Scoreboard makes long-awaited debut

It’s been a while in coming, but the newest member of the South Kitsap swim team has been performing flawlessly since joining the team last week.

That new member is actually a new scoreboard installed the first week of the new year; it’s been used twice by the high school and will get plenty of use from the Puget Sound Swim Club, as well.

And it should, since the PSSC made the whole thing possible.

“It’s something we wanted and needed for a long time,” South Kitsap swim coach Dennis Anderson said. “It’s a great piece of equipment and we’re glad to have it, finally.”

The new board was purchased from and installed by Daktronics, Inc., of Brookings, SD. Daktronics specializes in scoreboard products for all kind of sporting events.

Anderson explained a long process that began last year to replace existing, outdated scoreboard both the PSSC and the school have been using for years.

The old board could post just one lane time at a time, causing swimmers and fans lots of confusion. The new board keeps a running time of each event and posts splits for each lane as well as final times for each lane — all visible from anywhere in the pool area.

“It’s great because now everyone will know what’s happening,” Anderson said. “Before, you could only post one time and now they’re all up there for everyone to see.”

Anderson said the school decided to get a new board last year and his swimmers did a fundraiser at Safeco Field last summer to raise enough money for the new addition.

But the computer equipment purchased didn’t work with the scoreboard and the team was out of luck — until the PSSC stepped in and gave the high school $5,000 to go toward the purchase of the new equipment needed to get everything running.

“They came to us with a proposal and we accepted it,” South Kitsap athletic director Steve Reischman said. “Without their help, this could not have been done.”

The school board approved the proposal last November and the board and equipment were installed after the first of the year.

The PSSC, which split the cost of all the equipment with the school district, will have full access to the new equipment, as well.

“This opens up a lot of possibilities for us,” Anderson said. “I think with this in place we’ll have a chance to start hosting divisional and district swim meets.”