Pomona Trains Good Sports : Teachers at the Costa Mesa elementary school finance a free athletics program for pupils, most of whom are poor. Donors and volunteers help run it.

Teacher Catherine Morgan stood on the sidelines watching a group of 10- and 11-year-olds swirl around the playground at Pomona School.

“The girls usually have two pairs of shoes--a cute little pair and a pair of tennis shoes. The boys may have only one pair. Sometimes we have to switch shoes during the soccer games,” she says, not complaining, but stating a fact of life.

The fact is that many kids in this school are poor and cannot afford the shoes and equipment for community sports programs, nor can they afford enrollment fees.

That’s why in September, Morgan and colleagues Pat Visel and Cristine Henderson put up their money to organize a free sports program for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at Pomona School.

Every Wednesday after school, the three teachers meet with about 55 children and teach them how to play basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer and other organized sports. The goal, according to Visel, is to expose the kids to many different types of sports and to provide positive after-school activities.

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The idea for the program began last spring when a group of Pomona kids competed in the Costa Mesa Lion’s Club soccer tournament. Morgan, Henderson and Visel, who were serving as managers of two of the soccer teams, noticed that their kids just didn’t have the stamina and endurance that the other kids had. “We felt that our kids were out of shape,” Morgan says.

The three teachers thought that if the kids had an opportunity to participate in team sports or in organized fitness programs, they would not only be in better physical condition, but they would also benefit in other ways. “This is not the best neighborhood,” Morgan says, “and by getting them interested in sports we get them away from tagging, gang banging and drugs. This keeps them off the streets.”

For the program to succeed, the women knew that it had to be structured around limitations. “Some don’t have transportation,” Morgan says.

In fact, to get to the soccer tournament last year, many parents who came to cheer on their children came part way by bus and walked the rest of the way, she says. That’s why practice sessions are held on school grounds, immediately after classes.

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Ken Killian, principal at Pomona, says the sports activities are held on the school’s early dismissal day and that the three teachers run the program on their own time. “It was originated by these teachers, and I want to give them credit,” he says, “because I fully support it. Physical fitness is important.”

Physical education is part of the curriculum at Pomona School, as it is at other schools, but Killian says budget cuts in the Newport-Mesa School District eliminated the position of PE specialist. Now classroom teachers provide the PE instruction required of the children, he says, and participation is mandatory.

On the other hand, participation in Pomona’s after-school sports program is strictly voluntary. “And it is certainly a very informal sports program,” he says.

But Killian says it is important, especially for the children at Pomona, many of whom cannot afford to become involved in more formal sports activities. About 92% of the school’s 550 children qualify for free breakfasts and lunches, he says.

“Most people, when they think of Newport-Mesa School District, think everybody owns a yacht,” he says. “But that is not true here in west Costa Mesa.”

Most of the sports equipment for the after-school program has been donated, according to Morgan. “We’ve gotten soccer balls, money to cover goal posts, clothing, shoes,” she says. “We are very happy with the way it is going.”

Henderson says proof of the program’s success can be seen in how well the children are doing. “When we taught them to play basketball, there was a lot of resistance at first,” she says, “volleyball, too. But now it is wonderful to see how well they’re playing.”

On a recent Wednesday, the kids were just beginning a track and field program that included laps around the playground, under the watchful eyes of Todd Houser, an Orange Coast College student who helps out on a volunteer basis.

Also watching with keen interest was Luis Saaverda, whose sons, Uriel, 8, and Luis Jr., 11, attend Pomona School. Saaverda is one of the few parents who can find time to help with the program, according to Henderson.

“We have wonderful, wonderful parents,” Henderson says. “But they are so busy making ends meet, they don’t have time.” The Pomona School PTA has only about half a dozen parent members.

Saaverda, who works six days a week at a Newport Beach restaurant, has only Wednesdays off, but he says volunteering to work with the program is important. “I make time for this because most of the kids, if they go home now, there’s no one home, so what will they do?”

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Saaverda says that many of the children want to participate in sports, but until this after-school program came along, they were unable to do so. “The teachers are doing a great, great job,” he says.

As word about the program has spread, community support has built, Henderson says. The Sports Connection in Costa Mesa sent representatives to help, as did the Costa Mesa Fire Department. But she points out that the program is still in desperate need of additional sports equipment, shoes, socks and snacks.

But most of all, the three teachers say they need volunteers.

“This is right in our own back yard,” Visel said. “And it is better to work with these kids now than to wait until they are in gangs.”