As fans piled into Lindle Castle Gymnasium Friday night for the Lady Dawgs and Dawgs’ first home game of the 2019-2020 season, most everyone couldn’t help but notice some changes inside the gym, notably to the three large television screens located on both ends of the floor.

Clinton County Superintendent Dr. Tim Parson started working on this project in September.

He said there are several of these screens in the region with Cumberland County having one, Metcalfe County having one and Barren County having two in their gym. Parson said he thought we are the only gym in the region that now has three screens.

“I worked a lot with our athletic folks because I know how sacred high school gyms are,” Parson said. “It was kind of one of those things where you look around and see other folks have them and I said ‘why don’t we have them?’”

Parson said he started asking those questions and the ball got rolling on getting screens installed in Lindle Castle Gymnasium.

One screen is an eight feet by four feet, a 10 feet by six feet and a 12 feet by eight feet with the smaller two on each side of the stage and the largest one located on the wall where the Bulldog mascot was painted.

Even though the actual painting of the Bulldog is covered up, a photo of the painting was made before the screen went up and Parson said they are going to use that photo and put it on the screen several times throughout each game.

“We want to still give credit to those banks and the people who paid for that to go up,” Parson said. “The gym belongs to our community and we think that will be helpful to those folks who invested in that.”

Another positive aspect of the boards is they didn’t cost the school district funding, due to the advertising that was sold that will surround the screens.

“There is a silver sponsorship and a gold sponsorship and there are different things that are involved in those categories,” Parson said. “The sponsorships pay for the boards. We paid to put them up and that’s about it. I think it says a lot about our community and what people have invested in our program. I don’t think you will find another school in our region that has three of those in their gym. I think we have the best gym in the district and one of the better environments in the region.”

Parson said not only is this a chance for Clinton County to show off to those who come into Lindle Castle Gymnasium, but it’s also a chance for students to learn.

“When you think about fan cams and instant replays during the games, I think it will enhance an already good environment,” Parson said. “We have a group of kids, about nine or 10, who are in a technology class and have agreed to be apart of this project.”

Parson said the screens can be as simple as relaying announcements, slides or videos or it can be the center piece between the instant replay, fan cams and other things to make the screens more interactive with the crowds.

“We have enough people involved that we think we can really use it for everything we think it can do,” Parson said. “It’s a learning experience for the kids, so that group of kids, even the installation, the wiring, they are seeing how all that works. The whole infrastructure of all that is a learning experience for them. It’s more than just a basketball highlight reel.”

Not only can the screens be used during the basketball season, it can be used for every event that takes place inside the gym, including graduation.

“I can see that gym being packed and one of the reasons we wanted to get two up front on each side of the stage is because of graduation. There is a lot of seats this place and when you are sitting so far away it might be hard to see. That will help enhance graduation night and things like that. It’s definitely a tool that’s bigger than sports.”

By putting some of the students in charge of tasks like running the screens during home games, Parson believes not only is it educational, but it instills a sense of pride in the students.

“Kids are going to run everything. We want to make sure it’s done well and they can do it,” Parson said. “I think it’s going to be great.”

One of the three new, large video boards recently installed inside the Lindle Castle Gymnasium, was seen by most of the public for the first time last Monday night when Clinton County opened it’s basketball season, hosting teams from Franklin-Simpson.