Building for Athletes' Success
 Aquatic sports are important to the students and community of Clovis Unified School District in Clovis, California. This is most evident in the district's commitment to providing their athletes with top-of-the-line facilities. When it comes to equipping these facilities, Clovis Unified has continued its long-standing partnership with Colorado Time Systems (CTS).
So it came as little surprise that when Clovis needed new equipment for construction and renovation, they again called upon CTS.
That's why the newly renovated pool at Clovis West High School was equipped with a new CTS 10-line LED numeric scoreboard this past March. The board is capable of displaying home and guest scores, length and record, as well as lane, place and time for the 8 individual lanes of the pool.
 The crown jewel of Clovis' efforts is the state-of-the-art swimming complex for the brand new Clovis North High School, which is equipped with CTS products. The new facility has been provided with a complete CTS timing, scoring and display system, including a 96 x 160-pixel red LED matrix scoreboard which will entertain and engage spectators with not only event results, but animations as well.
Clovis' support of aquatic sports can be traced back to 1978, when the district built a state-of-the-art swimming complex. Over the years, the facility has been host to numerous national competitions, including championship meets at the US National, Junior National, and Sectional levels.
Colorado Time Systems products can be seen throughout the district, which serves 30,000 students at multiple aquatic venues; a quick count reveals at least three scoreboards, six CTS timing consoles (four System 5's and two System 6's), two Championship Start Systems, three Infinity Start Systems, and multiple pace clocks, relay judging platforms, touchpads and touchpad caddies, lane speakers, backup buttons, just to name a few.
The new Clovis North High School opens this fall. By January its side-by-side 50 meter pools will be ready, sporting a brand new CTS red LED matrix scoreboard.
John McGough, Director of Clovis Unified Aquatics, talks about the advantages the matrix board gives them. "This is a nice thing for us! We have never had the capacity before – now we will be able to do chase starts, run both ends of the pool; and have 2 8-lane courses on the board at the same time. We'll be able to display heat, lane, time, and place, then come back and import for finals, and put names on the board."
McGough is enthusiastic about using the scoreboard during practice. The board can have up to 16 different workouts or intervals up on the board at once. "This board takes all the thinking out of it for the athlete, who is then able to focus on the set, not trying to remember specific send off's. You program the board and it counts down; the swimmer just looks at the board. No mental math needed!"
He also mentions the crowd-pleasing animations that display their well-recognized logo or graphics on the board. The combination of visuals and music adds excitement to a ball sport like water polo, and charges up the spectators. "It is remarkably visible even on the brightest [days] of summer. From 15 to 50 meters, it is great for the people in the stands."
As a regional leader in aquatic programs, Clovis Unified District is expanding to meet the growing needs of a dynamic athletic program. CTS is right there with them, supplying products to enhance, encourage and simplify athletes' success. |
