Youths Steer Straight With PRIDE, Kayaks : Santa Ana Program Builds Esteem and Skills Through Recreation

David Eucevio was soaking wet after an hourlong kayaking workout, and his slender, 11-year-old body was covered in goose pimples brought on by a chilly wind whipping through Newport Bay.

Did he want a sweat shirt? “No,” he said. Did he want to join his friends rowing back to shore? “No.” He shook his head.

At the risk of freezing, David wanted to get back in the water and paddle a few extra laps before he had to go home.

David and his seven or eight friends, who attend Santa Ana intermediate schools, trek to Newport Beach by van twice a week to perfect their abilities at a sport they once thought they’d never do: kayaking.

The youths come from neighborhoods where they’re exposed to gangs, so they have been recruited to join a Santa Ana after-school program called Project PRIDE, or Parks and Recreation Inspire Dignity and Esteem. The project encourages them to stay in school and away from gangs.

Free kayaking sessions for the youths started in July.

“This is their first exposure to anything like this,” said Lucy Santana, 25, one of the program’s coordinators.

Youths gain role models through the program, and they can channel their competitiveness and energy into sports instead of gangs, said Santana, who grew up in Santa Ana.

The participants can also hone their balance, test their reflexes and meet other teen-agers from across the county in occasional weekend competitions on the placid waters at Newport.

On a recent afternoon, several staffers from PRIDE and the Newport Aquatic Center boarded a motorized launch to follow the kids who paddled from the center--located between Upper and Lower Newport bays--southwest to the Coast Highway bridge for a warm-up.

Francisco (Paco) Morales, 20, stood on the side of the speeding launch to watch the youths rowing near him. He noticed Maribel Pineda’s shiny, white kayak was constantly tilting to her left, so he cupped his mouth to yell: “Maribel! Move over.”

She flipped her short black hair and shot Morales a glare, but scooted a few inches to balance her craft.

“That’s it, get angry!” Morales said in Spanish, teasing 12-year-old Maribel for pouting. Maribel, a Willard Intermediate student, tried to hide a smile and picked up speed, cruising by the two-story pink stucco homes and palm trees that overlook the water.

Sam Couch, a Newport Beach athlete who trains at the aquatic center, volunteers on Mondays and Wednesdays to put the youths through repeated minute-long sprints on the water. They pump the oars quickly, stopping only for breath before heading off again.

“Catch and glide! Catch and glide!” Couch urged as he skippered the launch beside them.

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Kayaking isn’t just about playing, noted 26-year-old Gus Garcia of Santa Ana, who encouraged the youths as he cut across the murky water on a surf-ski.

“It’s not all fun all the time,” Garcia said. “It’s about being responsible for going up and washing the boats afterward--they know it’s all part of their fun time.”

When the youths fall out of the kayaks, water enters the boats. There’s no choice but to swim and drag them back to shore to empty them out.

“They get frustrated when they fall,” but it builds discipline and motivates them to avoid falling the next time, Garcia said.

Morales, a part-time second-grade teacher at James M. Guinn Elementary School in Anaheim, said he likes to mentor the youths. Occasionally, he playfully teases them. When Morales encouraged Jose Jimenez, 13, to stand up in his canoe and lift his oar above his head, Jose tumbled into the water with a splash.

“Paco! Look what you made me do,” Jose gurgled.

Morales laughed: “He always says that.”

Because Jose has mastered the kayak, he’s now trying his hand at the canoe--a more difficult craft that demands strength and balance. “Jose would tip over the canoe for weeks when he just started,” Morales said. But through persistence, he got over the hard part, he said.

“I won first place in my race last weekend” among junior canoe paddlers, Jose said. “I’m the only one that can do this.”

Although David is the smallest of the group in stature, he’s the biggest competitor and is trying to catch up to Jose’s skill level so he can paddle a canoe too. He’s only 11, but he tells people he’s 12 because he wants to seem older and better. “I want to beat that guy,” David said, pointing to another kayaker.

During a recent race at Newport, David didn’t stop when he passed the finish line--he kept going until he reached the Coast Highway bridge. That earned his older friends’ respect.

“He always wants to do more than anybody,” Morales said. “When he learns something, he wants to learn more.”