Voice of a fanbase: JuJu DeCosta’s rise to becoming the RIFC public address announcer
- Timothy Yean, Sports Editor
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
Tim Yean
Sports Editor
The author of this article conducted a filmed interview with JuJu Wednesday, Nov. 12. Find the filmed interview on the Anchor TV YouTube channel!
Hearing the gristly and energized public address announcer at Rhode Island FC matches at Centreville Bank Stadium, you might think that the person behind the voice is older and seasoned in the art of public address and has been in the announcing business for decades. Instead, it’s JuJu DeCosta, a 22-year old Pawtucket native leading the charge and hyping up the crowd.
“From my press box, I can see the hospital that I was born in and the high school that I went to,” DeCosta said. “That is a really rare thing in the world, you don’t get that a lot.”
RIFC’s public address voice is home-grown in the city of Pawtucket and the state as a whole, also working as an emcee for Providence College’s hockey and women's basketball games while also helping out with the Community College of Rhode Island, reporting on Knight athletics as part of work-study.
DeCosta had to start somewhere. Being at a crossroads in his sophomore year at Tolman High School, unsure if he wanted to transfer, the 16-year old began a sports media page, TTNSports, for the high school teams there, as well as become an announcer for the basketball teams after realizing that he would remain a Tolman Tiger.
“We didn’t have [a social media account] in underserved communities and in the inner-city in general,” DeCosta told me. “Tolman put an enormous amount of trust in me.”
The announcing and social media work was an add-on to an already crazy workload to the young DeCosta, being a three-sport athlete.
“I would literally go from my track meet to [announce] the second half of a girls basketball game,” he said.
Then came his senior year. Due to COVID, application fees for colleges were waived. DeCosta took advantage and applied to 25 different schools. The result? He did not go to any of those 25. He originally planned and was nearly days away from going to college in New York City, but issues with costs as well as personal situations affecting DeCosta kept him in the Ocean State and going to CCRI.
“I always joke around and say that I ended up at CCRI, I ended up at the 26th college,” JuJu said.
DeCosta, remaining in the city that raised him, embraced the sudden change of plans. He contacted the athletic director at his now-alma mater and told him he wanted to continue running the social media page and announcing their basketball games. The grind worked out for JuJu, his efforts leading him to land a job with Providence College as an emcee for Friar women's basketball and men's hockey games.
“That was my first stamp of recognition,” DeCosta said. “At that point, everybody in the city was like ‘this isn’t just a local thing, this is something special.’”
Following his hiring, DeCosta dropped out of CCRI to focus on his announcing with the Friars and to further the TTNSports social media account. TTNSports later transformed into an account for both Tolman and former-rival Shea High School, the idea of ‘One Pawtucket’ being pushed, especially with the future construction of a sole Pawtucket High School built on the grounds of McCoy Stadium.
That movement would be brought into Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien’s office, thanks to JuJu taking on an internship with the city as a brand liaison, promoting small businesses and spotlighting city culture through an increased social media presence, where the youth are especially prevalent.
“For me to be able to bring in the One Pawtucket movement into the [mayor’s office], it gave a sense of [assurance] for the students,” DeCosta highlighted. “You can’t change everything overnight, but when it comes to the youth, they’re the target audience.”
Looking for more sports opportunities in the city, JuJu attended a job fair in Pawtucket in search of a new gig. Interestingly enough, RIFC’s Community Crew was there, so DeCosta walked up to their tent and expressed interest in helping promote the new soccer team. They liked the energy he brought, and showing interest in public address, DeCosta was invited to their announcing tryouts, where he competed with a wide array of announcers with various styles and cadences.
“You could hear other people auditioning,” DeCosta recalled. “My [announcing style] is a little more extraordinary when it comes to bringing the heat. So when I left, I had a good sense of ‘I gave it my best.’”
The team told him they would reach out to him by the following Monday, but they actually reached back the night of the audition. Moments before hosting a fashion show in Pawtucket, RIFC offered JuJu the public announcing job, a week before the team’s first home match. It was an extreme turnaround for him, not having much time to realize that he would now be the voice of a state.
“I don’t think I had that moment to think about it,” said DeCosta, remembering his reaction.
DeCosta was able to bring the energy and confidence he had presented since high school to a whole new level. In spring of 2025, he returned to CCRI to continue his studies and added another gig in the fall, being a reporter for the community college’s athletics.
Throughout his entire announcing career, it’s been one primary goal for JuJu: to make sure he leaves a lasting impression on whoever listens to him, whether it be someone who’s known him since those days as a Tolman Tiger or someone from around the state attending their first RIFC game.
“If a fan can go home and say ‘this is the best experience I’ve ever experienced in Rhode Island, or just in general, ever,' then we did our job.”
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