How many times have you received a roster, only to find that it’s in alphabetical order by first name, alphabetical order by last name, or in just some random order?  Annoying, isn’t it?

Yes, I won’t lie.  In all the years I’ve been announcing, that’s one of my biggest pet peeves.  Below, I’m recapping some of the questions or comments made about rosters over the years.  In the comments section, please feel free to add some of your responses or pet peeves about rosters you’ve received.

Why do you need them in numerical order?

So it’s easier to find the right player, all are identified by their number, so that’s the easiest thing to find them with.

Oh, I put them in order of how I think they’ll play

Ummm, I honestly had no idea what to say except, “well, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the game, numerical order is best for announcers and referees.”

You wrote his/her name wrong, it’s spelled …

Yes, but it’s easier for me to say it correctly the way that it’s spelled on my roster, rather than how it’s written.

But the name is still wrong on your roster!!!

Yes, so I can announce it correctly every time.  I’d rather get it right 100% of the time and the player is happy, vs. getting it wrong and upsetting hie/her parents.  Besides, I’m the only one who is going to see this.

Can’t you just write them in numerical order after I give them to you?

Oh boy, does this one really get to me.  Sometimes, you just want to scream, “If I could do it, why couldn’t you?  I have a lot of other things to worry about right now than rewriting your roster because you couldn’t take the extra time to do it right.”  But you can’t scream at people, or at least you shouldn’t.  Most of the time, I’ll simply reply, “Yes, but there is a lot going on and unfortunately I can’t do it right now as we need to get a lot of stuff announced and going.”

I thought you just memorized the names

I do, but after getting their numbers.  Since I’ve never seen your team play, I don’t know what number 7 looks like to recognize her to her name.  Numbers to names helps greatly.

Can I just write the roster on your scoresheet?

No.  Nobody touches my scoresheet but me.  Honestly though, the answer is still no because my scoresheets are designed for announcers, and I’ve had too many parents just write the names and numbers in pen, without regard to the lines and boxes that are on the page.

Why do you need the roster?

For the longest time, this was a very common question.  Why?  I have no idea.  It seems fairly straight forward after you’ve introduced yourself as the P. A. announcer that you would need the roster.  Sometimes leads to some of the previous questions.