All you need to know about the change in attitude surrounding the Palisades High football program this season can be summed up in a simple phrase, written in bold across the back of the Dolphins’ practice jerseys: “You must love pain to play this game.” Head Coach Kelly Loftus knows respect isn’t gained overnight. He is content to earn it one snap, one play, one yard at a time. To do so, however, takes sacrifice–both on and off the field–and that means playing through pain. “There’s a difference between being sore, being hurt and being injured,” Loftus told his players after Monday afternoon’s practice at Stadium by the Sea. “You’re going to be sore from now until January and there’s times you might have to play hurt–that’s the nature of the sport.” Full pad practice doesn’t start until next week but already there are signs that the Dolphins are not only determined but capable of erasing the memory of last fall’s disappointing 1-9 season. “I think this team has the opportunity to sneak up on some people,” said Larry Wein, Pali’s new offensive coordinator. “Kelly [Loftus] has a good group of kids and he’s assembled a great staff.” One reason for optimism is Palisades’ noticeable improvement on the offensive and defensive lines–where football games are won and lost. “I like the effort I’m seeing both on the field and in the weight room and we should be much better in the trenches,” said Loftus, who is beginning his second year at the helm. “We have more experience and I expect us to be more physical on both sides of the ball.” Senior Bryce Williams, a 6′ 3″, 302 lb. senior offensive tackle, was given the “Gladiator Award” as the top-rated player at a Linemen Inc. camp in Long Beach State earlier this summer while teammate Chris Chucca was rated No. 2. “The expectations are definitely higher,” said Williams, who has dropped 16 pounds since his impressive showing at the Linemen Inc. camp June 21-23. “We’re excited to be in the upper bracket and I think we can beat Venice this year.” Loftus moved Palisades from the City Section’s Invitational Division to the Championship Division and with six straight home games to start the season, making the playoffs seems an attainable goal. “We’re going to be fun to watch,” Loftus predicted. “[Quarterback] Conner Preston has looked terrific so far and he’s going to have five, six, seven good receivers to throw to.” Don’t expect a “sophomore slump” from Preston, who exudes confidence and has taken his game to a new level by working with renowned quarterbacks coach Steve Clarkson. “We want to have a fast-paced, no huddle-style offense,” Preston said. “We have a lot screens, dump-offs and quick-hitting plays. It’s all timing. When I drop back I count one, two, three seconds’ then it’s throw or go.” Palisades plays Washington in a scrimmage on September 4 and opens the season against Hollywood Sept. 12 at Stadium by the Sea.

Last Friday’s USLA National Junior Lifeguard Championships in Manhattan Beach afforded kids from the Will Rogers State Beach team many opportunities to show what they have learned this summer’and they did just that. In the Boys AA Division (ages 16-17), Benjamin Lewenstein took second place in the swim relay (five swimmers, boys and girls); third in Iron guard (Swim-Run-Paddle-Run); fourth in Rescue Race; fifth in Board Race; and seventh in Run-Swim-Run. Jimmy DeMayo took third in Distance Run, fifth in Iron Guard; sixth in Distance Swim and eighth in Run-Swim-Run. Tommy Knapp was ninth in Board Race and Christian Thomas was 10th in Board Race and fifth in Flags. In the AA Girls Will Rogers’ Ana Silka was fifth in Board Race and seventh in Distance Swim. Emily Newman was sixth in Board Race. The A Boys (ages 14-15) were led by Holden Miller, who was fifth in Flags, while the A Girls were paced by Mara Silka, who was sixth in Board Race and 10th in Run-Swim-Run and Tessa Chandler and Marja Ziata, who were fifth and seventh, respectively, in Distance Run. In Division C Boys, Johhny Hooper won the swim relay, was second in Rescue Relay and third in Paddle. For the girls, Tiana Marsh was second in Distance, sixth in Paddle, fifth in the Swim Relay and fourth in the Rescue Relay. Paul Revere student Tristan Marsh paced the B Boys, finishing second in the Distance Swim, Rescue Relay and Swim Relay while Wes Gallie placed fourth in Flags, third in Distance and sixth in Iron Guard and Swim Relay. Matthew Hammer was fifth in Distance Swim and fourth in Run-Swim-Run. For the girls, Natalie Stiles was fifth in the Distance Swim and second in the Rescue Relay and Swim Relay.

Ali Riley found herself in a peculiar predicament on Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics–having to play against the country in which she lives. Pacific Palisades’ homegrown talent is a starting winger on the New Zealand women’s national soccer team, which had to beat the United States in order to have a chance of advancing out of pool play. The United States scored early on its way to a 4-0 victory, thus eliminating Riley and her proud Ferns, playing in the Olympics for the first time. New Zealand tied Japan, 2-2, in its first game last Wednesday, thanks to two assists by Riley, and suffered a 1-0 loss to Norway on Saturday. That put New Zealand in a must-win situation in Group G, with one game left. The Americans advanced to play Canada, the third-place finisher in Group E. Riley, a junior at Stanford University, is a multiple Palisadian-Post Athlete of the Year winner and a regular participant in the Palisades-Will Rogers July 4 race. Riley was named New Zealand’s International Women’s Player of the Year and the Nike International Young Women’s Player of the Year in 2006.

