SBART begins school year with support for local athletics

What better way to kick off the new school year than to hand out some checks?

The first order of business at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon was to recognize the Athletic Directors from the area’s high schools and colleges, backed up with financial support for the high schools’ athletic programs that was raised at the annual High-Five Golf Tournament.

SBART boardmember and golf tournament chairman Ken Newendorp presented checks to San Marcos’ Abe Jahadhmy, Santa Barbara High’s Joe Chenoweth, Dos Pueblos’ Dan Feldhaus, Carpinteria High’s Pat Cooney, and Bishop Diego’s Dan Peeters.

“Part of the neat thing that we get to do as the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table is support athletics through a bunch of different measures,” Newendorp said.  “One of which is this golf tournament that we’ve been putting on.”

“It’s been running since 1984. We’ve been able to raise over half-a-million dollars that we’ve donated back to all the local high schools.”

With budget restrictions what they are these days, the money is more important than ever.

“In this economy, it’s challenging for us to put the tournament on and to raise money, and I know it’s more challenging for all the athletic departments to pay for all their programs,” Newendorp said.

There is no restrictions on how the athletic departments use the money.

“I do want to thank High-Five Golf Tournament,” said Dan Peeters before delivering a report on the Cardinals’ No. 1-ranked football team. “In my nine years here, they’ve given us $3,000 to $5,000 a year. Thanks Ken.”

Monday’s luncheon started with SBART President Rich Hanna taking a moment to note the passing of founder Jerry Harwin during the summer break.

LUNCHEON HIGHLIGHTS (In order of Appearance):

Craig Moropoulos, SBCC Football – The Vaqueros are 0-2 but Moropoulos said he’s happy with the way his team has conducted itself. SBCC held leads in the second half of both of those games but ended up falling in each. Even still, Moropoulos said, “I love these guys.” SBCC plays again this Friday at La Playa Stadium.

Jeff Ashton, San Marcos water polo – Ashton began by thanking his AD Abe Jahadhmy for great support. The Royals’ boys water polo head coach brought Keyvan Golizadeh and Kameron Bebb from a team off to a promising start.

Kristi Kiely, Westmont Women’s Soccer – The Warriors are ranked No. 10 in the latest NAIA polls and are off to a 2-1-1 start. “It’s a really interesting mix of experience and energetic youth I’ll call it,”  Kiely said. “It’s a fun group to have.”

Ron Smith, Westmont Men’s Soccer – Smith reported for the Warriors’ men’s soccer team, which is 1-2. Westmont doesn’t face any games this week, time head coach Dave Wolf will take to prepare the Warriors for a home game next week vs. La Sierra.

Ben Hallock, Carpinteria Football – Hallock’s Carpinteria Warriors just won their first game of the year 51-12. Their first two were near misses as the Warriors let go of second-half leads in both losses. Hallock brought three players key to helping the Warriors even their record this Friday in a matchup against Santa Ynez. Those athletes are Xavier De Alba, Paul Cortez and Derrick Shirley-Moore.

Mark Walsh, Santa Barbara High water polo – The Dons started their season with their first-ever victory at Mira Costa on Saturday. The two schools have been playing each other early in the season for over 10 years in a row. Santa Barbara has only played one match so far this season but will see plenty of action in this weekend’s 16-team SB Invitational.

Anthony Linebaugh, San Marcos Football – Linebaugh was introduced by Royals Athletic Director Abe Jahadhmy, who explained the hiring process that brought Linebaugh to Santa Barbara from Galt in the Central Valley. Linebaugh brought two players with him, Michael Hernandez and Tommy Nelson.

Nate Mendoza, Dos Pueblos Football – Mendoza brought four players from his undefeated team, including Athlete of the Week Anthony Spiritosanto. Also present were Nico Bornand, Jason Shwartz and Nolan Soto.

Shane Lopes, Laguna Blanca Football – Lopes is a first-year head coach at Laguna Blanca but took a quick moment to reflect on the time he was a luncheon attendee as a student 10 years ago. The Owls are on a bye week because the students are away on class trips. Lopes has the Owls out to a 1-1 start with Thacher on the schedule next.

Dan Feldhaus, Dos Pueblos water polo – Speaking on behalf of Chargers head coach Chris Parrish, Feldhaus recounted DP’s opening weekend facing San Diego’s top two teams. Players Graham Young and Scott Mahan attended the luncheon. Dos Pueblos hosts the Southern Section’s top-ranked team in Mater Dei on Thursday.

Dan Peeters, Bishop Diego football – Peeters was speaking for Cardinals football coach Tom Crawford, who remained on campus as the new Dean of Students. Peeters brought football players Troy Skinner and Jack Gregson. Both have been great examples of leadership this season.

Dave Loveton, SBCC Athletics – Loveton spoke on the men’s and women’s soccer programs. Each are off to good starts. Another note from City College is the availability of an online live stream from many of the Vaqueros’ athletic events. Look to the SBCC Athletics website for more information.

Doug Caines, Santa Barbara Football – Dons Athletic Director Joe Chenoweth took a moment to introduce Caines, who’s in his first year as a head coach. Caines’ roots are deep in Santa Barbara, and he didn’t hesitate to explain how special it was to him to be coaching at Santa Barbara High. “I am not pulling wool over anybody’s eyes when I say that this is more special than I could ever express to be a part of this,” Caines said.