The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 602

LOS ANGELES TIMES SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1991 C15 SOUTH BAY SPORTS POPKO Popko Says He Will Return to Coaching Next Season Answering a plea for help, Cortes recently signed a free-agent contract with the Reno Silver Sox, an independent team in the California League. The Silver Sox have been desperate for players, having already used 52, four short of the league record set by the San Jose Bees in 1987. Reno either has lost players to injuries or had their contracts bought by major-league affiliated teams. Enter Cortes. Nicknamed Rico, because he was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Cortes was released by the New York Mets double-A affiliate in Williamsport, Penn.

Cortes had a .214 batting average in 21 games with the Bills. Cortes, a left-handed hitting first baseman, originally signed with Detroit after his junior year at San Francisco State, but had his contract voided because the Tigers claimed he had a pre-existing hand injury. The Yankees signed him the following winter and Cortes played three years in the organization. Last season he batted .303 for Fort Lauderdale in the Florida State League, but was released by the Yankees. MINORS Continued from C14 and went one for four.

Clayton is waiting San Francisco Giant President Al Rosen continues to be pressured to promote Clayton from the organization's double-A team in Shreve-port, La. Even opposing general managers are expressing their views. "I've had general managers from other clubs tell me to just put him out there and forget about him, but I don't want to take a chance that he'll lose his confidence," Rosen said. Going independent You knew him as Hernan Cortes at Leuzinger High and El Camino College. But now Cortes is going by his nickname Rico and also has changed his address.

After being released for the third time in his four-year professional career, Cortes has started back in Class A. Popko said one of the reasons he decided to return to coaching is because he has a good working relationship with Inglewood Principal Ken Crowe and the school's new athletic director, Rick Amadio. In 1985, Popko's last year as coach, Inglewood finished second in the Bay League to a strong North Torrance team led by CIF Player of the Year Lawrence Horn. The Sentinels have struggled since then, finishing no higher than fourth place in league play. Popko replaces Carl Wilson, who coached Inglewood for the past three years.

The Sentinels have not won a league title since 1977. "It's not going to be easy," Popko said. "You can't build a winning team overnight, but there are a lot of good athletes in the school. Maybe I can get some of them out for volleyball." -ROB FERNAS Gene Popko, one of the founding fathers of interscho-lastic volleyball and the former Inglewood High coach, says he will return next season as coach of the Inglewood boys' team. Popko, entering his 28th year at Inglewood, started the school's volleyball club in 1969 and helped coach the team through the 1985 season.

He resigned as coach because of conflicts with former principal Lawrence Freeman. "I like the man, personally," Popko said of Freeman. "But he didn't know how to get along with people. I couldn't work for him. I was ready to quit the year he got there.

I coached one year for him." The following year, when problems with Freeman continued, Popko turned over the Inglewood Invitational tournament, which he started in 1971, to Mira Costa and Redondo. It has been known as the Mira Costa-Redondo Varsity Classic since 1986. ment over to Mira Costa and Redondo the following school year. "I called Mira Costa Coach Mike Cook and said, 'It's Popko said. "Then I went in my office and cried." The player was Bergman, one of the leading beach players of his era.

He won the Manhattan Beach Open in 1968 with Larry Rundle and again in 1970 with the legendary Ron Von Hagan. After graduating from Santa Barbara in 1963, Popko moved back to the South Bay and settled in Manhattan Beach. He began his teaching and coaching career at Inglewood he coached the Sentinel track team in 1965-66 and spent much of his free time playing volleyball. After moving to Playa del Rey in 1969, Popko got the idea to start his own beach tournaments in a new classification, novice. Before then, all beach tournaments were contested with players who had AAA, AA, A or ratings.

"I needed money," he said. "I put flyers out and nailed them up and down the beach. I charged $5 a team, which was a dollar more than most of the other tournaments. "My idea was to give people who weren't accomplished players a chance to enter a tournament without getting blown out. My whole thing was you couldn't be rated and play in this tournament.

