Coach Fred Warrecker was a difference-maker in the lives of countless young people in the Santa Barbara community for six decades, serving as an educator, coach and mentor.
For 43 years, he proudly wore a Santa Barbara High School baseball uniform as the coach of the Dons.
Since his passing this week at age 84, many former players have shared stories on social media on how Coach Warrecker made them better on and off the athletic field.
Pat Cooney, the athletic director and baseball coach at Carpinteria High School, shared his thoughts with Noozhawk on how Coach Warrecker impacted his life.
Cooney played baseball for Warrecker at Santa Barbara High in the early 1980s, and his father, Mike, was one of Warrecker’s assistant coaches and a close friend.
Here’s what Coach Warrecker meant to him as a student athlete, a coach under his mentorship, and a friend:
“As we mature and gain wisdom and confidence, we realize that there have been just a few people that influence our life choices. Coach Warrecker helped a vast array of people to be the best version of themselves.
“Sometimes he let us grow up on our own while other times he insisted that we grow up immediately.
“I know that I am just a blip on the wide range of the Fred Warrecker radar but might provide an example of Coach Warrecker’s influence.
“I loved my time playing for him and being mentored by him so much that I chose a life as a teacher/coach. In my case, it’s been more than 30 years since I ‘laced up’ as a Don and I still aspire to be like him. I’m just one of the grateful ones that is still extending his influence on young people.
“Like so many, I loved being on his team and have tried to stay on his team for my whole life.
“Coach Warrecker was a master at storytelling and he was always able to weave in a life lesson. His stories proved that there were rewards for real work, that all of us were worthy of love, and always made us believe that we were the good guys.
“He made us laugh, insisted on many forms of respect, and he had no tolerance for poor play or weak character. We were required to be good.
“It’s possible that every group of players over his decades-long career feels this way but we really felt like we played at a special time.
“His sons were on the teams in the 1980’s and they were like brothers to us. Fathers and sons built the backbone of the program that extended and excelled for so long.
“We all wanted to be on Coach Warrecker’s team, be in Mr. Warrecker’s class, and be at Pops Warrecker’s house. We were hungry to hear more stories, we wanted to make the game of baseball a work of art, and we wanted to please our coach with all of our might.
“Maybe that is one lesson of so many: We can try to retell his rich stories, we can concentrate on perfecting each of our crafts, and we can still aim to please our coach.”