HELL WEEK : For Those Who Pass a Test of Will Now, a Slim Chance of Glory Awaits in the Fall

When Jose Gaspar showed up for football practice at Belmont High School, he had more than a few doubters. At age 17, Jose weighs all of 104 pounds. Ask him how tall he is and he shrugs, smiles and says, “I don’t know.” He does not seem to think it is an important statistic.

Still, it has given him a nickname.

“Get up here, Too Short,” a coach orders.

The Dallas Cowboys have Ed (Too Tall) Jones, a 6-foot, 10-inch defensive end. The Belmont Sentinels have Jose Gaspar. In cleats, Too Short might be 5 feet even. Or he might not.

He is summoned to “The Pits” and handed the ball. In this drill, Too Short is mano a mano against Stanley Carranza, a 14-year-old freshman. It’s a fair match up: Stanley himself is 5 feet, 3 inches and 105 pounds. It’s Jose’s job to get past Stanley and Stanley’s job to stop him.

“Come on, Too Short!” a teammate calls out. “Do it, Too Short!” shouts another.

Jose breaks right--he’s quick--and there is the crunch of helmets and shoulder pads. Legs pumping, he gains a yard, maybe two, before Stanley steers him to the turf.

147 Students Try Out

The glory, if it comes at all, comes in the fall. But for players, football season begins during the dog days of summer vacation. Jose and Stanley are just two of 147 students giving it the old high school try at Belmont near downtown, the state’s largest secondary school with more than 4,300 students, mostly immigrants. In Los Angeles County, home to more than 180 high schools, thousands of boys are out for football.

About 10% drop out during conditioning drills--three weeks of endless push-ups, sit-ups and wind sprints. Those who survive are rewarded with “Hell Week,” the first practices in helmets and pads. At most schools, “Hell Week” is a grueling ordeal of two-a-day practices--a period that helps coaches separate players by ability and character. Year-round schools such as Belmont, able to have only one practice a day, are given two weeks to prepare.

Despite its size, Belmont is no powerhouse. Last year, the varsity won four games and lost six. As for their chances this year, “Hope springs eternal,” says Coach Rob Leavy.

Many Will Warm Benches

Winning is not the only thing at Belmont. For many, in fact, practice will be the only thing. Several players will go the full season, the coaches say, without playing a single down.

What players get from football, Leavy says, is “a sense of belonging.”

Nobody gets cut for lack of size, only for poor grades or gang membership. In the neighborhoods around Belmont, gangs go by such names as Rockwood, Headhunters, Echo Park, Rascals, Crazy Riders, Big Top, Diamond Street and Satanas.

“Coach says, ‘This is our gang. You belong to any other gang and you’re out,’ ” one player explains. A few players are “gang-bangers,” the player confides, but they’re quiet about it.

Only a few will score touchdowns or make the big tackle. At Belmont, 53 players are assigned to varsity and junior varsity, and 93 are on the “B team,” made up essentially of the younger, smaller players. Each team is allowed only 11 players on the field at a time, which means that scores of Sentinels will be bench warmers. Nobody likes to sit on the bench, yet only a few quit. The common denominator is desire.

Determined to Play

Joe Alviar, a 17-year-old, 120-pound defensive end, didn’t play a single down last year but is determined to play this year. “That’s why I came out. . . . I didn’t want to waste all that time out there running last year,” he says.

Alex Palomares, a 14-year-old freshman, is a 5-foot, 2-inch, 104-pound running back and a Belmont High legacy. His older brother, Jesse, was a star running back from the Class of 1988.

“I’m going to try the hardest I can, but not make any promises to myself” about playing, Alex says. “It’s not how big or how small you are, it’s how much you want it.”

Two weeks ago, Mario Serrano, a Belmont graduate now playing nose tackle for San Jose State, came to practice one day to give a pep talk about football and the classroom. When Serrano started out on Belmont B team, he weighed 130 pounds and could bench-press 200, Coach Leavy recalls. Now Serrano weighs 235 and presses 400.

Parents Happy

The littlest football player in the biggest school has earned the respect of his teammates. Born in Guatemala, Jose Gaspar is a shy English-as-a-second language student. He tried playground basketball, “but I wasn’t good enough.” One of seven children, Jose says his parents are not worried about him playing such a violent game. “They’re happy,” he says.

Teammates remember when Jose first showed up in the weight room. Some people laughed, they said, because the weights he placed on the barbells were so small.

One month ago, Jose was bench-pressing 85 pounds.

Now, he’s up to 130.