Shot clock could come to basketball court later this decade
Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) Athletic Director Crista Barlow was getting set for the first athletic event of the spring season at Rams Field in mid-March when, to no real surprise, the scoreboard didn’t work.
“It sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t, so we’re not real sure what’s going on with it,” Barlow said.
A portable scoreboard is used as backup, but it’s not the best, she said.
In any case, that’s all about to change with the planned purchase and installation of a new, modern scoreboard this summer — thanks to a successful RFHS Booster Club fundraising effort, including an $18,000 contribution from an anonymous donor.
“The community really came out to support the idea, and to raise money for Crista and the Athletic Department to get this accomplished,” Booster Club President Mandy Brennan said.
Earlier this year, Mike Arnold, owner of the new El Dorado watering hole in downtown Carbondale, and his wife and Booster Club member, Marjorie, hosted a bingo fundraiser at El Dorado that brought in over $25,000, including the major contribution.
“They’ve been very supportive to give us space for our events this year,” Brennan said. “It reminds us that we need to do more outreach in the community more often, so that we can do these kinds of things.”
The existing scoreboard at Rams Field, located next to Carbondale Middle School, with its distinctive siren to signal the end of each period of play, dates back to 1999-2000. At that time, R&A Enterprises sponsored the project, said Larry Williams, a former athletic director at RFHS. Alpine Bank, TJ Concrete and IRMW were also funding sponsors.
In its 25 years, the lighted, electronic scoreboard has been used to keep the score, indicate the quarter or half of play, ball possession and to count down the minutes of play for countless high school, middle school and youth football games, plus boys and girls soccer and lacrosse games.
The money raised from the latest Booster Club effort should be more than enough to cover the purchase of the scoreboard and installation, Barlow said.
Shot clock
Additional money will go toward another major game clock project that’s coming down the pike, she said.
The Colorado High School Activities Association’s (CHSAA) Legislative Council meets next week to consider several options for implementing a 35-second shot clock for boys and girls basketball, starting with the 2026-27 school year.
The shot clock will likely start with the larger Class 6A schools on the Front Range, but it seems inevitable the new rule will trickle down to the smaller schools, including Roaring Fork’s current 3A Western Slope League, said Barlow.
The issue for the small schools comes down to cost and staffing for games, she added. Retrofitting the three scoreboards in the main and auxiliary gymnasiums at RFHS will cost an estimated $12,000 each.
“It just costs us a lot of money to implement the system, and then you need another person at the scorer’s table to run it,” she said. “It’s been hard enough already to try to find people to run the clocks, and this is one more thing.”
Barlow praised longtime scorers, Ken Lubrant and Larry Stangeland, “But we need to find more people in the community to be a part of it. They just love it, and basketball games are fun!”
Likewise, the Booster Club is looking for new blood, as Brennan plans to step down after this school year. The club will also be in need of a new secretary and treasurer.
Throughout the year, the Booster Club puts on a variety of fundraisers and runs the concession stand at sporting events to pay for things like uniforms and equipment for the nine in-house CHSAA-sanctioned sports teams at RFHS.
“It’s been great to have so many booster parents involved, and it’s a fun group to be a part of, whether you have kids playing sports or not,” said Brennan, who has served two stints as club president, first when her older son Connor was in school, and more recently as her youngest, Sam, has been making his way through the high school ranks.
For information about the RFHS Booster Club, visit their page on the school website, www.rfhs.rfsd.k12.co.us