At the University of California-Santa Cruz, Athletic Director Linda Spradley supervises an administrative staff of one full-time and one part-time employee. Money is tight, so the assistant athletic director is also the women's basketball coach, sports information director, and senior woman administrator. That leaves Spradley scrambling to cover almost everything else, which is how she found herself serving as the department's PA announcer.

"I like doing it," says Spradley, who also handled PA announcements in her previous job as Athletic Director at Simpson University. "I'm already going to the game, so I might as well fill an important role that otherwise would be left open. Doing the PA also makes me more approachable. And it's a lot of fun."

When Spradley arrived at UCSC in February 2006, only the men's basketball team had a PA announcer. Concerned about gender equity, Spradley began making plans to announce women's basketball games for the following season. Instead, by September, she'd decided to cover all the other sports where PA equipment was available: women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's volleyball.

Spradley uses her position to improve the game experience, explaining some of the more subtle points of play. Being at the microphone also allows her to publicize the rest of the athletics program, and she gives special attention to athletes who have received honors on or off the field.

"To be honest, I never knew how much the PA mattered until athletes started telling me," says Spradley. "We need to show our student-athletes we care. Rolling up my sleeves to be with my student-athletes speaks volumes about our department's commitment to them. It shows I'm in the trenches too, and to me, that's good leadership."