NORTHRIDGE : Celebrity Ballgame Will Benefit Youths

Valerie McCaffrey believes that giving teen-agers a moment on stage might save them years of delinquency.

So the feature casting director for Universal Pictures Production has assembled a cast of celebrities for a softball game in Northridge to benefit teen-agers in a police gang-intervention program. McCaffrey hopes the Aug. 22 event will raise money for arts scholarships for about 25 teen-agers involved in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Jeopardy program.

The benefit is an outgrowth of McCaffrey’s volunteer work for the program. Last year, “tired of listening to the stories about gangs in the Valley,” McCaffrey called Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker to ask what she could do to help.

A month later, several officers rolled up to the door of Universal Pictures with carloads of teen-agers considered at risk for joining gangs, and McCaffrey began teaching the first of 15 weeks of Jeopardy drama courses in Universal City.

“It was a little tough going at first,” she said, “but . . . once they began to realize they could do it, there was no stopping them.”

McCaffrey is scheduled to teach another series of drama courses this fall. But she said she wanted to do more for the teen-agers, and hopes the softball game will allow them to continue their education and find jobs in the entertainment industry.

McCaffrey said drama does more than pass time for troubled youth. “It opens up all-new avenues for them,” she said. “Their confidence was raised. They will never be afraid to stand in front of a group and look people in the eye.”

Said Kroeker: “It’s not so much about drama as it is about establishing an identity for young people who would otherwise find their identity in gang culture.”

Featured players in the softball game include Danica McKellar, who starred in the television show “The Wonder Years,” actor Chad McQueen and Adam Sandler of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” The game will be on the CSUN softball field on Lindley Avenue. Tickets are $5 at the gate, and game time is 4 p.m.