Thanks to two San Benito High students, it will be a little easier to know the score during water polo games next year.
Water polo players Jaret Barrios and Jake Garcia took the initiative last month and raised $10,000 on a hefty donation from Colorado-based shoe manufacturer Crocs for the San Benito water polo club team and the San Benito High pool clock.
Because of a family connection to the Crocs, Barrios sent the company a formal request for the donations earlier this year, San Benito Athletic Director Tod Thatcher said.
Crocs approved the donation and sent a check earlier this month, Thatcher said.
“We are in the process of looking at different clock styles and stuff,” Thatcher said. “Hopefully, we have that going in the fall. That’s the plan.”
The new clock is the first step in a much-needed renovation of the high school’s pool, Thatcher said.
“It’s bad,” he said. “And that’s just a product of the pool being so old and the clock being added after the fact. The wiring just isn’t right. It’s adequate at best.”
A pool upgrade won’t be coming for some time, though.
“Upgrading the pool facilities for the kids is a priority,” Thatcher said. “Hopefully, with some type of partnership we can have a nice pool facility and it would be used in the community. If we had a nice stadium with a track, it would be used by the community. We are getting a clock now, but a new pool is down the road.”
A new pool — and stadium — could be part of a general obligation bond, which the San Benito High School District’s Board of Trustees are currently investigating.
Part of the bond includes investigating sites for a new school and renovating the current one.
In meeting minutes from January, Community Vision Executive Director Julie Morris explained that the community would support the bond, which would be voted upon. Some of the money could be funneled to athletic facility upgrades.
“There are parts of the school that are close to 100 years old,” Thatcher said. “The rest is piecemealed together. We are looking at 30 years down the road. It’s not going to be able to hold together in the next 30 years. We need to start updating facilities to the needs of the 21st century. So we are going out for a bond.”
Part of that money-raising effort will need to come for the current students, Thatcher said.
“It’s critically important,” Thatcher said. “It’s one thing for me to go out and ask for help or a donation. If kids that are actually playing and have the maturity and the wherewithal to go do that — it’s hard for people to say no to that. It’s a powerful thing when kids are able to do that. I’m extremely proud of them.”
He continued: “I see in the future if there is some sort of bond drive, our athletes need to be out in the forefront. To have nice facilities, I think it’s critical.”
The scoreboard and clock are expected to be installed before the next season in the fall, Thatcher said. San Benito head coach Aaron Gautney and Thatcher are picking out the best clock for the pool.
“That’s the goal, but there is a lot of pieces in between here and there,” he said.
Gautney did not return phone calls before press times.
