Hey guys, I have started announcing track meets at my high school. What kind of things would recommend I include to educate the audience on? Some things that come to mind are: being quiet for the start, watching the 300 hurdles to see who goes over hurdle first, explaining staggers...what else you got?
For the 3200, talk about their PRs - you have about 10 minutes and you don’t want it to be silent.
for example: runner A has the fastest PR in the field and is a great XC runner (times or placement), but his mile speed and kick is a little lacking. Runner B is slower but has a better kick. You could talk about this at the start. Then, just comment on the developments in the race for laps 3-6
I organized a senior recognition meet last year. Covid took out my announcer last minute but here is what I tried to do. There is so much action at a meet that I tried to highlight all the events. Walker talkies with volunteers at field events would have helped if I wanted to draw attention to a potential pr at shot or something. I had info on all the seniors you could do everyone. I wanted to be prepared for PRs or talk about times before or during a longer race. The seniors had walk up music. We didn’t use that as much as I would have liked. Educate yourself on all of the events. I remember watching a streamed local meet and the commentators knew very little about the field events.
Know your audience, the more track knowledgeable they are, the more nuanced your announcing strategy should be. When you're announcing an elite meet, spend more time on introductions of the athletes, you should have notes on each of the finalists...know they're best marks, their local/national ranks, any big titles they own.
For early year, local meets, understand that many of the fans are complete newbies: explain the relays zones; explain the staggers in detail so they understand why the runners on the outside "get a head start"; have a list of the mascots of the schools so you can add that to the commentary "down the home stretch come the Vaqueros of El Capitan!"; bring some coaches in the booth for the distance meds, 4x800's and 4x400's so you can get splits on a bunch of the teams.
Last advice, don't try to emulate other announcers too much, embrace your own style and quirks, so your voice will be recognizable in its own way. In the small meets, don't be afraid to make it less formal and more laidback and fun. For big meets, be professional, know your athletes (it takes me 16-20hrs to "study" for the morning meet portion of the Arcadia Invitational...put in the work, its important your knowledge and effort match the quality of the meet).
We need more announcers in our sport, it makes a massive difference for both new fans and experienced ones. Good luck to you moving forward!
Distance. wrote:
For the 3200, talk about their PRs - you have about 10 minutes and you don’t want it to be silent.
for example: runner A has the fastest PR in the field and is a great XC runner (times or placement), but his mile speed and kick is a little lacking. Runner B is slower but has a better kick.
Yeah his parents will love that!
and no, it isn’t the same in HS as for the pros or even the semi pros in college
Are you talking about in person like over the PA? If so, then I say say very little.
I like the historical perspective. As they are brought up the track from the bullpen I enjoy when the school, meet, etc. records are announced including the names of the record holders. In my eyes it gives the meet a little more formality and clout, not only for the fans, but the participants.
First, keep it 100% positive if you're doing "color commentary" on an event. Don't say, "runner in the green shirt is fading so bad", etc.
I think the simplest and most effective things you can do are:
- Give updates on team scores and how events affect the score: City HS goes 1-2 in the 800, gaining 18 points to close the gap on West HS, making the current score 45-38.
- If you don't have a running clock on the scoreboard, then call out leader's splits and total race time.
- Highlight distances in throws/jumps: That was a 20' long jump by County HS.
Haha we had students commentate at a meet against our rivals and they’d call the other team slow any time we won
Great advice so far. In addition to PBs, also come prepared with some recent times/marks if possible, so you can add "Jane Smith ran 5:25 for the 1600 last week at the Northland County championships" and things like that.
Also, keep an eye out for the "races" farther back in the pack. Is there a top sophomore in the field? Someone making a charge for 3rd place? Moving up strongly on the 2nd lap? There will be a lot more parents/spectators watching the non-winners than just the first place finishers.
1. Convert the distances into units Americans can understand.
Tell them what the events were "formerly known as" --- the mile, the 100y dash, etc. If they did track back in the day or never did track, it is better to say, "the quarter mile" and "half mile" than the 400m and 800m. My mom has no idea what a "meter" is.
2. Tell them what a good time is for the event they are watching.
What is the world record? What is the school record? What does it take to win a meet these days. People have no idea if what they are watching is good or not...
