotions.

A look at the four--Cathy Chung of Serra, Eric Coffin of Mira Mesa, Anita Eischen of Marian and Brady Stratton of Mission Bay--follows:

Cathy Chung

Chung’s sister, Mare, was one of the top field hockey players in San Diego County history. In four years at Serra, she scored 106 goals, including 48 in 1982 and 46 in 1983. She is now a starter at Stanford.

Cathy, a 16-year-old junior, also plays field hockey. She was not a starter last fall, although she did score during Serra’s victory in the San Diego Section championship match. According to Conquistador Coach Laurie Berger, Chung may not start next season, either.

When Chung arrived at Serra, she heard from people who wondered how they would compare. But, Cathy said, she was prepared for it.

“I was used to it,” she said. “I have two older sisters. The oldest, Margaret, is really smart and Mare is better than I am in sports.”

In field hockey, Chung said, “Some of the people who played with Mare kept an eye on me. But I just learned to live with it.”

In the classroom, Chung got A’s and B’s--fine grades for most people, but nothing special compared to Margaret’s.

Cathy has honed her own personality, distinct from Mare’s, Berger said.

“She doesn’t even seem to be the same kind of kid as Mare,” she said. “She enjoys playing field hockey, but she realizes she won’t be the same type of player as Mare. That doesn’t seem to bother her. Field hockey is more recreational for her--she plays to be social, to be around people.”

Says Chung: “I’m into clothes. I used to dress Mare.”

Chung also noted a good side to having a talented, athletic older sister.

“Mare taught me how to play field hockey,” she said. “It was kind of neat. Since she was on the team, I got to learn from her and know the players before I got to Serra.”

Eric Coffin

Coffin’s brother, Robbie, was a Times All-County offensive tackle in 1983, and was also sixth man for the Mira Mesa basketball team. He now plays football at Stanford.

Eric, a 17-year-old senior, joined the Mira Mesa junior varsity football team as a freshman, but played little and soon decided, as he put it, “that football was not the way to go.” He tried out for the basketball team in his sophomore year, made the junior varsity, and is a key player for the Marauders’ sixth-ranked squad this winter.

Coffin said he was never heard anyone at Mira Mesa compare him and Robbie.

“No one has ever said anything about that,” he said. “They’d notice me and say, ‘You’re Rob’s little brother.’ But they could tell we were totally different people.”

Mira Mesa basketball Coach Tim Cunningham said Eric and Robbie are both “likeable, All-American types.” He described Eric as a hard-nosed player who is forever diving for loose balls.

For his part, Eric said there are definite differences between himself and his older brother.

“Rob is more studious,” he said. “He gets everything done. I’ll do my work, but it doesn’t have to be as precise. He’s really quiet. I’m a little bit more rebellious. If I have an opinion, I’ll state it. Rob, if he disagrees on something, he’ll say it, but not out like he wants everyone to hear it.”

Coffin said he also found an advantage to be Robbie’s younger brother.

“I figure I might have made the JV basketball team in 10th grade because I was related to Rob,” he said. “I had only played basketball one year, but they might have figured that if I was Rob’s little brother I was all right.”

Coffin noted that, while Robbie is a standout in football, there are other sports in which he is superior.

“He’s better than me at football, but in basketball we might be even,” Eric said. “In soccer, he never played and I did, so I’d dust him.”

Anita Eischen

Anita’s sister, Alisa, was San Diego Section Player of the Year in volleyball while at Marian in 1981 and ’82. She now starts at USC.

Anita, an 18-year-old senior, has played volleyball since she was in the fifth grade. At one time, she was very serious about the sport, playing year-round as a freshman and sophomore. Even though she no longer plays year-round, she was Metro-South Bay League Player of the Year and a San Diego Section 2-A selection last season.

Eischen said she has heard few unkind comparisons between herself and Alisa at Marian.

“A lot of people called me ‘Alisa’s sister’ when I first got there,” she said. “But they weren’t bad. They didn’t mean to say, ‘She’s so much better than you’ or anything like that.”

However, Eischen, who describes herself as “self-conscious,” said she put plenty of pressure on herself.

“I stressed myself out,” she said. “All through high school I felt I had to live up to Alisa’s standards. I think I would have done much better if I hadn’t worried about that at all.”

In fact, she added, she didn’t worry as much about such matters in her senior season and did well.

Rick Kessler, Marian volleyball coach, said Anita is a “quiet person, sensitive, shy--not a dynamic leader. She knew she wasn’t the same type of player as Alisa. Of course, she didn’t have the same physical size as her sister.” Anita is 5-feet 7-inches and Alisa is a muscular 5-11.

Anita said her younger sister, sophomore Stephanie, is more like Alisa.

“Stephanie works really hard,” she said. “I never enjoyed it so much that I was ready to work and work.”

However, Eischen said her personality is changing as she matures.

“Alisa has always been aggressive, extroverted,” she said. “I’ve always been introverted, not very aggressive. Now I believe more in myself. Before, I didn’t have that much faith in myself.”

Brady Stratton

Brady’s brother, Chip, holds San Diego Section records for career RBIs and triples, and is also among the leaders in home runs and walks. He was selected for The Times’ All-County team in 1983 and ’84 and now plays for Arizona. He was also an all-league football player.

Brady, a 15-year-old sophomore, played center for the Mission Bay junior varsity football team last fall. He hopes to make the varsity next season and is thinking about trying out for basketball as well.

But he has no plans to play baseball, even though he was an all-star performer at every level of youth ball. He said the trepidation of following his brother’s path had nothing to do with his decision.

“I really don’t like baseball,” Stratton said. “I think it’s kind of boring. My whole family pressed me to play. Chip wanted me to play. But I told them no, I really wanted to work out for football.”

Mission Bay baseball Coach Dennis Pugh said he had a different impression of why Stratton decided to forgo baseball.

“From conversations with his dad, I didn’t think he wanted to follow in Chip’s footsteps,” he said. “I think that’s why he stopped playing baseball.”

Stratton said none of the Mission Bay coaches have compared him and his older brother, but some of his teammates have done so.

“The coaches have never said, ‘Oh, why can’t you be more like Chip?’ ” he said. “Some of the other players said, ‘You’ll never be as good as Chip.’ None of that really bothered me. I know I won’t be as good as Chip unless I really work at it.”

Aside from athletics, Stratton said he and Chip are alike in many ways.

“We like the same type of music,” he said. “I’m a great surfer. He liked to surf. We have the same red hair. I can get mad, but not like Chip. I don’t got out and get into fights. He gets mad and gets into fights once in a while.”