OCEANSIDE - When El Camino High School athletic director Trace Deneke heard a statistic that more young football players ended up in trouble than athletes in other sports, he decided to start a mentoring program to help his players stay on track.

Now, as the first semester of the program nears completion, Deneke - who is also the school's head football coach - said he's pleased with the results he has seen among the school's freshman players.

"It really exceeded the expectations, both with (grades) and behavior," he said.

The combined grade point average of the 66 students on the school's freshman football team has gone up - from 2.5 last year to 2.7 this year - and so far, none of those students have had any discipline issues, he said.

Because of the success, Deneke said he hopes to continue the program, which groups the freshman football team into first-period health classes. All students must pass the course before graduating, but by having the team together, the teachers are able to help them stay focused on their schoolwork and adjust to high school life.

The teachers also work to motivate the students and keep an eye on their grades, Deneke said.

"We are really diligent in trying to bust up the stereotype of the dumb athlete," he said.

Jacob Gard, a freshman football player in the program, said the individualized attention has helped him stay out of trouble and focus more on his grades.

Gard's classmate, Ryan Ena, said he has become more responsible and organized since starting the class.

"It's not only teaching us about health, it's teaching us how to be better men," he said.

A vital strategy for the program was to have the class first thing in the morning, Deneke said. That way, the teachers can make sure the students are there on time and well fed.

The athletic department makes food available to the students prior to class in case they didn't get a breakfast before school.

"We buy enormous amounts of peanut butter, jam, bread and bananas," Deneke said. "It costs a bazillion bucks, and it's worth every penny."

Being on time and having something in their stomach helps prepare the students for classes throughout the day, said Sean Helgesen, the freshman team football coach who teaches one of the classes.

"It just kind of gets them starting off each day on the right foot," he said.

Though the curriculum of the class is strictly based on physical education, Helgesen said the mentoring aspect comes in with lessons about organizational skills and the value of picking the right friends.

"I just stress paying attention to who you're hanging out with," he said.

Deneke said he hopes the program will help keep students out of gangs, though the class doesn't focus specifically on gang issues.

"The idea was, 'Let's create a mentoring program and try to catch this early at the ninth-grade level to use as gang intervention,' " he said.

- Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.