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Message from the Principal
On behalf of the entire coaching staff and athletic department I want
to welcome you to Santa Barbara High School and our 2008 football season.
For over 130 years Santa Barbara High School has enjoyed a rich tradition
and history as one of the most formidable athletic programs in the
state. It is with pride that I invite you to become part of our great
heritage and family.
For 2008-09 we anticipate each athletic program will bring new elements
of excitement and enthusiasm from our dynamic and energetic coaching
staff to our athletes who represent our school and community. The
spirit of Santa Barbara will once again be part of the driving force
by which our athletic teams prepare and perform on our athletic fields,
within the walls of our historic gymnasium, and through one of the
finest aquatics programs in the area. Our athletes know and believe
they are part of something very special.
In every athletic program our athletes symbolize the great and wonderful
tradition of what it means to be a Santa Barbara Don. They are recognized
for their scholastic achievements and truly epitomize the meaning
of student athletes; many of whom continue to post-secondary schools
prepared to meet every academic and athletic challenge. With continued
support from our instructional staff, parents, ASB, and our community,
Santa Barbara athletics will carry on the convictions and tradition
that can only lead to greatness.
Go Dons!
Mark Capritto, Ed.D.
Principal
Santa Barbara High School
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Welcome from Head
Coach
Will Gonzales
Welcome to Peabody Stadium and Santa Barbara Dons Football.
The coaching staff and players at every level are excited about the
2008 football season. This year marks the first full season – beginning with summer football
and conditioning and continuing into the fall playing schedule – that many
of our coaches and players have had the opportunity to make their own.
We hope that our planning, preparation, and hard work will be evident
as we undertake a very competitive schedule against many of the top
teams on the Central Coast. I am personally confident that our student
athletes will never give less than their all, and will each in his
own way and with his unique given talents and abilities add to the
proud tradition and history of the Olive and Gold. This expectation
will not be limited to the football field and the football season,
but will extend into the classroom and encompass the entire academic
year.
I am especially grateful to Principal Dr. Mark Capritto and Athletic
Director Nan Verkaik for their confidence, guidance and support.
Their continued professionalism and positive leadership cultivate
a dynamic, winning atmosphere around the Dons football program and
all of Santa Barbara High School.
I would like to remember and thank outgoing Principal Paul Turnbull
for initially entrusting me with a position that has belonged to
just a handful of gentlemen in Dons history. I wish him well in his
future endeavors, and am happy to know that others will continue
to benefit from his thoughtful leadership.
I would like to thank each member of our coaching staff for the time
they have devoted to our student/athletes. I am particularly proud
of the way each of our coaches approaches the instruction of our
players: with patience, knowledge, and integrity.
A special thank you is in order for Rudy Ybarra, who unfailingly
and unselfishly supports the program in ways that are too numerous
to count. Rudy was one of the first to welcome me to the program,
and as he has done with my predecessors, continues to make the job
of Santa Barbara High School football coach much easier than it would
be in his absence.
Also thanks to the thousands of Don Alumni who continue to support
the football program at Santa Barbara High. You have set an example
that is hard to follow, and you are always in our hearts and minds
as we strive to uphold the tradition you have built.
Finally, thank you to the parents and families of each and every
member of the Dons football program. Your sons and their teammates
will remember your support and encouragement – through victories and defeats – long after lights
on the field have dimmed.
Will Gonzales
Head Football Coach
Santa Barbara High School |
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Message from the Athletic Director
Welcome to Santa Barbara High School Football 2008! Coach Gonzales
returns for his third year as the Dons head football coach. Under his
guidance and the rest of the coaching staff, the Dons are ready to
go!
The 2008 athletes are working hard to help each other reach individual
goals, which in turn will result in attaining the team goals that
have been set. Academics and Ethics are an important part of Santa
Barbara High School Athletics, and our players and coaches continue
to work hard to maintain these standards. It is our hope that the
parents and fans will join in to celebrate our teams’ accomplishments and
respect our rivals for the hard work and dedication they have shown.
We would like to thank the community for their support. Many donations
have been made throughout the year that allows athletics to remain
a very important part of the high school experience. We would like
to give special recognition to some of the people who have really
stepped up this year. Ye Ole Gang donated money to improve our facilities,
not only in the stadium, but throughout Santa Barbara High School.