Every aspiring young tennis player dreams of one day playing at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open. On July 31, however, over 100 kids got to experience the next best thrill–hitting with tennis greats Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf at the Yahoo! Center in Santa Monica. The clinic was sponsored by Eaturna, a new healthy grab-and-go food line, and several Pacific Palisades players were among those who spent an hour on court with two of the sport’s most recognizable superstars. The couple’s message was simple: in the game of life, what you eat is just as important as how well you hit a forehand. “Of course we love the game of tennis but we also love kids because they are our future,” Agassi said. “The most important things you can do to stay fit are diet and exercise.” Among the local kids who traded groundstrokes with the pros were Nick Itkian, an 8-year-old who trains at the PTC, 15-year-old Palisades High student Shadi Amirieh and Highlands 12-year-olds Thomas and Elizabeth Ryan, both of whom play at the Palisades Tennis Center. “I use to watch Andre a lot on TV so to be able to play with him is cool,” David said. “I just remember Steffi being very good.” Agassi and Graf have combined to win 30 Grand Slam singles titles in their Hall of Fame careers. They married in 2001 and have two children, son Jayden Gil and daughter Jaz Elle.

For the second year in a row, Riviera Tennis Club hosted the USTA Combined Age National Hardcourt Husband & Wife Championships last Wednesday through Sunday and several local duos participated in one of three age divisions: 100, 120 and 140. Pacific Palisades pairs Claudia Kahn and Anthony Foux, Mani and Noushin Morshed, Sue and Bob Blakely and Dede and Jerry Swartz played, along with Barbara and John Leonard, who won bronze balls in the 140 age division. The Leonards are Riviera members and longtime Palisadians. Barbara plays in the Westside Ladies League, having just captained Riviera to the A-1 Division title. Sybil and John Totten of Studio City won the 140 division while their son and daughter-in-law won the consolation draw in the 100s. Hilary Hilton Marold and her husband Charlie played two divisions, winning the 120. Hilton grew up in the Palisades, playing tennis at Riviera and paddle Tennis at the Beach Club. The Marolds, who now live in Corpus Christi, Texas, came into the tournament unseeded. In the combined 100 age group, Ann and Andrew Stanley of Lake Sherwood took the gold, Hilton and Marold won the silver and Sue & Todd Sprague of San Diego took the bronze.

The Palisades Tennis Center hosted a USTA-sanctioned novice and satellite tournaments last week and is hosting an Open level event this week at the public courts off Alma Real. The tournaments have attracted players from as far away as Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Florida, Virginia and New York, but it was the local players who dominated the draws. In the boys 10-and-under satellites, Corpus Christi student Christian Gambale stole the show, winning three three-set matches (including five tiebreakers) to reach the finals. PTC’s own Charlie Hollingsworth won the boys 12s Novice division with wins over Palisadian Schuyler Dietz and Kian Rahimnejad of Los Angeles along the way. Nine-year-old Palisadian Lucas Bellamy won the boys 12-and-under satellite, taking out Ethan Drapac of Tarzana, top-seeded Elliot Miller of Newhall in straight sets and Jonah Anderson of Beverly Hills, 7-6, in a third-set tiebreaker. In the girls 14-and-under satellites, it was an all-PTC final with Elizabeth Ryan upsetting top-seeded Perri Zarat to win the division. Ryan eliminated Chloe Wright of Santa Monica, Sumayyah Shabazz and No. 2-seeded Gabriella Chung of Culver City on her way to the final. This week’s Open division, which concludes Friday, started with nearly 200 players. Among those entered is rising PTC junior Brandon Michaels, an 11-year-old from Corpus Christi School, who won two matches in the boys 12s division of the Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas, last week. ‘Last [Sunday] was all about the pros,’ PTC founder Steve Bellamy said, referring to the inaugural Shotgun 21 unisex tournament August 9 at the PTC. ‘Last week and this week, though, are about the juniors and there’s been some great tennis out here. Our own players are proving they can hold their own against anyone.’ Meanwhile, at the boys 14s nationals in Sacramento, PTC pals Alex Giannini, Robbie Bellamy and Joshua Kameel were three of the four semifinalists. Two other PTC teammates, Cristobal Rivera and Alexander Solonin, also made the quarterfinals. Brandon Clarke won four rounds while fellow PTC player Blake Anthony won two. Kameel reached the finals, beating players from Fort Lauderdale, Sacramento and Santa Barbara on his way there. Robbie Bellamy won six matches and Giannini won five. Those two also teamed up to make the semifinals in doubles, ousting duos from Orlando, Sacramento and Sunnyvale by scores of 8-2, 8-5 and 8-3. In the semifinals, the PTC pair had match point before falling to top-seeded Justin Chan and Maksym Tavetkov of Walnut Creek, 9-7.