By J1 reporter Ally Ravnsborg 

Do you remember the days when all you saw on a gym scoreboard was the score, the time, possibly fouls, and what quarter it was?  Ever since 2020, those days are over at Marian. Today,  when you go to a volleyball or basketball game in the West gym, you can see everything you once saw with the addition, of a flag for the national anthem, a possible hype video, ads for various companies that support Marian, artsy graphics after a good play, and individual player stats with a picture. 

These bright and innovative Scorevison scoreboards were generously donated by the Booster Club and cost $80,000. Athletic Director Ms. Rochelle Rohlfs makes the operation of these scoreboards possible by programming them through a website and running them game to game with an iPad. 

The Scorevison scoreboards can be found throughout the metro area in middle and high schools. St. Patricks in Elkhorn, Skutt Catholic, and Millard North all have embraced the new technology with the scoreboards. 

Lately, Journalism I students have been running the graphics that Rohlfs preloads onto an iPad to add an extra creative element to the games. These scoreboards aren’t just a fun addition to the game experience at Marian but  Rohlfs hopes that they will provide opportunities for students who want to gain experience in sports media and broadcast journalism. 

She is working toward the creation of a club in the next year and possibly a class that will give students an opportunity to announce the game, do play-by-play, to enter data before games, program the iPads before the games, and take over everything that is needed to successfully run the game. 

These skills could be essential to an early career in sports broadcast journalism and possibly introduce the field into more of the student body who wouldn’t have originally considered it. Also, it would take some of the weight off of Rohlfs’ back while simultaneously allowing students to discover new talents in media and broadcasting. 

The future of these scoreboards is very bright with a sister addition coming to the outdoor sports complex in the spring of 2023. They will be useful for soccer and softball. The funding for the new additions will come from the budget of the whole complex.

These big bright scoreboards are hard to miss and they add an extra element that gives Marian athletics a “wow” factor. They improve the atmosphere of the game, along with opportunities for students to discover their talents.