By Pat Mariboe
Senior Writer
For six months Roy Kirby Jr. stadium has been without a scoreboard. A storm in April knocked the board over causing a disheveled mess and organizational nightmare.
Thankfully for the athletic department, there were no home games scheduled that day, allowing the cleanup crew some time before the men’s lacrosse team faced off against Haverford a few days later.
With a new scoreboard put on hold, the spring teams finished their seasons with a smaller, barely visible scoreboard located at field level.
Phil Ticknor, assistant to the athletic director for Communications and Compliance, is eager to see the department’s plans for the new scoreboard, but is content with using the current one for the time being.
“Last I was told is that it would be up the end of the month,” he said. “The clock is obviously ticking on that (pardon the pun) and I haven’t been updated. Obviously, I’d assume we’d use the old on sitting there if need be, which is passable for me.”
Thankfully for Ticknor, the athletes, and the rest of the Washington College faithful, a recent update on the scoreboard by Thad Moore, director of Athletics, has granted a communal sigh of relief.
“We are expecting the new scoreboard to arrive the week of Sept. 18 and be installed and ready to use a few days after that,” he said. “The new scoreboard will be 20 feet tall and 40 feet wide. We designed it with the idea of being able to add a video board in the future.”
Athletes have optimistic feelings towards the fallen scorebaord.
“Our team doesn’t use a scoreboard during practices and has only had one home scrimmage so the fallen scoreboard hasn’t impacted us too much this preseason,” said women’s soccer junior and captain Arianna Sabatino. “During games the main reason we would normally look at the scoreboard is to see how much time is left on the clock, and we are able to ask the referee for this information, so not having a scoreboard does not impact games too much. The team is definitely looking forward to a new scoreboard.”
Senior standout and set-piece specialist Maribeth Harrington shared similarly optimistic views about the thought of a new scoreboard.
“It hasn’t affected us much yet, but I know the athletic department is trying their best to get it ready for us,” Harrington said. “We are very excited for it and can’t wait to see the new addition.”
The men’s soccer team members, coming off a historic and record-breaking season, are also eager to get an operational scoreboard back and running. Sophomore Kyle Gaeffke shared similar thoughts about the effect that the scoreboard has on the team, and says he isn’t too worried about the impact it will have on the team’s overall performance.
“For me, I honestly don’t even notice the scoreboard when we play,” he said. “The scoreboard doesn’t determine how well we play, but I can’t wait until we get the scoreboard up again just because it completes our stadium and it’s nice for the spectators.”
Sophomore Griffin Bull, coming off a memorable freshman year with six goals and 12 points, looks forward to the positive atmosphere and impact that the new scoreboard will provide.
“It’s a bit odd not having a scoreboard there anymore for any of our training session and soon-to-be home games coming up soon,” Bull said. “I think as a team we don’t need to worry about it because we know that we only need to win and not worry about a scoreboard. I’m really excited about the possibility of some sort of -tron, whether that be a jumbo or mini-tron. It’s going to be special playing home games with a new scoreboard going up.”
Needless to say, a new scoreboard isn’t the only thing on the horizon for the fall athletes. After a long and successful preseason, teams are back in action and ready to put their talents to the test.