RECREATION : 2 Transplants Have Their Lacrosse to Bear : The sport is virtually unheard of in most parts of the country and is just starting to catch on in Orange County.

James Balagot, 13, of Irvine and Mitch Fenton, 33, of Rancho Santa Margarita both learned how to play lacrosse from their older brothers in Long Island, N.Y. And both say that once the ancient Indian field sport gets into your blood, it’s there forever.

Balagot is the Magic Johnson of the four-team Junior High division of the Orange County Youth Lacrosse League--a league that didn’t even exist until 1988. Although he has been in Orange County less than three months, Balagot has already established himself as the kind of player who attracts other kids to the sport and inspires them to play beyond their previous levels. In a recent losing cause, Balagot scored eight of his team’s nine goals and was credited with an assist on the ninth.

Fenton, whom many call the pied piper of Orange County lacrosse, co-founded the youth league in the spring of 1988. He coaches lacrosse at Trabuco High--one of four high schools that make up the youth league’s other division--and he is the coach/manager of the newest of the two adult lacrosse clubs in the area. Ten years ago, when he was in law school, Fenton was instrumental in getting San Diego’s now-thriving youth league off the ground.

Balagot and Fenton both describe lacrosse as a fast-moving, hard-hitting skill sport that combines the best parts of basketball, hockey, soccer and football. Balagot, who plays soccer and basketball too, says lacrosse is his favorite. “My brothers got me hooked on the sport when I was 6 years old.”

Fenton says the sport is easy to get hooked on because it offers maximum action to anyone who wants to participate. “Everyone gets to be ‘quarterback’ and ‘wide receiver’ at some point in a lacrosse game,” Fenton says. “And, because lacrosse places more emphasis on quickness, skill and guile than it does on speed, strength and size, you don’t have to be physically imposing to play successfully.”

A lacrosse game goes like this: Ten players on each side advance a hard rubber ball by running with it or catching it and throwing it with netted plastic sticks. The object of the game is to maneuver into a position where the ball can be thrown into the other team’s goal.

Although “hitting” or “checking” is a key part of the game, its impact is controlled by protective equipment and strict rules that prevent the kinds of serious leg injuries that are common to football.

“You definitely get bumps and bruises playing lacrosse,” Fenton says. “But there are very few major injuries like broken bones and damaged knees.”

Lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America and perhaps the only sport that is native to the continent. As long ago as the 1400s Iroquois and Huron Indians in the Northeast called the game baggataway (“little brother of war”) and used it to settle inter-tribal differences or--failing that--to toughen braves for actual combat. French settlers thought the netted sticks looked like Bishops’ crosses and started calling the game lacrosse.

Despite the sport’s rich history and its popularity in Maryland and New York, lacrosse is virtually unheard of in most of the country. And it is just now starting to catch on in Orange County.

Current Youth League president Ann Zanelli says the continued growth of the league is critical to the sport’s future development. “Our junior high teams are set up to feed our high school teams,” Zanelli explained. “The high school teams will feed local college teams, which will feed the adult clubs and make them better.”

Sierra Vista, Serrano, Los Alisos and Rancho are the junior high squads that feed the high school programs at Estancia, Irvine, University and Trabuco Hills, where Fenton coaches. All eight teams are funded by player dues and revenue from fund-raising activities conducted by the students and their parents.

“The kids and the parents love the sport,” Fenton said. “I’m positive we could attract 25 enthusiastic players at any school in the county. The only thing holding us back is the lack of qualified coaches and volunteer referees and administrators.”

Orange County lacrosse is moving onto college campuses as well. Orange Coast College is expected to field a team for the first time this year and Chapman College and UC Irvine have had teams for the past five or six years.

The two adult lacrosse clubs in Orange County are the Orange County Lacrosse Club and Fenton’s Brine Team, which is named after its sponsor. Both are members of the California Lacrosse Assn., which was founded in 1959. The clubs merged when Brine was formed in 1989 but have since split over philosophical differences regarding style of play.

Ray Ralph of Placentia and Matt DiDuro of Seal Beach have played with both clubs. They say that the Brine Club represents the future in Orange County--possibly because of the club’s greater involvement in the youth league and its acceptance of “role model” responsibilities for younger players. “The Orange County Club has older guys who like a very rough and physical style of play,” says Ralph. DiDuro must soon decide which club he will play for in the upcoming season. He feels the two clubs would be better off if they re-merged.

Fenton isn’t so sure. “There’s only room for two or three more players on Brine,” he says. “Plus the schedule is already set and we’re all counting on the Orange County Club to be ready to play when the season starts in January.”

For information on the Orange County Youth Lacrosse League call Ann Zanelli at (714) 551-4415. For information on adult clubs call Mitch Fenton at (714) 589-9248.