We got 64 teams the first year. The next year, Playa del Rey let me have three tournaments. I packed them all and it really started to pick up." Popko said one of the attractions of his tournaments was that he solicited prizes from local businesses to give to the winners of his tournaments. Often times, he said, his prizes exceeded those given winners of prestigious beach tournaments. As an example, Popko brought up John Menges, who won one of the first novice tournaments.

Menges' younger brother, Jim, was one of great beach players and a five-time winner of the Manhattan Beach Open. "John, an unrated player, won four dinners at leading restaurants in town and other stuff," Popko said. "Jim won the Manhattan Beach Open and all he got was a trophy and a handshake." Popko's tournaments were popular years ago with older players for another reason the beer flowed from sunup to sundown. "They could go out there and play, drink all day and throw up on the court," Field said. "Then they'd come back the next day and do it all over again." Popko still runs beach tournaments in Playa del Rey, where last year he expanded the number of permanent volleyball courts to 21, one more than in Manhattan Beach.

"I wanted to have the most permanent beach courts in one location," he said. "Manhattan used to have the most." The number of courts, though, pale in comparison to the number of players Popko has come in contact with over the years. It was something he had taken for granted until he watched the U.S. men's volleyball team, led by Kiraly and featuring several other Southern Californians, win the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. "It was my greatest joy," he said.

"and when that happens, we can expect a lot of governmental agencies" to try to regulate the sport, said Ricco Nel, founder of the American Bungee Assn. and president of California Bungee. To preclude this possibility, at least two fledgling groups have plunged into the business of protecting, organizing, setting standards, promoting and regulating the sport: Nel's ABA in Huntington Beach and the Washington-based IABE. Neither considers the other a rival. Aside from balloons, there are other legal and quasi-legal ways for bungee jumpers to satisfy their needs.

Towers and cranes, which aren't under FAA jurisdiction or at the mercy of the wind like hot-air balloons, are increasing in popularity. Cowabungee, operating in the Antelope Valley, just acquired a 30-ton crane, which hoists jumpers on a platform to a height of 212 feet. California Bungee is planning to open a crane and balloon operation at a yet-to-determined site in L.A. BUNGEE Continued from C14 actual bungee-jumping equipment, pleasing the sport's activists. "We don't want the FAA to regulate us because we can do it within the sport," said Nancy Frase, chairwoman of the International Assn.

of Bungee Enthusiasts. The new policy, she said, "is extremely fair and extremely lenient." By encouraging balloonists to certify their craft, the FAA will be keeping tighter reins on safety. "The standards for a decommissioned balloon are a lot less rigorous," Frase says. She urged participants to look before they leap and check to see if the balloon being used is FAA-certified. Bungee jumping, say its advocates, is safer than sky diving and other risky sports.

No one in the United States has been killed, nor have any serious injuries been reported. But with the anticipated rise in the sport's popularity because of the FAA's new position, it may only be a matter of time before somebody is hurt or killed, SOUTH BAY CALENDAR OF EVENTS TODAY: Continued from C14 Inglewood's practices averaged three hours a night, and it wasn't long before other coaches recognized the success of Field's methods. A volleyball clinic conducted by Field and Popko at Inglewood in 1970 drew 50 coaches and more than 200 players. Still, it took time for Inglewood to catch up with the more experienced programs at beach schools. The 1971 club season was highlighted by Palisades sending two teams to the inaugural Inglewood Invitational tournament, billed by Popko as the "national championship" of high school volleyball.

Palisades took first and second. After the 1970-71 school year, Field and Popko decided the time was right to try and organize a league. The way Popko remembers it, the idea was first tossed around while he and Field were playing volleyball at Manhattan Beach. "We were having a beer down at the beach at Rosecrans Avenue, and Pete basically said to me, 'Let's form this thing. I like your kids, I like working with them.

