Athletic events at the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School athletic stadium are going to sound a lot sweeter in the 2021-22 school year and beyond thanks to a donation from the Jamesville-DeWitt All Sports Booster Club.
At the J-D Board of Education’s July 12 meeting, the board voted to accept two booster club donations: one that will allow the district to replace the stadium’s current outdated and failing public address system and the other to purchase portable box lacrosse walls that can easily be set up and then disassembled for storage.
Public address system donation
“Over the years, the speakers to our current public address system have blown, and the entire system has really continued to deteriorate,” said John Goodson, J-D’s director of health, physical education and athletics. “We purposefully limit how much we use the system because it’s so bad. Right now, the speakers are sitting on an old aluminum chair that vibrates the entire press box when we use them.”
The current system is at least 11 years old and was not replaced when the district updated the stadium bleachers and press box.
The new system will be reliable, have improved quality sound and allow the athletics department to better feature the district’s music program when students sing the national anthem prior to athletic contests, Goodson said.
“We’ll be able to announce line-ups, call events at track meets and have a quality system for future events in the stadium,” Goodson said. “We are grateful to the booster club for this opportunity to elevate the experience of our student-athletes and their families, as well as those from other school districts who visit our stadium.”
Portable box lacrosse donation
The booster club is also donating a new Pro Wall Portable Rink System for the J-D athletic department to use at its Lyndon Fields and/or the Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School fields.
The walls are easy to set up and disassemble and will allow the district to be more flexible when scheduling use of its facilities. The portable walls will be primarily used for box lacrosse, but could potentially be used for small-sided soccer as well as physical education classes, Goodson said.
“These two donations should be celebrated as they will improve the experiences of our students, their families and their guests,” Goodson said. “These are great examples of the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School and our athletic booster club working together with our community to enhance our facilities.”