– FIRST Tech Challenge DECODE Season Guide

#horizontalrule

Overview
Roles Covered:Emcee/Game Announcer
Job Description
Emcee
It is the Emcee’s job to be a visual presence, to inform the audience, and to keep the event lively and
moving forward. Game Announcer
The Game Announcer’s role is vital to a successful event. Being informed, knowledgeable, and
comfortable in your role will directly translate into a better event and make the event more enjoyable for
the teams and spectators. Game Announcer/Emcee – Working Together
The difference between the roles is critical to aid the audience in where to focus their attention. It is
also crucial to work in harmony with one another to create a support structure and avoid
competitive/overlapping speaking.
To have a successful event, both positions require:
• A lively, animated vocal personality.
• Good public speaking skills.
• A pleasant-sounding voice.
• A desire to help the participants have the time of their lives.
• The ability to handle unanticipated situations.
• Strang event situational awareness
• Lots of energy!
Requirements
Technical
Low
Physical
Medium
Administrative
Low
Communication
High
Pre-event Training Medum

Time Commitment
Emcee and Game Announcer volunteers should expect to spend 10-12 hours at a full day event and 5-6
hours at a league meet. Approximately 6 hours of pre-event training and planning is required.
Attire
• Comfortable closed-toe, closed-heel shoes, much of the day will involve standing and walking.
• ANSI Z87.1 certified safety glasses are required in the pit and competition areas.
Training and Certification
Read and complete all tasks listed in thePre-Event Trainingsection.
Any volunteer who applies to a role will be able to get into the Learning Management System (LMS)
using the 'FIRSTTraining' button. Roles with the training required will appear in the 'roles missing
certification' area. For more help, you can read moreabout how to access your training.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
2 of 14

#horizontalrule

If you have applied for a role but have not received access to the training, please email
training@firstinspires.org. A separate confirmation of the role assignment will come later.
The Emcee or Game Announcer should speak to the Field Supervisor to find out what additional
requirements, such as meetings before the event or run-throughs of the space before the event are
required. The approximate training time is 2-3 hours.
All volunteers are expected to read and comply with the Volunteer Handbook.
Roles and Responsibilities
FIRST is fun for all. The most important role of a volunteer is to provide a
safe, fun and welcoming environment for all FIRST participants. When
executing the duties of your role, always make decisions with team
experience in mind. Ask for help from event leadership if you feel your
required duties conflict with the best team experience.

Emcee/Game Announcer
The Game Announcer is a role vital to a successful event. The Game Announcer’s role is working with
the Emcee to:
• Introduce teams.
• Provide play-by-play commentary to the teams and audience.
• Report the scores.
The Game Announcer should primarily speak only for team introductions, play-by-play commentary, and
score announcement. The Game Announcer role is to be an audible FIRST^® Tech Challenge presence at
an event.
Prerequisites for Emcee
Minimum Age:18 (must be post-high school or equivalent)
• Exceptions may be granted by event Volunteer Coordinators after review and approval by the
local Program Delivery Partner
Experience:Either FIRST^® or related experience preferred
• FIRST^® experience strongly preferred
• Prior announcing or public speaking experience highly encouraged
Training:Some pre-event training required
Prerequisites for Game Announcer
Minimum Age:15
• Exceptions may be granted by event Volunteer Coordinators after review and approval by the
local Program Delivery Partner
Experience:Either FIRST^® or related experience preferred
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
3 of 14

#horizontalrule

• FIRST experience strongly preferred; prior announcing or public speaking experience highly
encouraged
• Prior experience as a Game Announcer for a FIRST Program(s) is helpful
• Requires thorough knowledge or ability to learn game and match process
Training:Some pre-event training required
Before the Event
Pre-Event Training
Emcees and Game Announcers must complete the required reading in this section and are required to
pass a certification test prior to serving in this role.
Resources for training and certification:
Emcee and Game AnnouncerPre-event Training List
Requirement
Resource
Required
Welcome to FIRST
Read the Emcee and Game Announcer Manual(this
Required
document)
Watch the game animation videofor a general
Required
understanding of the game.
Read the Competition Manual, specifically:
• Section 8 Game – Overview
• Section 9 – ARENA
Required
• Section 10 – Game Details
• Section 11 – Game Rules
• Section 13 – Tournament
Read the provided template event scripts to prepare for the
flow on event day:
Required
• Script - Opening Ceremonies (docx)
• Script - Alliance Selection (docx)
• Script - Playoffs and Awards (docx)
Encouraged
Attend anEmcee/Game Announcer Webinar
Encouraged
Complete Strategies for Inspiring Success for All modules.

