Santa Barbara's Sports News and Information
PHOTO GALLERY INTRO: The 45th annual Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame Banquet was hosted at the DoubleTree Resort on Monday, as a sold-out crowd gathered to celebrate the evening's honorees.Among them were 11 Hall of Fame inductees, four special award winners, three scholarship recipients, two coaches of the year, and 52 Athletes of the Year.The photo gallery below includes some of the night's winners.For video highlights from last night's event, CLICK … [Read more...]
Nate Mendoza was back on the baseball field Tuesday at Dos Pueblos High, but the coach wasn’t hitting ground balls or going over signs with his ballplayers. Instead he was running the football team through a spring workout.Mendoza, the successful varsity baseball coach at DP, was handed the varsity football head coaching job on Tuesday by Athletic Director Dan Feldhaus. He replaces Jeff Uyesaka, who stepped down two weeks ago for family reasons.Except for last season, Mendoza, 27, has … [Read more...]
A local celebration of the life of former Dos Pueblos High volleyball star Sam Wopat is set for Thursday at the East Beach volleyball courts, followed by a service at the Fess Parker Double Tree Hotel’s rotunda, the family announced.The gathering at the volleyball courts is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. and the service is scheduled for 6 p.m. There also will be a sunset gathering at East Beach around 7 p.m.Everyone is invited and is encouraged to bring snacks or drinks to share.The … [Read more...]
By MIKE TRAPHAGEN, CHUMASH CASINO RESORT Santa Barbara’s John Pearley Huffman commanded the final table and generously opted to split the prize money with his three remaining competitors to conclude the $50,000 Central Coast Poker Championship on Saturday at the Chumash Casino Resort’s Samala Showroom. Tom West of Los Altos, John Myers of Santa Maria, and Freddy Castro of Santa Ynez joined Huffman in outlasting a field of 612 players who all paid a $180 entry fee (or $160 for … [Read more...]
Ema Boateng grew up in a home with no electricity and no running water in Ghana, but his intellect, determination and soccer ability offered him a shot at a better life. The teen hit a pretty big bull's-eye Thursday when he was named the 2011-12 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year. By CHAD KONECKY, ESPN Boateng was surprised with the news in his Cate School environmental science class by one of the most recognizable faces in American soccer, Alexi Lalas, who earned Gatorade … [Read more...]
Doug Caines, the defensive coordinator for the Santa Barbara High football team, has been named the program’s permanent head football coach.Caines, 29, replaces Jaime Melgoza who resigned two weeks ago for family reasons. He was named the interim coach after Melgoza’s resignation, and the interim tag was dropped on Wednesday.“I’m excited at the opportunity,” Caines said before a spring football practice. “I’ve been here for six years working hard at building a program for … [Read more...]
The final Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Athlete of the Week winners of the 2011-12 school year survived some long days of competition to earn their awards.Male award recipient Gavin Trudeau, the senior setter for the Santa Barbara High boys volleyball team, helped his team pull through in a pair of five-set marathon playoff matches to reach the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 tournament. Behind Trudeau’s all-around play and leadership, the Dons outlasted Los Alamitos and … [Read more...]
Mike Gurney is one of those athletes who can brighten your day.Gurney was honored as the Special Olympics Athlete of the Month at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table press luncheon.Gurney plays bocce ball and last summer he helped his Santa Barbara team win the gold medal at the Long Beach Games.Coach Jaime Rutiga said Gurney is not only a good bocce player, he also has a way of inspiring the other members of the team.“Every week we have practice, Mike brings a ray of … [Read more...]
Elizabeth Beebe knows all about dealing with adversity.For two years, the Providence Hall athlete couldn’t play sports because of a nagging foot injury suffered during her freshman year. It was a difficult time for her. She came to the school as a heralded athlete from La Colina Junior High.But Beebe stayed positive and continued to attend team practices and often kept the team scorebook and did stats during games. She also kept up with her academics.She returned to the basketball … [Read more...]
