WOOL SOCKS A MUST
ANNOUNCERS BRING LIFE, PROFESSIONALISM TO AN EVENT by NICK MCCARVEL
When Ashley Wagner takes the ice at a competition, one thing signals the world-class skater that it’s time to put her game face on: that booming voice over the arena’s loudspeaker. “Tat’s what gets me hungry to compete,” says the U.S. champion and Olympic compet- itor, of the sound of her own name being an- nounced. “It’s what gets me focused on the task at hand.”
Te voice that calls out Ashley’s — and
her competitors’ — names, however, isn’t just any voice. It belongs to a carefully chosen and hard-working individual who is part of U.S. Figure Skating announcers’ subcommittee. An- nouncers cover every sanctioned event from re- gionals to the U.S. Championships and beyond, making up another piece of the fabric that to- gether is the greater skating quilt. “In figure skating we have music officials and announcers,” explains Ann O’Keefe, the national vice chair of announcers. “If you think about how hard it is to hold a competition if you don’t have music, the extra piece of that is the announcers. You have to find the best wool socks in the world to do the job. It’s not paid, it’s vol-
Charles Robel
unteer, and you have to do it for the love of the sport and for the love and support of the skaters.” Tat’s why a wool-socks-wearing O’Keefe,
who will serve as chief announcer at the World Championships in Boston next month, and her counterparts do what they do: Tey love figure skating.
O’Keefe got her start in the mid-1990s with
the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane So- ciety as a music coordinator, then found herself announcing when it was needed. “I picked up the microphone and it was … all of a sudden I heard my own voice going through the arena and I scared myself,” O’Keefe remembers. “I think I scared the skater, too. I be- came more comfortable with it over time, and now I never hear my voice. I went from being scared and having a cracking sound to now, where I feel as though I am having a comfortable conversation with a group of friends in a very big room.” But that journey from Point A to B wasn’t that simple for O’Keefe, nor is it for any an- nouncer. Carol Nugent started at the club level in
Ann O’Keefe
(l-r) Announcers Jim Webb and Ann O’Keefe, with the music team of Chip Rauth, Barb Leonard, Jim Chen and Michael Wittman, bring 2009 Skate America to the spectators in Lake Placid, New York.
the mid-1980s and moved to competitions in the early 1990s. For Nugent — and for all an- nouncers — there were official protocols to learn, understand and digest. She became engrossed in competition processes and protocols. O’Keefe now heads up the announcers’ subcommittee, but Nugent and Charles Robel, another seasoned announcer, work in tandem to help developing announcers find their voices — literally. “Te entry process is pretty easy: It’s about
reaching out to Ann and expressing an interest and giving some basic information of who you are,” says Robel, who’s been behind the micro- phone for some 20 years. “A voice is part of it, but an understanding of how an event runs and what to do in different situations, all of that comes with experience. You have to know pro- tocol and expose yourself to different levels and different competitions. Once you get to a certain point, there are mechanisms in place for you to get feedback, and ultimately recommendations are made for advancement levels.” Announcers nationwide have formed a community among themselves. O’Keefe helps reach out to clubs and recruit new announcers
Carol Nugent
14 FEBRUARY 2016
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