Belmont--One Devil of a Team : Soccer: With a Gremlin in its corner, Coach Carr-Swaim’s Sentinels head into the playoffs undefeated.

The Belmont High boys’ soccer team isn’t afraid of gremlins. While others blame gremlins for their misfortunes, the Sentinels believe they are the key to their success.

In this case, a gremlin is not a mischievous imaginary creature, but a soccer ball about the size of a cantaloupe that Belmont hopes will bolster its chances when it begins City Section playoffs Wednesday.

The Gremlin, manufactured by Umbro, is a micro-size soccer ball that is weighted for low flight. “We use the Gremlin all the time,” said Coach Nancy Carr-Swaim. “If a kid can handle this ball, they can handle an orange.”

And they can definitely handle a regulation-sized soccer ball.

In each of Carr-Swaim’s six years as coach, the Sentinels have qualified for the playoffs and twice reached the City Section championship game. Last season, Belmont lost to Garfield, 2-1, in the title game. This season, the Sentinels were the only undefeated City Section team at 11-0-1 and are the top-seeded team in the playoffs. Belmont plays host to either North Hollywood or Bell, whose wild-card game was rained out Friday. The game will be played Tuesday. If that make-up game is not possible, Belmont’s opponent will be decided by a coin toss.

Carr-Swaim, 41, is one of the few coaches who uses a miniature soccer ball as part of her regular practice routine. She said she learned about the training device from her predecessor, Ron Melin.

“That soccer ball is a great training aid,” said Washington Coach Mike Asfall, whose team occasionally practices with the Gremlin. “It teaches players how to finish off their shots. Belmont rarely makes a mistake when they are close to the net.”

Carr-Swaim is always trying to improve her knowledge of the sport and has quickly picked up the tricks of the trade.

“I feel I’m competent as a soccer coach, but I wouldn’t put myself in the same class as Garfield Coach Tony Critelli,” she said. “Most of the other coaches have more experience than I have. But I’m learning stuff about soccer every year from the players and the coaches. It never stops. Some of it is common sense.”

Carr-Swaim was a gymnast at Monroe High, Pierce College and Cal State Northridge. Her best event was the uneven parallel bars. “I had a lot of strength, but I did not have much flexibility,” she said.

While earning her master’s degree in exercise physiology, Carr-Swaim worked as a certified trainer at Pasadena College. She started playing soccer in 1980 when she joined a women’s league with her Pasadena colleagues. She currently plays on weekends for Defeet, a team in the Women’s Soccer Organization of the San Gabriel Valley.

After earning her teaching credential at Northridge in 1987, Carr-Swaim was hired as physical education teacher and soccer coach at Belmont. She discovered how popular soccer is at the school when about 150 prospects showed up for her first tryout.

“My players had the ability and the techniques to play soccer before they got to Belmont,” Carr-Swaim said. “They learned the fundamentals when they were kids. My job is to manage them as a team. That’s the tricky part.”

Ebel Guerra played for Carr-Swaim before graduating in 1991 and now plays for Coach Orlando Brenes at East Los Angeles College. He is one of many alumni who works out with the Belmont team and helps with practice.

“It’s hard being a female and coaching all males,” Guerra said. “But Nancy knows how to bring out the strong points of a player. She motivated me to go to college and continue to play soccer.”

About 4,500 students attend Belmont, many from Latin American, where soccer is almost a way of life. Eric Hernandez, a 15-year-old forward from El Salvador, had a chance to attend another school but chose Belmont for its soccer program.

“In my country, you can become famous if you are great soccer player,” said Hernandez, who has scored five goals in six games. “I came to Belmont because of its tradition for having an outstanding soccer program.”

Hernandez is one of the many Belmont soccer players who speaks mostly Spanish during practice and games. Carr-Swaim has learned a few Spanish phrases.

Belmont plays in the Northern Conference, arguably the weakest of the six City Section conferences.

But the Sentinels proved that they can play against tough competition with their two-season winning streak against Roosevelt and Washington.

“The lady has beaten me twice. What can I say?” said Asfall of Washington.