Pre-Event Preparation Work
Both Emcees and Game Announcers need to review the names of all participating teams using the
event’s pageon FTC Events.Make a list of team names that you are not sure how to pronounce so you
can follow up with those teams at the event.
The Emcee should use the ceremony scripts to create notecards for your reference during ceremonies;
avoid reading directly from the scoring system or a printout.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
4 of 14

#horizontalrule

Smaller events may only use a single Emcee/Game Announcer volunteer. Contact your Event Volunteer
Coordinator and determine if both the Emcee and Game Announcer will be filled or if you will be
expected to cover both responsibilities.
Event Day
Report Time
The Event Director or volunteer coordinator will confirm the time you should arrive, typically via email
the week before the event. In most cases arriving at the beginning of the event time works best.
When you arrive onsite check-in with the Volunteer Coordinator and report to the Field Supervisor.
Set-up
After checking in, report to the Field Supervisor to learn about technical requirements of the event, the
venue map and event schedule for the day.
Look over the team list for the day, and if there is time, talk to the teams participating in the event and
take a few notes. This ensures the Emcee and Game Announcer will have some familiarity with teams
in their first matches and have little tidbits of information to share if match play gets slow throughout
the event.
Event Day Flow
The Emcee and the Game Announcer will work together to plan and announce each step in the event
day so the audience can follow along. The different components of an event are set out below:
Opening Ceremonies
After the program delivery partner or Event Director has confirmed that all guest speakers and Judges
are present, the show begins. The opening ceremonies script, which has been prepared by the Program
Delivery Partner/Event Director, is used by the Emcee, A/V crew, and Program Delivery Partner to
ensure synchronization. Work together with the Event Director.
Let the Games Begin!
During the qualification matches, after the Emcee introduces each team by number, the Game
Announcer completes the introductions (full name on first intro only, short name thereafter); then the
Emcee counts down “3, 2, 1, Go” to start the match. The Game Announcer provides play-by-play
commentary and time remaining announcements. The referees score the match, and the Game
Announcer announces the score as it is displayed by the A/V crew.
Make timed announcements at 1 minute played, 30 seconds remaining, 10 seconds remaining, and the
countdown for the last 5 seconds. Additionally, work on getting a rhythm between the Game Announcer
and the Emcee. Often the crowd noise is so loud that you cannot hear one another. Establishing a
rhythm, such as making eye contact to connect, ensures that you do not talk at the same time.
Alliance Selection
The Emcee runs the alliance selection in the same area as the playing fields. The alliance selection
consists of alliance captains picking partners to form permanent alliances. These alliances participate
in double elimination tournaments to determine the tournament’s winning alliance. The alliance
selection should follow the rules in the competition manual and the flow in the alliance selection script
provided.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
5 of 14

#horizontalrule

Closing and Awards Ceremonies
The closing and awards ceremony happen during the final matches. The Emcee/Game Announcer
should work with the Event Director and Judge Advisor to ensure everyone knows the flow of the
ceremony. This is a very exciting time for the teams as they not only are awarded for their performance
on the field, but the finalists and winners are announced for each of the judged awards.
When the awards are announced, it is customary to announce the finalists of each award (for example,
2nd and 3rd place think award), and then to announce the winner using an optional script written by the
Judges. Make sure to tell the teams ahead of time that the 2nd and 3rd place award teams should
remain seated, and that the winner of the award should come to the stage for the celebration line and
to accept their trophy/medal.
Do’s and Don’ts
Do
Don’t
• Make the teams feel welcome on the field
• Never direct strategy to the teams. Your job is
and show interest in all the teams.
to comment on the play, not to direct it.
• Keep the audience engaged in what is going
• Do not commentate on rules related
on.
situations (example: “That’s got to be a
• Keep an eye on the schedule and adjust to
yellow card!”) or interfere or attempt to
stay on track.
influence the referee rulings.
• Speak slowly and clearly. Diction is very
• Do not emphasize winning above all else.
important.
• Do not play favorites or endlessly praise
• Use optimistic phrases to encourage poorly
veteran teams over rookies (or other
performing teams. Example: “Team 123 is
veterans).
trying to get something going”, or “it looks
• Do not scream or talk so fast that you cannot
like team 123 is having trouble getting their
be understood. You have 6+ hours per day to
robot in gear, hopefully they can figure
maintain the audience’s attention. Screaming
something out, there’s still 1:30 remaining in
unintelligibly is grating.
the match.”
• Do not do “shout out’s”, “happy birthday”
• Make the descriptions lively and interesting.
wishes, etc. to the audience. This is both
• Behave professionally.
unprofessional and opens the floodgates for
• Be ready to begin each match as soon as the
endless birthday announcements.
field is reset.
• Do not get distracted by personal business,
• Use team names as often as possible rather
or answering calls, messages, or notifications
than exclusively referring to the team
on your cell phone.
number.
• Remember to keep the focus on the teams
• Mention something about every team in every
and the students. The teams and the
match.
audience want to be entertained by both the
• Pay attention to the movement of folks
event and the match play. Use your
around the playing area to avoid collisions.
personality to help make the teams and event
shine!

