Local Sports Announcer Recognized for 50 Years of Service

David Birdsell has lived his life behind a microphone, calling games of nearly every sport for the Deer Park School District since before he could legally drive. Known as the “Voice of the Stags,” Birdsell was recently recognized for his 50 years of service by the district, which awarded him the Dan Birdsell Community Contributor award. The award was launched last year and is named after Birdsell’s father, who presented it to him. “To have him there and to have my son there was just special,” David Birdsell said. Birdsell’s father was the district’s game announcer for 61 years, retiring in 2021. Birdsell said he grew up on the sidelines of fields and in gyms. “I was going to ballgames with him and doing odd jobs,” Bird- sell said. When he was in the sixth grade, Birdsell said he asked his dad why no one was announcing the junior varsity games. His father told him he was the only announcer the district had and he simply didn’t have time to do it. He suggested his son do something about it. Birdsell went to the high school athletic di- rector and asked if he could start announcing the junior varsity games. “I don’t know if anyone had considered it,” he said. Birdsell, who said his dad’s reputation paved the way, was given the green light. “The athletic director knew me and I knew him,” Birdsell said. He started by announcing junior varsity basketball games and then kept adding more sports over the seasons. Birdsell said he knew how it was done from all the years he spent sit- ting next to his father at games. “I’ve always had a passion for sports,” Birdsell said. “This gives me a chance to be a direct part of it.” After high school, Birdsell dreamed of a career in radio. He did some work for small stations in Deer Park and Colville, but it didn’t pan out. He kept doing games, however, even when he lived in Spokane and worked a retail day job between 1992 and 2006. “I’d come out and do a game here and there,” he said. He moved back to Deer Park in 2006 and started devoting more time to announcing games. These days, with his father retired, Bird- sell is calling as many games as he can get to. He said there are times when his work as a customer service representative at a pharmaceutical company goes long and he has to dash to afternoon games. He added that there are also times, particularly in the spring, when there are two different sports playing at the same time. Birdsell said he most often has conflicts between baseball and softball and he will rotate which games he announces to keep it fair. He said the coaches are very understanding of his schedule. “It makes for some very busy days,” he said. “I’d rather be too busy than trying to find things to do.” Birdsell said it’s important that he works as many games as he can. “It adds to the games,” he said. “It adds to the environment. Truly, it’s for the kids.” Over the decades Birdsell said he has had the chance to call state championships as well as other special games. He was also a State B Basketball announcer from 1982 to 2017. “It was 35 years of great memories and a lot of good basketball,” he said. He said he’s also announced games for other schools in the area, including Riverside, Lakeside, and Northwest Christian. "I've gotten to see some really special moments over the years," he said. Birdsell’s repertoire includes basketball, football, softball, volleyball, wrestling, baseball, soccer, and track. He said he recently started doing soccer games, but he had to do research first. Birdsell said he talked to two friends who had played and officiated soccer about what he needed to know. He added that he still struggles with the terminology, but he’s improving. “They were invaluable resources,” he said of his friends. In his limited free time, Birdsell has also been writing about the games. He runs a “Voice of the Stags” Facebook page and began writing sports stories for the Deer Park Tribune in 2024. Birdsell doesn’t see himself quitting anytime soon. He’s even continuing the generational tradition, bringing his own son, Lukas Birdsell, to games. “I’ll go as long as I can,” he said. “If I go as long as my dad did, it will be another 20 years. He was 82 when he stopped.”