Seckman High School plans to show off its new video scoreboard on Saturday, Aug. 16.
The video board was installed this summer on the athletic stadium, thanks to a donation from the Jaguars Football Booster Club, which will cover the cost by selling advertising spots on the board.
The cost of the video board is $144,108, and the booster club has five years to pay for it, according to Fox C-6 School District Board of Education documents. Board members voted unanimously April 29 to accept the donation.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held in conjunction with the Seckman football team’s intersquad Blue and Gold game to be played from 8-10 a.m. in the athletic stadium, 2800 Seckman Road, in Imperial. It is open to the public, and admission is free.
Head football coach Nick Baer said the ceremony will likely be held at about 8:45 a.m., and the team and booster club will thank those who are sponsoring the board through advertising deals.
“(The video board) is going to be a great way to highlight our athletes in our Seckman community,” said Baer, whose team will kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 29 at home against Parkway West High School. “I am looking forward to seeing its full use. I will be a little busy on (Aug. 16), but we have a team in place and a couple of students in classes who will work on it. It will be really nice. It is really user friendly.”
Kellie Kube, the Jaguars Football Booster Club president, said the group started working to bring a video scoreboard to the stadium shortly after the Jaguars Hoopers Booster Club began its effort to finance a video board and static scoreboard for the gym.
The Hoopers Booster Club donated the two boards, which cost a combined $80,815, in December.
“I thought we should build off what they started and do this outside,” said Kube, whose son, Brody Kube, plays football, basketball and baseball at Seckman High, and daughter, Avery, played basketball and volleyball at the school before graduating in 2023.
“The trajectory of the high school’s culture and athletic interest continues to grow in a lot of the sports. We need to get out there while the interest is high and the success is going on in all of the different sports.”
Fox C-6 COO Tracy Schmidt, formerly the Seckman High activities director, said the video scoreboard is 26-by-13-feet.
The video scoreboard will have three permanent advertisements for sponsoring companies across the bottom, and video ads will be played during events.
Schmidt said the video scoreboard will display the score and time during football games and soccer matches. It also will display team and player statistics and profiles, as well as hype videos and interactive videos to lead cheers during competition.
The video scoreboard also may be used during student events, such as pep rallies, Senior Sunset and Unified Game; middle and elementary school intramural sports and field days; and other community events, he said.
“The video scoreboard will provide an immersive experience for our students, staff, visitors, spectators and community,” he said.
Schmidt said the football booster club secured eight sponsors to pay for the board. Five deals are in place that will total $122,500 over the next five years. In addition, a two-year deal worth a total of $4,000 and two one-year deals for $1,000 each are in place.
He said the football booster club is working on other deals to pay for the board, and after the board is paid off, the club will continue to sell advertising spots and sponsorship deals to support the school and athletic programs.
Baer said booster club members have secured even more sponsorship deals, but he did not have details about them. He also said he expects more businesses to want to advertise after seeing the video board in action.
“We expect the sponsorships to grow once the show starts rolling and people come out on Fridays and want to get up on the board,” he said. “We are in a really good spot there. I know Kelly has three or four other potential companies, who may be on the hook. It is really growing.”
“I couldn’t be more thankful for their work, passion, initiative and support of our vision in improving our programs and reinforcing a great experience to be proud of by our students,” Schmidt said of the basketball and football booster club members working to bring the video scoreboards to Seckman High. “All of the improvements directly benefit our students, staff and bring an increased commitment and sense of ownership in making Seckman one of the top athletic departments in the St. Louis Suburban Conference.”
Kube said the football booster club started securing sponsorship and advertising deals in late October. Baer praised Kube for spearheading the club’s effort to secure financing for the video scoreboard.
“Kellie Kube is an absolute rock star,” Baer said. “She was behind this project from the beginning, and she and the rest of the booster club board got it done. It is exciting for not only the football team, but all sports on the turf at Seckman High School and the youth teams as well.”
Schmidt said the video scoreboards also offer educational experiences for Seckman High students.
“These scoreboards can provide real-world experience for our students in creating graphics, media, commercials and running high tech equipment,” he said. “Students who want to enter the multimedia industry will be able to learn new technical and leadership skills, teamwork and performance opportunities.”
Fox High
Schmidt said he has met with Fox High activities director Scott Leuthauser and head football coach Brent Tinker to discuss how Seckman High booster clubs brought video scoreboards to their facilities.
“Once this information is communicated to the parent-led booster clubs, the Fox athletic staff can identify parent volunteers who can start to lead the process,” Schmidt said. “I will work and support those volunteers and Fox High School staff in completing this project. I have started working on securing sponsorships for the Fox prospective scoreboards as well, and will have more time to do so after I complete my current full-time position as Seckman activities director.”
Schmidt said he is confident Fox High’s parent-led groups will be able to replicate what the Seckman High groups did to bring video scoreboards to the school.
“They (Fox High) retain a much larger and involved alumni base, significant access to places of business, relationships to current partnerships who work with their high school programs, and the school is a focal point of the Arnold community located on a main thoroughfare (off Jeffco Boulevard),” he said. “The booster clubs need to meet, have a point person or team, and then can follow a similar strategy to move forward in the process. I am ready to work with those groups to support Fox students as soon as they are ready and able.”