#HYPE ATHLETICS BASKETBALL FULL#

Whereas an announcer is responsible for informing the crowd about who scored or got penalized, a hype man is supposed to energize the crowd whenever there are breaks in the game. There was still, as McEown admits, a significant learning curve to the new job. Always “happy to have a microphone,” McEown jumped at the opportunity and quickly became a regular at Thunderbird home games across a multitude of sports.

“And I love sports, so once I found out that this was an actual I could do I was like ‘that’s literally all the things that I like.’”Īlthough he would start out as the announcer for soccer games, when the season was over he was asked if he could do ‘hype stuff’ for other sporting events on campus. “My background is as an actor so I always liked performing,” he said. He’s graduated with a degree in creative writing, yet he’s still a regular sight at War Memorial Gym, hyping up the home crowd with classics like the T-Bird t-shirt contest.

#HYPE ATHLETICS BASKETBALL FULL#

Seated in the lobby of War Memorial, five years after that basketball tryout and audition for PA announcer, things seem to have come full circle for Nico McEown. “But then when I was at the stadium doing the audition it just came out.” The tone of his voice quickly changes to a deep bellowing sound as he recites the familiar phrase: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.” “I wasn’t exactly sure what to do,” McEown recalled.

This one would prove to be much more successful. Although the role was filled at the time, Hanson did put him in contact with the athletics director who arranged another tryout for McEown. He approached Kevin Hanson, the men’s basketball coach, to see if the team needed an announcer for their home games. While he wouldn’t make the team, the experience would still provide him with an opportunity to get involved with UBC athletics. The first time Nico McEown stepped onto the court at War Memorial Gymnasium, he was trying out for the men’s basketball team. You might not know his face, but you'll know him by such things like the T-Bird t-shirt contest

Hype athletics basketball