What I learned game announcing

Across our qualifiers, our Youth Ambassadors have been taking to the mics, hyping the crowd and announcing winning alliances.

It’s a new role this year, but our Youth Ambassadors have relished in the opportunity to be Game Announcers. They’ve been our answer to David Croft, Alex Scott and Gabby Logan, injecting sporting action into our regional events.

The Mercia Roboctonauts competing

We interviewed Katy from the Mercia School about what she learned from game announcing and how she overcame any initial nerves to own the spotlight and capture attendees’ attention. She’s been a Youth Ambassador since the start of the season and completed all her training to make sure she was microphone-ready. 

Championing my region’s teams

My name’s Katy and I am the team captain of the Mercia Roboctonauts. We are from Sheffield, and this is our first year competing as a team. We were fortunate to be crowned Winning Alliance Partners for the Yorkshire and Humber qualifier this year. This is by far our best achievement, and leading my team to victory is one of my proudest moments. I can’t wait to see what we achieve at champs!

As a Youth Ambassador Game Announcer, I loved taking over the mic from Paige, our brilliant FIRST UK HQ Hub Coordinator. 

To be honest, I was terrified beforehand. I didn’t know how I would know what to talk about, whether my voice would sound weird in the microphone and whether people would think I was too loud. I am acclimatised to public speaking roles and performing to large crowds. I’ve talked at open days and been in school musicals, so I did not expect to be nervous about it or to struggle to find the words. 

However, as the day went on and I became more comfortable, I realised how much I was learning. I gained observation skills and learned how to pick out positives in performances that may not have been initially easy to spot. I also learned how to rouse a crowd, particularly in the final match when it was high stakes.  

One of the trickiest parts of game announcing was when my team was competing. It was difficult to stay impartial, but being able to look on objectively came in handy later when we adjusted our game plan for the final few games. 

I expected it to be difficult to remove myself from the team and look at the game as objectively as possible, but because my team weren’t the first competing, I’d got into the swing of things by the time it was our turn. I made an effort to comment on both alliances and all robots equally. Ultimately, I think it helped my team because I was an outsider during the matches, weighing up all teams equally.

Katy announcing her team as members of the winning alliance

Katy’s tips for being a great Game Announcer

1. Just start talking about what you see. If someone is going for a scoring element, tell the crowd. You can also ask rhetorical questions to get the audience invested, such as if a robot has fallen over, say “Oh no, the Roboctonauts have fallen over. Will they need help from their alliance partner or can they get up by themselves?”
2. Be enthusiastic about it as well. Show your love for robotics and the challenge as a whole. 
3. Announce the next match and tell teams valuable information like rankings and how many matches are left. 
4. Most importantly, be you! Add your own spin to it; talk to the crowd, interview the teams and use that mic to make the event as entertaining as possible to teams not currently competing. 
5. Just go for it! The FIRST UK team are super supportive and will answer any questions you have! It is, moreover, a good opportunity to develop your public speaking skills in a safe environment free of judgment.

Watch out, emcees. Our Youth Ambassador Game Announcers are professional sports commentators in the making.