3. Know your history and remind them of athletes they've heard of.
If you are watching the 1500m, remind them of Roger Bannister, Jim Ryun, etc. If they are watching the 100m dash remind them about Bolt and Carl Lewis and so on. They should have heard of FloJo and JJK.
4. If you have a good sense of humor, and know the kids, use that.
My kids love the guy in the booth who makes hilarious play-by-play comments. It fits his personality and he is funny. If you can pull that off, go for it. Nobody will get mad if you make the meet more interesting.
Distance. wrote:
For the 3200, talk about their PRs - you have about 10 minutes and you don’t want it to be silent.
for example: runner A has the fastest PR in the field and is a great XC runner (times or placement), but his mile speed and kick is a little lacking. Runner B is slower but has a better kick. You could talk about this at the start. Then, just comment on the developments in the race for laps 3-6
You know the runners can hear him too, right?
I'm asking this to clarify, not to nitpick: are you announcing, or are you commentating? I.e. are you the guy at the stadium talking over a PA, or are you providing the commentary for a televised meet?
All straight responses. I figured this would be a page of jokes, but all of you seem to take the topic seriously. Since when is there an audience for something called a 'high school track meet'? I mean, I was way into running in high school. Probabaly average above 60 mpw the whole time including summers. Best distance runner at the school. This is saying something since it was a very large school in a running-crazed time and place. And I never attended something like this.
If they weren't publicised enough that the kids at school were aware of them, who even knows about these things? Parents? Is that 100% of the audience? 90%? I'm just saying that if my crowd never heard of one and certainly never considered attending one, I have a hard time believing any significant number of non-parents have ever shown up. Don't tell me you have to pay for tickets. If so, I'm guessing nearly the entire audience is coaches and people waiting for other events.
By the way, this is not a joke. Not here to get anyone all torqued off. Many of you may be offended, but the whole topic is completely outside of my experience. Seriously. High school track meet announcing exists? Is the announcer whichever of the 2 guys watching who's talking at the moment? Please tell me the existence of the thread is a troll.
Remember that every race is the equivalent of scoring a touchdown, so get as excited as football announcers do.
And it is not always the winner who has the best race, a sprint for fifth place could be the most exciting part, or even the last place person setting a PR is a big deal.
Some helpful information to convey during a meet:
1st, 2nd, Final call to the bullpen.
Meet records
Relay splits are taken when the baton crosses the middle of the exchange zone, not when the baton is handed off.
Starters in Alleys cannot move in to Lane 1 until past the break line (cones).
How many laps are remaining in distance races.
What their pace is, and what their projected finish time will be if they keep that pace.
State Qualifying standards (if applicable in your State) including wind requirements (<=+ 2 mps)
Concession stand items (announce when the pizza arrives).
License plate numbers of illegally park cars that will be towed if the owner doesn't move it.
Ruxton Towers XC wrote:
1. Convert the distances into units Americans can understand.
Tell them what the events were "formerly known as" --- the mile, the 100y dash, etc. If they did track back in the day or never did track, it is better to say, "the quarter mile" and "half mile" than the 400m and 800m. My mom has no idea what a "meter" is.
No. Just no.
Bullet the Blue Sky wrote:
First, keep it 100% positive if you're doing "color commentary" on an event. Don't say, "runner in the green shirt is fading so bad", etc.
I think the simplest and most effective things you can do are:
- Give updates on team scores and how events affect the score: City HS goes 1-2 in the 800, gaining 18 points to close the gap on West HS, making the current score 45-38.
- If you don't have a running clock on the scoreboard, then call out leader's splits and total race time.- Highlight distances in throws/jumps: That was a 20' long jump by County HS.
What happens when West high wins the City high meet so many years in a row they just shut the lights off after the meet is over because they dont want to read the final score again? That was hilarious! And you had it backwards....the 2 West kids went 1-2 to gain the 18 points. I was there.
I completely agree. No one attends these things but why not make them a bit more fun like a football game and attract some support for the team.
You Can't Be Serious! wrote:
Since when is there an audience for something called a 'high school track meet'? ... who even knows about these things? Parents? Is that 100% of the audience? 90%? ... If so, I'm guessing nearly the entire audience is coaches and people waiting for other events.
Yes, that's pretty much it. But those people are STILL part of the audience. They like to be informed too. Parents are there for their kids, but getting some of them engaged in at least watching other events helps the overall experience.