KHSAA to Offer Football Announcers' Clinic August 15

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association will host a clinic for football public address announcers on Saturday, August 15 at the KHSAA office in Lexington. The clinic will be conducted by the National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers (NASPAA), the professional association for sports public address announcers.

Carl Nathe, University of Kentucky football P.A. announcer, will be the clinician. The clinic is for P.A. announcers who announce junior high/middle school, high school, college, and youth football. Substitute announcers, as well as high school and college students, who would like to learn how to announce or who are announcing, are encouraged to register.

Besides learning the do's and don'ts of announcing football, the clinic will cover the P.A. announcer's role in promoting sportsmanship and dealing with emergency situations, all of which have liability implications. A variety of topics will be covered including scriptwriting, voice training and game announcing. A football official will review new rules changes, officials' hand signals and ways that officials and P.A. announcers can better work together.

"The NASPAA clinic allows the public address announcers from throughout the state the chance to get together and grow both personally and professionally in this important part of athletic contest management," commented Brigid DeVries, KHSAA Commissioner. "The P.A. announcer is key to handling situations that arise, maintaining the proper level of good sportsmanship, and helping the fans understand what is happing at a contest. This clinic is a great way to maintain and improve the skills of announcers regardless of experience level."

"The KHSAA is to be commended for its commitment to help raise the level of professionalism of P.A. announcing," remarked Brad Rumble, NASPAA Executive Director. "P.A announcers who would like to improve their announcing skills and prepare for the upcoming football season will not want to miss this professional development opportunity."

Information about the clinic and registration may be obtained at www.naspaa.net or by calling (816) 305-6293.