Township gifted monitor and math teacher Daniel Aiello has dedicated his time to calling sports games at MTHS. He is driven to support all students in their athletic endeavors. Below is an interview that depicts Aiello’s responses to various questions about announcing and the importance it holds in his life.

How did you become an announcer?

During the 2013 football season, the assistant principal at the time called me up on the phone and said, “Hey, I heard you’ve done this (announcing) before in college…would you want to do a game?” I said, “Sure, that sounds like lots of fun!” So I did like a couple football games 12 or 13 years ago and then I kind of took over the announcing job. When we finally got a new athletic director, I kind of just started taking sports from there; it was first football, a little basketball, some baseball and more recently girls’ sports.

When COVID rolled around, people weren’t allowed to attend games in person right off the bat. So, that’s how I ended up doing things I’d never done before like field hockey, soccer and wrestling because people couldn’t go to them initially and wanted somebody to talk over a live stream.

How did college give you a background in announcing?

When I went to Millersville, I was part of our Millersville TV station for a couple of years where I was one of the only non-communications majors that participated. But, I was one of the only people that wanted to talk.

Earlier, in high school, I did the morning announcements. I was the guy every day that welcomed you to school. So I had been announcing locally for a couple years, which was really fun.

Because of my participation in the TV station at Millersville, I got to call a few games in football and basketball, which was a lot of fun. One of them actually, by accident, ended up being nationally televised. A college TV network had used our feed because they were having trouble with theirs. So, by accident, I ended up being on a nationally televised Division Two game. I did a few of those games and it was a lot of fun, but I never thought of making anything out of it. So, having the chance to do it here has been awesome. One sport became two, and that became three, and then it became 16 different sports.

I love supporting what goes on here. That’s really all I care about. It’s the best way I can support so many of you that take the time to play these sports. For me, if you’re putting the time into it, whether it’s something that’s attended by 150 people or it’s Friday Night Lights, I want it to have energy.

Would you say you have a favorite sport to announce? 

I really do love every sport that I call. But what can make it a lot more fun is if I have a crowd to feed off of. I will always love football because that’s my favorite sport in general and I’ve been doing it by far the longest.

I also like doing the sports that usually don’t have announcers at other schools. For example, softball, soccer and field hockey parents have been super appreciative of the recognition. Also, I love doing unified sports because I think it’s a really fun opportunity to bring different mixes of people together. While there is not a lot to announce in bocce, it’s so much fun because I love getting to watch different groups come together for one cause, to learn from each other and participate with each other. It’s the same with the unified track and field. It’s so rewarding to see how well the students work with each other. In general though, every sport is more fun to announce when a crowd is present.

Do you see yourself continuing to call sports games at MTHS?

I’ll do it for as long as people want me to do it. As long as I feel like it’s appreciated, welcomed and wanted, I will continue to do it. The second that I don’t feel that, then that’s when I’ll see myself out and it’ll be time for somebody else to do it. I hope I’ll do this for as long as I’m working here because when there is something that I feel like I do a really good job with, off the cuff outside of what I do in my normal seven to three job, I feel like it’s the best thing I can contribute.

What is your favorite part of announcing?

I think it’s so much fun to hear the cheering reaction from somebody’s mom or dad. We have some incredible athletes. However, I especially love doing it for the ones that maybe aren’t as strong of an athlete. Maybe they’re not the best on the team, maybe not making all league or scoring goals, but are working hard. To me, it’s really cool when I can acknowledge their hard work in any capacity. Honestly, I just love the fact that we do it for everything. I love the fact that I can do it no matter how big or small your team, support, fan base or booster club is. It’s just a really cool opportunity.

What’s so special about being able to call sports games live and courtside?

I have the best seat when announcing sports live. I’m right at the floor level and can hear and see everything. In general, which sport I watch is dictated by who’s calling the game. I won’t watch sports that have announcers who don’t have their facts straight. Therefore, I think having the knowledge of these sports, and understanding that my role is to give you the information in an understandable way is crucial. If you decide to step away from the game to run to the bathroom or go grab a concession, I want you to understand what’s happening. The fact that I get to do that live for people at the game and for your family that lives far away is huge. You know, again, I’m very happy to be playing a very small part in that.