Let's get some competition for Popko sent letters to other schools, and the response was more than he had hoped for. "All I wanted was to get a league of gix teams," he said. "When the replies came back, I couldn't believe it. The big thing was that people in Orange County started to show interest. What that did was open everything up.

We didn't expect to have it that far down. We just expected to have a little neighborhood thing." The first Southern California High School Volleyball Assn. was composed of 12 schools encompassing an area that stretched from Palisades in the north to Laguna Beach in the south. Competition began in the spring of 1972. The other original members were Santa Monica, University of West L.A., Loyola, Aviation, Serra, Mira Costa, Torrance, Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Inglewood.

Mike Cook, who has coached the powerful Mira Costa boys' volleyball program since 1980, was a teacher at Serra when he was contacted by Popko. Cook's main involvement in volleyball at the time was as a director of beach tournaments at Marine Street in Manhattan Beach. "I got a call from Gene Popko, and that's the way we got the whole thing off the ground," Cook said. "He got a hold of me and a few other teachers in the area that knew about volleyball. The first meeting was at Gene's house on the beach in Playa del Rey." Other coaches who headed fledgling South Bay programs were Mike Maurry at Aviation, Duane Williamson at Mira Costa and Bob Williams at Torrance.

The association's first season ended with Mira Costa defeating Palisades in the second annual Inglewood Invitational. Mira Costa's Ted Dodd, the older brother of beach volleyball standout Mike Dodd, and Inglewood's Steve Barrett were named tournament co-MVPs. Both later played for Pep-perdine. "The first volleyball scholarships came out of our association," Popko said. "That's something I'm really proud of." With the interest in volleyball growing by leaps and bounds, the association expanded to 40 teams and five leagues in 1973.

At that point, it was apparent the next logical step for boys' volleyball wbuld be to obtain sanctioning from the CIF-Southern Section. "There were so many teams that wknted to play," said Cook, who cdached Serra from 1972 to '79 and guided the Cavaliers to four consecutive league titles from 1974 to 77. "It got too big for Gene to run out of Inglewood High." lAfter the association's second season ended in 1973, Popko, who hd been corresponding with Southern Section Commissioner Ken Fagans, met with the CIF executive committee to discuss the possibility of boys' volleyball becoming a sanctioned sport. 'Accompanied by Cook, Popko wfis nervous as he began to address a room full of high school administrators. j'T was shaking," he said.

"I came in there with piles of paper and handed them out to the principals. I started talking and some guy got up and said, 'Why do we have to listen to this? We have more important business to do than listen to this young guy talk about volleyball. At that point, Popko thought he had been shot down. "Then the guy says, 'Let's have a vote now and get this thing over Without me saying a word, he goes, 'Who doesn't like volley raise your hand. OK, who wants Everybody raised their hands.

Just like that, it is a sport." Now competing under the aus-pi 2es of the Southern Section, boys' volleyball grew to 75 teams com-pt iting in 13 leagues in 1974. And, appropriately enough, Inglewood enjoyed its best season that year. Led by Brent Peterson and Wally Transowski, the Senti- nels won their own tournament for the first and only time beating Palisades in the final and were runners -up to Santa Monica for the first Southern Section title. Just as quickly as it had started, however, the golden era of volleyball at Inglewood High ended. The mid-70s were a time of racial upheaval for the city, as whites moved out and were replaced by a black majority.

One of the biggest casualties of "white flight" was Popko's volleyball program. It nearly wiped out his team in 1975. "We had a great team coming back of all sophomores and juniors," Popko recalled. "The junior varsity players were league champs and they were all big. It was the biggest team I ever had.

Out of 16 guys, I only had one kid come back." Inglewood suffered through a dismal season that year, but it wasn't long before Popko had the Sentinels in contention again. Field had since moved on, becoming the men's and women's volleyball coach at Loyola Marymount. Although Inglewood never again experienced the success it did in the early 1970s, the Sentinels were competitive with an ethnically diverse unit. "The team used to call themselves the mixed nuts," Popko said. "We had blacks, whites, Latinos, everything.

