BURNHAM - Just in time for the winter competitive swim season, the Juniata Valley Area YMCA has a new six-line scoreboard compliments of the Juniata Valley Area Swim Association for its pool.
The high tech scoreboard was purchased through the fund raising efforts of JVASA.
"There was a lot of fund raising that went into it over several years, including sandwich sales, bingos, gift card sales, tag days at Walmart and Kmart and many other events," Kim Kauffman, the JVASA president, explained.
Article Photos
Sentinel photo by CONNIE WELCH
Competitive swimmers from the Juniata Valley YMCA test out the new six-line scoreboard that was installed compliments of the Juniata Valley Area Swim Association. YMCA swim coach Ann Bonson, second from left, instructs the swimmers in their relay event while the scoreboard displays their times across all six lanes of the course.
JVASA, a non-profit organization, supports competitive swimming in the area. Teams that benefit from the JVASA include the Juniata Valley YMCA Stingrays, the Mifflin County High School Huskies and the Lewistown Rec Park Stingrays.
Prior to the installation of the six-line scoreboard was a single-line digital readout that cycled through the results from the six lanes during competition. Many times fans would miss the results from a lane due to the cycle time and the next event beginning, which cleared the scoreboard.
"It's amazing," Kauffman said. "Spectators, coaches and swimmers can now see the results as they happen, including split times."
Now that Mifflin County High School is in the Mid-Penn Conference, the scoreboard and the total timing system will present a fully functional, high tech competitive course for the school district.
"Overall, we managed to raise over $8,000 to cover the scoreboard cost and installation," Kauffman said. "We would like to thank the parents, swimmers and other volunteers for all of their hard work and the community for their support."
The competitive swim season at the Juniata Valley YMCA was scheduled to begin Monday, but has been delayed to at least Wednesday due to weather issues. The Mifflin County High School swimming season gets under way on the first legal competition date, Dec. 9, when the Huskies will get to use the new scoreboard in a meet against Tyrone.
Those interested in swimming with YMCA can call 248-5019 or email the Bonson at ann@jvasa.org. High school swimming signups are slated for Thursday and Friday in the junior and senior high schools.
Additional information about JVASA and all of the teams and results can be found at www.jvasa.org.
