The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table will be inducting seven new members into its Hall of Fame on Monday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m. The Induction Class of 2025 includes five athletes, a coach and a special achievement honoree.
This is the seventh in a series of stories about this year’s inductees.
While the Santa Barbara High baseball program has a long history of successful players and coaches at the varsity level, Bill Oliphant made his impact for the Dons at the JV and frosh levels.
Oliphant, who coached at Santa Barbara High from 1985 to 2017, was tasked with developing underclassmen as players and young men so they were ready to compete immediately on the varsity squad. Given the program’s 16 Channel League titles, it’s clear he excelled in his role.
In fact, the Santa Barbara High Freshman Baseball Field at Santa Barbara Junior High was named “Oliphant Field” by the SB Unified School District in 2014.
He was also inducted into the Santa Barbara High Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Santa Barbara High Alumni Wall of Fame in 2014.
Oliphant graduated from Santa Barbara High in 1964 after four years as a student-athlete on both the baseball and basketball teams.
After attending Santa Barbara City College and graduating in 1967, he went north to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and his teaching credential.
His love for coaching was evident from his college years, as he served as an after-school coach for Dolores School and Garfield Elementary in 1965 and 1966.
He made his baseball coaching debut for the City of Santa Barbara Recreation Department, where he was a Summer League coach for the Pee Wee and Junior League Divisions. He also coached for the City of San Luis Obispo Summer Baseball League.
Following his graduation from Cal Poly, Oliphant returned to the area and kept his coaching career rolling as the Carpinteria High JV Baseball coach for the 1972 season.
He then took his talents to the Junior High level, as he was the head basketball and baseball coach for La Cumbre Junior High before landing right back where his journey began.
Oliphant took over as the Santa Barbara High JV/Frosh Baseball coach in 1985 alongside the late great Fred Warrecker, continuing his childhood dream of being a coach while completing a full circle moment in the Olive and Gold.
Along with his role as a coach, he continued to give back to the local sports community as a referee and umpire. Oliphant officiated football, basketball and baseball from 1976 to 2006 as a member of the Channel Coast Officials Association.
When his officiating career came to an end, he earned the 2005-06 Officiating with Honor Award for Exceptional Achievement in Officiating Sport: Football in CIF Southern Section.
Despite stepping away from officiating, Oliphant maintained his role as JV/Frosh baseball coach until 2017 when he retired, but his “Once a Don, Always a Don” mentality surely will never fade away.
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