WATSONVILLE — Johnny Bravo remembers looking up at the Watsonville High scoreboard in the heat of a football game only to be confused and have his heart drop out of his chest and into his stomach.
“You could never tell what time it was or what the score was,” said Bravo, a senior running back for the Wildcatz. “You’d look up there and say, ‘is that an eight, a six or a zero?’ You couldn’t tell if the game had a couple minutes left or eight.”
Bravo and the Wildcatz no longer have to quickly decipher the half-illuminated numbers from the old scoreboard, thanks to Bill Moncovich, the owner and co-founder of California Giant Berry Farms. Moncovich, who was born and raised in Watsonville and graduated from Watsonville High, donated $15,000 to help the school refurbish its aging scoreboard.
Moncovich was not available for comment on Friday but company spokeswoman Cindy Jewell said in an email that he was “proud” to see the name of his company on the sign.
“[Moncovich] is definitely a giving person and was happy to help the high school with this project,” Jewell said.
The school kept the existing structure of the scoreboard, which was donated to the school by the Jean & Ed Kelly Foundation in the late ‘90s, but the guts are new and the outside was given a facelift. The old-school lightbulb display has been replaced by a state-of-the-art LED look. On the surface, the dents were buffed out, it was given a brand-new coat of paint and the California Giant Berry Farms logo has been slapped on.
“It’s beautiful, way better than what it was when I played,” said Ricky Monroy, an assistant coach for the Watsonville junior varsity team who played for the Wildcatz a year ago. “It needed it and I’m happy these guys get to have it.”
The school originally planned to have the scoreboard completely removed and replaced by a new LED scoreboard with video capabilities, which would’ve cost anywhere from $60,000-70,000. But Athletic Director Mark Northcutt and the school’s other leaders instead decided to refurbish the existing structure to ensure the district would be able to house both Watsonville and Pajaro Valley High athletic events for the 2017-18 school year.
St. Francis High has also used Emmett M. Geiser Field this football season.
Rick Stubblefield, who has worked in the announcing booth and run the scoreboard for the varsity, junior varsity and freshman football games since the ‘80s, said there’s no comparison from the old display to the new one. The only gripe he has with the new system is the control scheme, which has been tough to keep up with while announcing and spotting.
“For vision for the fans, it’s wonderful and it’s a lot cheaper than what a new one would’ve been,” Stubblefield said.
The updated scoreboard was just one of several upgrades to Emmett M. Geiser Field during the summer and early fall.
With the help of the Wharf to Wharf, the track went through a $350,000 restoration a few months ago and the turf field was also revamped.
Northcutt said it’s nice to have the entire stadium slowly improve.
“We had the new track, nice field and the old scoreboard just didn’t match,” Northcutt said. “It’s nice to have that taken care of and have it match the rest.”
Northcutt said the athletic department will also try to renovate the baseball field, snack bar and press box over the next few years.
All of the improvements are expected to not only help the football team at Watsonville but also the soccer, lacrosse and track teams during the upcoming seasons.
Bravo said he and his fellow Watsonville student-athletes have noticed the generosity of the community.
“It gives us hope,” Bravo said. “Knowing that someone is out there that believes in us and gives us a new field, a track and a scoreboard. People from the community are giving back. It’s cool to see that support.”