Thank you to all of the parents who have contributed as part of the
Santa Barbara High School Athletic Family, the local grounds crews
who helped by donating time and equipment towards the maintenance
of the field, our own outstanding grounds crew, and the many others
who donate their time and resources which make Santa Barbara High
such a special place.
Sitting in the stands, at this very moment, are community people
who have played, cheered and attended Santa Barbara High School.
You are a part of the rich history that makes athletics at Santa
Barbara High School something special. We thank you for your support
of Dons Football and welcome you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the
game as you follow the Dons in their quest for a successful season.
Nan Verkaik
Athletic Director
Santa Barbara High School |
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Get Involved with
Dons Football
Dear SBHS Parents, Boosters, Alumni, and Friends,
As you know, the state of California was faced with a budget deficit
with massive cutbacks in state funding, including education. As
a result, all funding for high school athletics programs has been
eliminated, with the exception of teachers/coaches salaries. Therefore,
we, as Parents, Boosters, Alumni, and Friends of the Dons Football
program, must be active participants in assisting in the various
fundraising activities and team support functions that occur throughout
the year—from spring football through the team banquet following
the last game of the year. Ask your son’s coach how you can
get involved with the football program by assisting with the advertisements
in next year's program or field signs, pre-game meals for Varsity
players, sending a message to your favorite player in the “Go
Dons!” section or advertising your business in this souvenir
program! If you cannot allot the time to these activities, I encourage
you to simply join the Santa Barbara Athletics Association. Become
a positive influence in the best times a young man may have during
his SBHS school years—participating on the Dons football
team.
Get involved today—there is a job to do for each of us!!! |
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Once a Don, Always a Don
by Ron Shelton
Growing up in the 50’s in Santa Barbara was simple, really. In nearby
L.A., there were no Dodgers or Lakers and the Rams were just getting
settled in from Cleveland. There was one high school, two junior
highs, and most of the grammar schools were named after Presidents.
My grammar school had
60 kids in it - my sixth grade graduating class had three boys and
two girls. I was in Santa Barbara Junior High before my family owned
a television.
The world was smaller, the horizons closer, and one's dreams were
more realistic. Nobody wanted to be rich or famous or get on T.V.
There was no People magazine, no Entertainment T.V., and nobody owned
a computer. Nobody even knew what a computer was. So what did a kid
do? If you were me you played ball till long after dark - baseball,
basketball, anything with a ball in it - and looked forward to the
day when you could do it as a Don for Santa Barbara High. Everybody
wanted to be a Don. A Spanish Gentlemen - strange name for a high
school team, but the perfect name for a Santa Barbara school. Every
little white kid and black kid in Santa Barbara aspired to be a Spanish
Gentleman. Perfect.
And so I was a small Spanish Gentleman playing my heart out for the
Olive and Gold for three years. And all the while - between practices
of course - I was getting an education I wouldn't trade for any other.
There's something about this place, Santa Barbara High, that's different.
It's the people, of course, and the tradition, and the air, and the
band music drifting up through the Friday night lights at Peabody
Stadium all the way to Anapamu. But it's more. As if being a Don
is part of a populist lineage, something with its own history, something
that links you to all those who came before you, and will come after
you.
That sounds like a lot but that's what it is. Not too many high schools
can share that claim.
Ron Shelton graduated Santa Barbara High School in
1963. Ron was a gifted athlete who distinguished himself as one of
the greatest infielders to play baseball in Dons history. After graduation,
Ron attended Westmont College and, shortly thereafter, played professional
baseball with the Baltimore Orioles. After a minor league career
with the O’s, he attended the University of Arizona earning
his MFA. Today, Ron is one of Hollywood’s most respected directors
and may be best known for his Oscar-nominated comedy film, “Bull
Durham,” based on his minor-league experiences, which included
two seasons as second basemen with the Rochester Redwings in the
Triple-A International League. This former Don has won numerous honors
for his outstanding work in over 17 movies that includes “White
Men Can’t Jump,” “Tin Cup,” “Cobb,” “Best
of Times,” “Blaze,” and, most recently, “Hollywood
Homicide.” Ron, together with his childhood idol, Eddie Mathews,
were the first baseball players to be inducted into the Santa Barbara
High School Baseball Hall of Fame. |
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