Stepping foot into the Aamoth Stadium announcing room, affectionately called “The Box” by those that work in it, feels like walking into a world entirely of its own.

Complete with grand glass windows, complicated looking soundboards, and around eight senior boys, the box feels foreign and intimidating to anyone new to the environment. But as soon as the door shuts, the atmosphere reveals itself to be much more comfortable than it may have seemed. The box’s unique vibe is fostered and maintained with the efforts of Blake Weyerhaeuser ’19 and Noah Ragan ’19, the official Blake School box announcers for the past two years.

Despite what seem to be complex controls to the untrained eye, Weyerhaeuser and Ragan run the sound system with ease, “We switch off” Weyerhaeuser says, “One of us announces and one of us runs the clock,” Ragan adds ” We’ll go down to the field and get pronunciation from the away team to get the official names. We have to do music and rosters before the game starts”

The duo makes the process seem flawless, even down to the music. Eagerly turning his laptop, Ragan shares the new process of selecting the tunes, commenting, “When we first started, the speaker system used to be attached in the box. The music would just blast onto the people in the box! In the stands, they couldn’t hear anything and the players on the field couldn’t hear the music at all.”

Weyerhaeuser adds, “Now, [the Athletic Department] put in new speakers and it’s a beautiful sound system. It’s completely controlled from inside.” Ragan says, “The team always likes to have good music on the warm-up playlist. During halftime, we’ll play music that is more pleasing for the parents. We’ll usually go with the 90s, 80s, or 70s.”

Weyerhaeuser and Ragan commit themselves to what can be a five hour shift on school nights when games are back to back.

Still, the announcing duo always manages to find a positive to their hefty responsibilities. Weyerhaeuser says, “We can follow their entire season because we go to every home game. We really get to know the teams and all the players well.”

As smiles wash over the whole room, showing the genuine camaraderie that lives inside Aamoth Stadium announcing box, Ragan concludes, “That’s what is so good about this job is that we’re getting paid to watch our best friends play” Weyerhaeuser adds “Maybe, we deserve a raise!”