Lake Zurich High teams score big for the field

Lake Zurich High School will finally get a new electronic scoreboard for its football field this fall thanks to a community group's fundraising efforts.

The new illuminated scoreboard is much more high-tech than the present one, which consists of 16 individual bulbs that light up. The new, nearly 11-foottall, 27-foot wide scoreboard looks more like a giant computer screen. It will cost slightly more than $40,000. It can be upgraded in future to include a message board.

The Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board is set to approve the purchase Thursday.

"It's very exciting," said Rolando Vazquez, Lake Zurich High School athletic director.

"People have been waiting for this. I think everybody here wanted it before the season."

With the football and soccer seasons nearing the end, the new scoreboard likely won't get much use until the spring.

The community group funding the scoreboard initially formed to raise money for an artificial-turf field installed at the high school in 2005.

It was the first community-funded project of that magnitude in District 95 that later led to the establishment of an educational foundation.

The group's goal was to raise $625,000, which included money for the new scoreboard and a future fence around the field.

After numerous rounds of fundraisers and tapping donors a second time, all pledges have been collected and the money is in the bank, said Geoff Meyer, co-chair of the "Goal for the Field" fundraising committee.

Meyer said the high school field project could never have been accomplished without the help of area youth groups, local corporations, high school alumni, parents and Ela Township, which provided the $72,000 seed money for the turf. Many of those donors dipped into their pockets again for the scoreboard.

"I can't thank everybody enough," Meyer said.

"What we did for a luxury over there is just phenomenal."

If approved by the school board Thursday, the scoreboard will likely be installed before the winter.