SAN DIEGO’S GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Carrie Bonforte, Torrey Pines, Palomar League

Many of her volleyball-playing friends play that sport year-round. Bonforte played volleyball for the school but chose to also play basketball and softball and compete for the track team.

“I don’t think you should focus on one unless you really like it,” Bonforte said. “I think I might have been able to get a (volleyball) scholarship. But I’m glad. I’ve never had any regrets.”

Bonforte played third for the softball team, hitting .335, and threw the shot and discus for the track team. She was second team all-league in basketball (as a point guard) and volleyball.

Bonforte also has a 3-plus GPA.

She said conditioning for basketball tempted her to quit. But she pulled through.

“It makes me more well-rounded,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of different friends, met a lot of people from different schools. I learned to play with a team.

“I don’t think this level should be so competitive and people should get so wrapped up. I think people should just have fun. It just doesn’t seem that big of a deal to me.”

John Salts, Chula Vista, Mesa League

Karl Larsen, Chula Vista’s athletic director, said that if he were asked to name the top 10 athletes at the school, Salts probably would not make that list.

“He’s been in what would be called low visibility sports,” Larsen said.

That doesn’t seem to bother Salts, who has received 12 varsity letters in six different sports in just three years.

“It was not really that hard,” he said. “I just balanced out my time with my school work and my outside job.”

Job ?

He has been working about 20 hours a week at a convenience store since he was a sophomore.

As for school, Salts’ performance has fluctuated for the past three years.

“I was a 4.0 student in junior high,” he said. “It’s been rough. The lowest I got was 2.0 but now I’m up to 3.0. The beginning of each year it goes down but by the end it’s up between 2.8 and 3.3.”

Salts, 17, has lettered three years each in soccer and swimming, two in cross-country and track and one in water polo and volleyball.

He was nominated to go to the Air Force Academy but has yet to score high enough on the scholastic aptitude test for entrance there.

He was offered a scholarship to play soccer at Drexel but said he will probably go to Southwestern College and work to get his SAT scores up and help coach the water polo team at Chula Vista.

As a sophomore he was an outstanding cross-country runner, and his mother wanted him to concentrate on that sport alone.

“I couldn’t handle that,” he said. “I had to keep a variety going. I get bored if I was just playing one sport.”

Larsen said that Salts isn’t really a star and that playing mostly sports that are more individual-oriented has helped him to participate in more than one during a season.

“He’s never been an outstanding performer,” Larsen said. “(Last) spring he was cleared for practice in three sports (track, swimming and club volleyball). It’s tough to get the coaches to clear you for two. John has been able to find coaches that have allowed him to miss practice time for other sports. He’s a rarity.”