I used to call us the best black team in the nation, and we were. We might have one white kid or one Samoan, but mostly the teams were black." Inglewood won its last league volleyball title in 1977. Popko, as he had with Field, usually got a walk-on coach with a strong background in volleyball to work di- rectly with the team, such as former Westchester High standout Phil Stutzel. Through it all, though, Popko continued to run the Inglewood Invitational Tournament, which annually drew many of the top teams and players in Southern California. Some of the more well-known players who won the tournament's MVP award were Mike Dodd of Mira Costa in 1975, Westchester star Hovland in 1976, Palisades' Stoklos in 1978 and Rudy Dvorak of Laguna Beach in 1982.

The tournament was renamed the Gene Popko Inglewood Invitational in 1984, but survived only one more season. After a series of conflicts with former Inglewood Principal Lawrence Freeman, Popko resigned as coach after the 1985 season and turned his tourna LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT District 36 All-Star tournament. Games beginning at 15 p.m. at Howlett Park, 25851 Hawthorne Blvd, Rolling Hills Estates. WEDNESDAY: LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT District 36 All-Star Tournament.

Games beginning at 5:15 p.m. at Howlett Park, 25851 Hawthorne Blvd, Rolling Hills Estates. FRIDAY: LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT-Dis- trict 36 All-Star tournament. Games beginning at 5: 1 5 p.m. at Howlett Park, 25851 Hawthorne Blvd, Rolling Hills Estates.

SATURDAY: LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT District 36 All-Star tournament. Games beginning at 1 p.m. at Howlett Park, 25851 Hawthorne Blvd, Rolling Hills Estates. SEMI-PRO BASEBALL South Bay Cubs vs. Athletics at Cal Stale Dominguez Hills, 10 a.m.

COLLEGE BASEBALL California Seals vs. Ontario Brewers at John Glavin Park in Ontario, noon. AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL (All games at 1 1 a.m. unless noted.) North Torrance at Banning; Peninsula 01 at Torrance; West Torrance at Peninsula Carson at Hawthorne; South Torrance at Nar-bonne; Bishop Montgomery at El Segundo Golds, 7:30 p.m. MONDAY: LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT District 36 All-Star tournament.

Games beginning at 5: 1 5 p.m. at Hewlett Park, 25851 Hawthorne Blvd, Rolling Hills Estates. TUESDAY: TRACK MEET All-comers track meet at LA. Southwest College, 1600 W. Imperial Highway.

Youth at 5 p.m. and open competition at 6 p.m. A Los Angeles native, Popko grew up a few blocks from Morn-ingside High in Inglewood. But because his family had an L.A. address, he attended Washington High, where he was a two-year varsity letterman in cross-country, basketball and track.

His first exposure to volleyball came as a freshman at El Camino College. Cut from the basketball team by former Coach George Stanich, the 5-foot-9 Popko planned to run track in the spring. That is, until he grew interested in the informal volleyball matches played on El Camino's outdoor courts. "I used to go out there and watch them pump the volleyball around while I ate my lunch," Popko said. "I'd go out there every day." One day, one of the players invited him to join in.

That was all it took. "After that, volleyball became my whole life," Popko said. "I just liked it." By his last year at El Camino, he had improved enough as a player to place second in a two-man intramural tournament. Ankle injuries forced Popko to give up his dream of playing basketball for UC Santa Barbara, but again volleyball was there to fill the void. Through his involvement in the school's intramural program, he opened the UC Santa Barbara gym two nights a week for volleyball.

"I was known as the coach at Santa Barbara, which didn't have a team back then," Popko said. "I helped people out. There were plenty of people better than me, but I tried to teach the ones who didn't know how to play." One of the players Popko took under his wing was Henry Bergman, a student at Santa Barbara High who used to ride his bicycle to the university to play volleyball. Years later, Popko was watching a match in the Manhattan Beach Open when he thought he recognized one of the players. "I knew I had seen him before," Popko said.

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