Performance Tips
• If everything sounds the same to the audience they will eventually tune out, so use vocal variety:
o Vary your speaking style and volume throughout the event.
o If your delivery is consistently too high energy, the audience may get anxious and will
lose interest.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
6 of 14

#horizontalrule

o An energetic, varied delivery is interesting and inviting to an audience.
• Develop your own style; do not try to be someone you are not.
• Silence is okay. Let the action speak for itself sometimes. Constant announcing will cause the
audience to tune you out. Remember, you must make all 50+ matches interesting.
Technical Tips
• Routinely check to make sure your headset is in the best position to pick up your voice and not
riding too high or too low on your head.
• If using a handheld microphone, hold it close to your mouth and speak into it, not over it.
Confirm that your microphone is off before speaking off-line.
Emergencies
The program delivery partner, Event Director and the event site host organization are responsible for
having safety and security plans in place for each event. Included in the plan should be topics such as:
• A map of all the emergency exits
• Knowledge of where on-site medical support is located
• Shelter in place plans in the case of severe weather
• Evacuation plans
The Emcee or Game Announcer may need to help make announcements to notify or direct people in the
case of emergency.
Teams should have their own safety plans before attending the event. Here are some team-focused
recommendations for Preparing to Safely Attend a FIRST^® Event.
Medical Incident Reporting
Event volunteers are not responsible for diagnosing student injuries, handing out medication, or first aid
equipment. You and other event volunteers should refer medical issues and emergencies to a medical
professional on site, such as an EMT. If an incident or illness occurs at an event, the Event Director, Pit
Administrator, or another trained delegate should do the following:
• Call 911 if there is any question whether the injured
person/persons require urgent medical attention.
• Respond to the scene immediately. Bring a clipboard, pen, or an
electronic device to complete the incident report on theFIRST^®
Reporting Portal.
• Complete the incident report for the injured party.

The Event Director or Pit Administration volunteers are responsible for
www.firstinspires.org/report
completing incident reports.
Youth Protection Reporting
Issues that are non-medical but are of concern to a participant/participants should also be reported.
Anything that happens during an event that made a youth volunteer, team member or spectator feel
uncomfortable or threatened should be addressed.
As appropriate and if you feel safe doing so, speak directly with the offending party and try to quickly
and calmly defuse the immediate issue. Call the Event Director and/or the Program Delivery Partner and
inform them of the issue and seek assistance as needed with any immediate remediation of the issue.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
7 of 14

#horizontalrule

Ensure all issues are reported in a timely manner using theFIRST^® Reporting Portal.Youth Protection
Concerns encompasses a wide variety of one-time or ongoing issues such as suspected abuse,
bullying, harassment, discrimination, questionable behavior, or violation to the FIRST^® Code of Conduct.
Reporting Other Issues or Concerns
Feedback about issues such as game play, rule changes,
awards, and event management (other than
medical/safety issues) are considered program related
concerns and not youth protection issues and should be
shared with FIRST via customerservice@firstinspires.org
or bycontacting support.
Please note that match results and award results are final
help.firstinspires.org/s/contactsupport
and that we will not review match videos.

End of the Day
At the end of the day the Emcee and Game Announcer volunteers should make sure they check-in with
the Field Supervisor, return any tech they were wearing or using for the event and if possible, ask if they
can help with any other load-out or end of the day task needed.

Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
8 of 14

#horizontalrule

Important Tools
Public Schedule
The Program Delivery Partner or the Event Director should publish the public schedule of events before
the event. This schedule will have a high-level overview of all the activities for the event. It is important
that everyone at the event does their best to stay true to the public schedule so that teams and
volunteers who have planned their day around these times have a good experience.
Time
Agenda
7:15 am
Doors Open for Staff & Key Volunteers
7:30 am
Judges and Inspectors Report
8:00 am
Doors Open for Teams
8:30 am
Judging & Inspection Commences
10:15 am Team Check-in Hard Deadline (Check the Competition Manual)
Match schedule is generated and distributed to teams. (Check the Competition Manual)
10:30 am Note to Scorekeeper: 6 Matches total(Check the Competition Manual)
10:40 am Drivers’ Meeting with Head Referee & Opening Ceremony
Qualification Matches 1 - 8
11:00 am Note to Scorekeeper: 7-minute cycle-time
12:00 pm Lunch
Qualification Matches 9 - 45
12:45 pm Note to Scorekeeper: 5-minute cycle-times
3:50 pm
Qualification Matches Projected End
4:00 pm
Alliance Selection
4:20 pm
Double Elimination Rounds 1 - 4
5:10 pm
Award Ceremonies Start & Double Eliminations Round 5
6:20 pm
Projected End of Event
7:00 pm
Doors Close
Occasionally things that happen out of the event’s control may impact the schedule. In these cases,
work closely with the Event Director to understand the updated agenda.
Figure 1: Example Schedule for a 30 Team Event
Registered Teams List
The Program Delivery Partner may provide a list of teams registered for the event or the scorekeeper
can export a report of all the registered teams for the event. Sometimes this list may change the day of
the event based on which teams show up. The Scorekeeper report will have the most accurate
information about who is competing at an event. Notes that teams may be competing only in the
judging portion of the event and not have a robot present.
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
9 of 14

#horizontalrule

Figure 2: Competing Team Report
Event Layout/Map
The Program Delivery Partner and Event Director should publish a map of the venue before the event. In
some cases, details on the map might not be available until the day of the event.
The Event Layout / Map should detail the following:
• Load-In Path
• Parking for Personal Vehicles and Busses
• Team Check-in
• Volunteer Check-in
• Competition Area
• Pit Area (May include thePit Map)
• Judging Room Locations (if applicable)
• Safety Details as available (Emergency Exits, AED, Shelter in Place Locations)

Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
10 of 14

#horizontalrule

Figure 3: Example Event Map
Judging Schedule

Figure 4: Example Judging Schedule
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
11 of 14

#horizontalrule

Match Schedule
The match list will be generated on the day of the event after the teams have been confirmed. This
schedule will list which teams will play in which alliance (Red or Blue) and it will also list a match start
time see Figure 5.Some events will have more than one competition field. Some events will have more
than one division, in which case each division will have its own schedule.

Figure 5: Example Match Schedule
Pit Map
Pit maps are typically provided by either the Event Director or by the Scorekeeper. Having a map of
where each team is in the pit is key, as teams, parents or Queuers might need to find. Below are two
sample pit mapsin Figure 6andFigure 7. Pit Maps created in FTC Scoring will appear on theFTC-
Eventspage.

Figure 6: Example Pit Map for a small12-team Qualifier Event

Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
12 of 14

#horizontalrule

Figure 7: Example Pit Map for a Typical Regional Championship Event

Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
13 of 14

#horizontalrule

Useful Links and Information
On-Call Support Numbers

On-Call Support
These numbers are for volunteer support only. Teams should not use these numbers
to call about rulings or technical assistance.

Administrative, Judge, Referee and Non-Technical Issues:
(603)206-2412

Scoring System (FTC Live) or other Technical Issues:

(603)206-2450
Call or use the built-in chat feature on FTC Live available for events with internet
access
Pre-Event Support
Mon – Fri
8:30am – 5:00pm Eastern Time (UTC-4 or UTC-5)
Contact Supportincluding live chat or emailcustomerservice@firstinspires.org

Program Resources
FIRST^® Tech Challenge Website
Event Search

Game and Season Resources
FIRST^® Tech Challenge Blog

Volunteer Resources
Team Email Blasts

Feedback
We strive to create support materials that are the best they can be. If you have feedback about this
manual, please emailcustomerservice@firstinspires.orgor bycontacting support. Thank you!
Revision 25-26.1
MC and GA Volunteer Manual
14 of 14

#horizontalrule

Document Outline

#horizontalrule