Clowns or Announcers?

[George A.]

Being an annoucer for FIRST since 2006, I can say that at each competition I wear a different Hawaiian shirt, as well as spray paint my hair different colors.


Also, some differentiation has to be made from MC's and announcers. An announcer should be heard and not seen, so my dressing up is purely for my benefit and to make some of the volunteers smile.

The MC's on the other hand, are a completely different story. They are the face of the regional, and are meant to stand out to the crowd. Often times this involves wearing jewelery, a Hawaiian shirt or painting their hair.

Some of the things that you are describing could be coming from the teams themselves. Some teams don't have flags or banners to wear around, so they might give the MC a cape, a hat or the like. If that is the case the MC is simply doing to to give the teams some spirit. If they are wearing the things that you described out of their own ambition, then that is their flair they are trying to add to the competition.

However, I can't speak for all announcers or MC's in the organization. But it isn't an easy thing to keep an audience entertained for 2 days worth of competition.