Panthers PA mic now a Furfaro family affair

Lucas (left) and Sean Furfaro will split duties as the public address announcer for Kitchener Panthers games this summer at Jack Couch Park. SUPPLIED PHOTO

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KITCHENER - Lucas Furfaro attended his first baseball game when he was just six days old.

It was August 28, 2001. Jack Couch Park in Kitchener.

It is a moment etched in IBL history, as Randy Curran and the Panthers took down the Toronto Maple Leafs 12-11 to win the franchise's 13th IBL championship, its third title in four seasons.

Kitchener has made the IBL final four times since then, but have yet to take the crown since that night.

All the while, Furfaro has grown up and has built a reputation as a standout public address voice across Waterloo region and beyond.

He, along with father Sean, will split duties as the public address announcer at Panthers games this summer at the Jack.

Lucas, 23, has already put together a hefty resume as a PA announcer in the region, from U SPORTS to basketball and much more.

He was most recently an in-house announcer at the U SPORTS women's hockey championships in Elmira.

"I'm excited," Lucas said. "I used to go see the Panthers a lot when I was a kid, and it's going to be exciting to be one of the 'Voices of the Panthers.'"

Sean Furfaro returns to the media booth at Jack Couch Park for the first time since 2008.

He is the longtime host of Kitchener Rangers hockey on RogersTV, and is a public address announcer for such teams as the KW Titans, the Guelph Gryphons (in many sports) and multiple CEBL organizations, just to name a few of his assignments.

"I'm thrilled to be coming home to Jack Couch Park and announcing for the Kitchener Panthers again," Sean said. "This was where I announced my first game, in any sport, all the way back in 1998. Now, after 27 years on the mic, and over 2,500 games announced, it's nice to return to where it all started almost three decades ago."

For someone who is full of quips and words, Sean said he can't put into words the feeling of being able to do this with his son.

"We obviously work together in a lot of other sports, including the KW Titans and Kitchener Rangers, but the Panthers are special," he said. "I actually had to leave a Panthers playoff game in the 7th inning in 2001 to make it to the hospital when he was being born! And now he will be on the mic here at Jack Couch, isn't that amazing?"

"That's going to be really special because, obviously, he brought me to all of those games, and we had all of those memories from the Panthers together," Lucas added.

"It's going to be cool to make some new ones with him."