WORDS from the WISE

Sure, they’ve come a long way. The inception of two pro basketball leagues in the past year and a greater awareness of Title IX’s gender-equity provisions point to the gains women are making in athletics.

But preparing women to take advantage of opportunities hasn’t always come easy.

Lynn Bartosh recalls the apprehension she felt coming out of Ventura High in 1976 and embarking on a college basketball career at UCLA.

“It was an eye-opener,” she said. “The training program was really different from anything we did in high school. The maturity level was a lot higher. I was afraid. I didn’t know how much to speak up, or what to say.

“I think if I had some transition, or someone had been there to tell me the ropes, it would have helped a lot.”

This summer Bartosh is using her experience as a major-college athlete and her expertise as an exercise physiologist to help smooth the transition for a handful of players from the Ventura College women’s basketball team, winner of the last two state titles.

As part of a team of experts assembled by Diane Loring, president of Women Involved in Sports Evolution, Bartosh has helped design an exercise program intended to make it possible for the athletes to reach their optimum level of performance before making the jump to four-year colleges.

Asked about her methods, Bartosh flashes a sly smile.

“For these girls?” she said. “Torture.”

Seated nearby are two of her guinea pigs, Kara Newman and Rebecca Zuniga, who react with nods and knowing grins. For the past month, the pair and a few teammates from last season’s 36-1 Ventura College squad have participated in myriad activities as hand-picked subjects of WISE’s pilot training program.

Although still in its infancy, WISE hopes to improve the development and expansion of women’s sports at the college level, raise funds for athletic scholarships and try to get media attention focused on women’s sports.

Using facilities at the Pierpont Racquet Club in Ventura, the athletes involved in the pilot program have been exposed to everything from weight training to yoga to sports psychology.

Newman, who played point guard for the Pirates, says the advanced training methods far surpass what she would have done on her own this summer and will make it easier for her to adapt when she reports to her new school, Northern Arizona, in August.

“I think it’s wonderful because [the WISE program] attacks all areas of sports training,” said Newman, a Buena High graduate. “They really challenge you to become a well-rounded athlete, rather than just focusing on going out and shooting a basketball every day.”

Newman still shoots around every day, in addition to playing basketball twice a week at Ventura College, but she says the gains she has made in the WISE program will pay the biggest dividends on the court.

“A big focus for me in my training was flexibility,” she said. “I’ve always had really tight hamstrings. [Because of the WISE program] I can tell my sprinting and running have improved. I can take bigger strides because I’m more flexible.”

Loring, a massage therapist who operates her own spa, originally had intended to start the training program next year. But she decided to get things started in June after talking with Zuniga, whose Ventura team was honored by WISE at a dinner in April.

In her conversation with Loring, Zuniga expressed some nervousness about undertaking a weight-training program this summer to prepare for her junior season at Cal Lutheran.

“I didn’t know how to start,” Zuniga said.

Loring did. She began assembling a support group of working professionals from the health, wellness and athletic fields. Those donating their time to help WISE launch its pilot program include Bartosh, who has a master’s degree in exercise physiology from San Diego State; Ann Hall, a certified personal trainer and champion body builder; Julia Lendl-Celotto, a professional beach volleyball player and former standout athlete at USC and Royal High; and Dr. Jennifer Lendl, a sports psychologist and Julia’s sister.

Zuniga was brought in and given a fitness assessment before beginning a daily regimen. She has been the most committed of those participating in the focus group, which also includes USC recruit Adria Sneed, Weber State-bound Brianna Kanongata’a and Keyana Stanford, a returning Ventura player.

Especially helpful, Zuniga says, was working with a sports psychologist, Lendl, for the first time.

“I realized I had a lot of negativity toward my old program,” said Zuniga, who played behind Newman as Ventura’s backup point guard. “I had no idea I had all these feelings that I needed to clear up before I go on to a new coach and a new experience.”

With renewed confidence and a more positive outlook, Zuniga feels she can accomplish her goals at Cal Lutheran and compete for a starting spot on the basketball team. Her ultimate goal is to return to Ventura College and teach English.

Lendl-Celotto says the WISE program is the main reason she is moving back to the area. After growing up in Simi Valley and attending USC, Lendl-Celotto settled in Eureka and established a successful business, the Humboldt Brewing Co., with her husband, former USC and pro football player Mario Celotto.

Now going through a divorce, Lendl-Celotto plans to return to Simi Valley with her two young sons and contribute to the WISE program by teaching women about business and breaking down barriers in athletics.

“I’ve gone through how women are supposed to be submissive and belong in the bedroom and the kitchen, and I’ve always fought against that,” she said. “I want the girls to understand that it’s OK to do what they’re doing, and even more than that, that they belong there.”

Darby Holmes definitely feels she belongs. Already 6 feet tall at age 14, Holmes is a promising volleyball player who hopes by participating in the WISE program she can develop into a college-caliber player at El Molino High, a girls’ volleyball power in the Northern California city of Forestville.

Holmes is the first paying client of the WISE program. She is also the niece of Loring, 45, the program’s founder. But unlike her aunt, a 6-footer who had few athletic options in high school, Holmes and her family see only opportunities laid before them.

“The most exciting thing for my daughter is that she is tall and is celebrated in her height,” said Susan Holmes, Loring’s sister. “In volleyball, being tall is really a wonderful thing. I grew up in an era when being tall [for a girl] was really difficult.”

Darby recently showed her mom that being tall doesn’t carry the same stigma among today’s young women.

“She came home the other day and said, ‘Mom, I’ve got to grow. I’ve got to be taller,’ ” Susan Holmes said. “I just love it.”

With more money and resources, Loring hopes WISE can grow.

“We’d love to have WISE go national,” Loring said. “We’re going to try to implement the program wherever we can.”