The South Cariboo Recreation Centre is undergoing an upgrade this summer that will allow people to tune in to games, practices and other events from all over the world.
As part of a project to refurbish the rec centre’s aging audio system, Canlan Sports – with funding from the Cariboo Regional District – will also be installing a high-tech multi-camera system that can livestream any of the activities that take place at the arena.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” said Josh Dickerson, general manager of the South Cariboo Rec Centre. “Right now the building is at about 18 years old. And as everybody knows, technology changes greatly over time.”
Ideas for the project were first explored a few years ago, Dickerson said, when repairs to the arena’s audio system revealed some of the equipment to be nearly obsolete. As the scope of the upgrade project grew, Dickerson said he began to research some different video systems that allow for live streaming of whatever is taking place on the ice.
“We thought it would be a great addition to the facility. There’s a lot of grandparents who live outside of 100 Mile House who can’t come in and watch their grandkids play hockey or even just skate,” Dickerson said.
The idea was brought to the CRD who agreed to fund $87,000 for the audio and video upgrade – which includes the installation of fibre optic internet as well – and Dickerson said the equipment is on track to be installed by the end of July.
The video system that was chosen, called Pixellot, is specialized for sporting events, Dickerson said.
“It’s a stack of four cameras, and those four cameras can view the whole surface area, whether it’s a hockey arena, a sports field or a gymnasium, that’s what their specialty is,” he said, noting that by coincidence, Andres Electronics is one of only a handful of Canadian distributors of that particular brand.
There will be no cost to viewers to utilize the technology, Dickerson noted.
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