Court of Appeal

For years, she spent her weekends hovering near the basketball courts at neighborhood parks, trying to slide into groups of burly young men playing pickup games. Mostly they let her play--she had good moves, a decent shot, and she didn’t seem to mind being the lone woman on the court.

But today, when Carmit Weissman dons her basketball jersey and takes to the floor, she won’t be surrounded by men. She’ll be playing, instead, in an all-star game pitting the Valley’s two fledgling women’s basketball leagues--the Mason Park Moms and the North Weddington Lady All Stars--against each other in a game that reflects the rising popularity of women’s basketball.

The success last summer of the Olympic Dream Team, the prominence of female hoop stars like Lisa Leslie and the advent of two women’s professional leagues this year, have combined to make basketball more popular among women than ever before.

But there are still few places to play for women who want to take up the game of basketball, or for those who have moved beyond high school and college ball, but are not quite ready for the pros.

Only two of the more than 30 city recreation centers in the San Fernando Valley offer women’s basketball programs, city officials said. Chatsworth’s Mason Recreation Center fields three teams in its Moms’ League, which wraps up its second season on Sunday. And six teams play each weekend in the 4-month-old league at North Weddington Recreation Center in North Hollywood.

“We were pleased, but not really surprised, by the turnout,” said Mireya Coronado, a former basketball player at Van Nuys High and Pierce College who helped organize the North Hollywood league and runs it with park recreation assistant Luis Castillo.

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The gym had been hosting open play for women on Sunday afternoons, Coronado said, “and when so many began showing up that there wasn’t time for all of them to get in a game, we knew the interest was out there.”

Angel Hardy was one of the Sunday afternoon regulars. A standout on the UCLA women’s basketball team from 1981-85, Hardy now coaches high school boys at North Hollywood’s Oakwood Secondary School during the week and spends her weekends playing at North Weddington.

“I was a little reluctant to play at first,” said Hardy, 34. “I’m pretty competitive and I was afraid those competitive urges would take over and I’d get all caught up in winning and losing.”

But instead she found herself caught up in an overriding sense of camaraderie and team spirit. “Everybody’s there to compete and have fun,” she said. “There’s no big power struggles. . .The teams are well-balanced, the games are close. It’s really been a great chance to come out once a week, play a game you love and have fun.”

The players come from as far away as San Pedro, Pasadena and Malibu, said recreation center director Louise Capone. Many were drawn by an advertisement Capone ran on the city’s public access cable television channel last fall.

Although there are a handful of other women’s leagues around the Los Angeles area, “It’s clear,” she said, “there are not enough. Women are hungry for something like this.”

Today’s game at North Weddington between the two all-star teams is an effort to highlight women’s sports, Capone said, and to encourage more Valley recreation centers to sponsor their own leagues.

But the two teams also illustrate the forces that are combining to boost the popularity of basketball among women.

One team is composed mostly of women who played in high school and college, and are not willing to give up the sport of their youth. “Our average age is about 27 to 29, and most of them take their basketball pretty seriously,” said North Weddington’s Coronado.

The Mason Park league is made up primarily of mothers, drawn into the game by watching their young daughters play. Many are in their late 30s and early 40s, and have children playing on one of the more than 60 teams in Mason Park’s junior basketball leagues. Many had never played basketball before forming the women’s league last spring.

“In a way, this is something we can thank our kids for,” said Kris Tacsik, who helped organize the Moms’ League and plays on one of its three teams. “For us, it’s a great way to get exercise and to let our competitive side come out, in an arena where you’re allowed to be. Most of us didn’t have that chance when we were young.”

And for women in both leagues, there is something special about playing the game with other women.

“With the guys, it’s a lot of fast breaks and running down the court. Everybody tries to be a hero,” said Weissman, who last played on a women’s team eight years ago at Beverly Hills High. “I got tired of pickup games where I was the only girl.”

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Like Weissman, Studio City screenwriter Gina Prince wound up playing with men after she graduated from UCLA and found few outlets for her energy and skills.

“There’s really nothing for women like me, who can’t stand the Stairmaster,” she said. “Basketball has always been my favorite sport, but it wasn’t much fun always playing with guys who were bigger than me.”

For her, the women’s games are a return to glory, and to the pure and simple fun of the game.

“Once you get in the flow, it’s like you’re back in high school, with all the people cheering for you,” said Prince, 27.

“And while it’s very, very competitive out there, it’s not so mean, so rough, as with the men. If you knock someone down, you’re going to reach down and help them up. There’s not a lot of trash talking. . .not a lot of hard fouls.

“And oh yeah . . . no ‘shirts’ and ‘skins.’ ”