How Boyoroyo Kicked Off His Casting Career

At just 17 years old, Ross "Boyoroyo" Kerr is making moves as a Rocket League caster. His drive to commentate propelled him into weekly cups from APL Esports and nicecactus, as well as Psyonix sponsored events, such as The Kickoff, Rocket Baguette’s Summer Grand Prix, and RLCS The Grid. He does it all from his home in Paisley, Scotland.

If you’ve followed the European or Asian scene, you’ve surely heard his voice and his enthusiasm. How did Boyoroyo’s casting career kick off, and how does he deal with tournament organisers, language barriers, and the insecurity of the job? GGRecon talked to him about it.

How did you get introduced to casting Rocket League?

I have been watching Rocket League esports since just before Season 3. Originally, I was a more casual fan but as time progressed, I got more and more into the scene and I made sure to never miss a game. With that, I was able to meet a lot of great people within the esports scene, and that was a big motivator for me to get more involved.

Obviously, I had heard some of the great casting moments - "This is Rocket League" of course comes to mind - and eventually, that kind of passion and love for the game really inspired me to try something similar. The idea lingered in the back of my mind for quite some time, but I moved on from it and just continued to watch.

Come 2019, however, myself and a load of friends from the community decided to run a charity talkshow event called WHAT (Witty Humans Attempt a Talkshow). With this event, I was able to meet so many more great people who I hadn't talked to before. One of those people was Daniel "DannyBoyATM" Knight. He has been a caster for longer than I have been following the game, and after the talkshow I decided to shoot my shot. I sent him a DM saying I wanted to give it a try, he told me who I should contact, and I went from there.

What made you decide to pursue a casting career?

I've always loved the sound of my own voice (probably to the dismay of my parents) and I also had a liking towards drama in a slight sense, and realistically that is all casting is. Casting is just talking about the game, and trying to make it a compelling and interesting story for the viewers. That idea is something that excites me a lot.

After trying out casting in a few smaller community leagues, I really started to find it a lot of fun. Even though I was terrible and slightly nervous at the time, it was something I really enjoyed, and I made the decision that I want to be as good as possible, because I really believed that I could be.

You have been casting Rocket League tournaments for two years now. What have you learnt from your past experiences?

Esports isn't a secure job. I respect everyone who has worked in esports for a long time, as it is an extremely scary place. You never know when opportunities will come or stop coming, and you really have to take every chance you can get.

It's a competitive place, not only for players, but for casters and tournament organisers (TOs) as well. Your job as a caster - alongside entertaining - is to make sure you can remain above others to keep the job that you love doing, and honestly, that's the scariest and hardest part about the job.

As a caster, you get to see a little more behind the scenes of a tournament production. What surprised you about the productions, that viewers don't get to see?

The amount of work that the broadcasters do for an event production is second to none. I’ve been working alongside so many great broadcasters such as Ben "bntsw" Tsow, Zach “IzPanda” Shaner, Paul "Paul Shepherd" Beije, and Ben "notblondemonkey" Hurst, to name a few. These guys put in so much work to make sure a show goes as well as possible. Sitting alongside them in calls whilst they do the preparations makes me appreciate them even more.

Another side that people often forget is the tournament organisers themselves. I've worked with so many great TOs, and frankly, without them the events wouldn't even happen. Admins get flack a lot of times, but these guys go above and beyond to actually provide a good tournament experience for both viewers and players.

While you were casting The Grid for Team Liquid, the team didn't quite live up to expectations. How do you deal with that during your casts?

I think the simple solution to deal with it, is to be sad about it. A stream like the Grid is something so different from a regular broadcast, due to the nature of the content being shared. With the streams being run by the organisation, of course the fans of the team or org are going to be the people watching. Many others had a different perspective, but my viewpoint was that the show should be by fans for the fans.

I was and will be as biased as possible for the team, but sometimes that doesn't make sense. Sometimes it made more sense to tell the story. People were sad, disappointed, and angry that Team Liquid were losing, and myself and DannyBoyATM only thought it was right to convey those same emotions. As much as it was really sad to see them lose, and it could often kill the mood of the stream, we were able to make it work in a very positive way. In fact, I think it actually made for some very good and interesting content, as it made the viewers feel something. It sparked a reaction, and I am immensely proud of that.

The Grid for Team Liquid, the third RLCS X stream, and nicecactus tournaments for The Rocket - you've been getting a lot of viewership. What is it like for you when viewers express their opinions about your casting?

I always love hearing feedback from viewers. I have definitely had some rough times with people expressing their opinions in the past, mostly when it comes to my accent. I am the first to admit that my accent isn't the easiest to understand for people, especially who aren't used to English as their first language, but there was a time when during or after every cast, people would complain about my accent, and it became really demotivating. I struggled with that a lot, it even pushed to me consider quitting a few times.

I have since slightly got over that. I have been able to curate my accent to make it easier to understand at first listen, and I am consistently working on improving that over time. Overall, though, general feedback is always welcome and appreciated, but the constant issues over something I struggle to control, really did hurt a lot at the time.

Who inspires you the most in the esports scene?

Simply, DannyBoyATM. I love so many other great casters: people like Callum "Shogun" Keir, John "Johnnyboi_i" MacDonald (he was the first RL streamer I ever watched), Joey "Jorby" Ahrens, Sean "Stax" Stackhouse- the list goes on and on - but not only the work, but also leadership I have seen from Danny has been something I think most people who have worked with him will look up to. Danny does everything he can to make his casts as good as possible, whilst also making everyone he works with have the tools available to be the best they can be.

I can say with utmost certainty, that without the countless hours I have spent talking with Danny and without him helping me, I would not be here, still casting Rocket League and having had the chance to cast the RLCS. That is something I want to emulate. I want to a great help to future casters wanting to improve, and to be able to improve myself in the way he does.

How do you see your future, as a Rocket League caster or otherwise?

Frankly, I don't know, but I wish I did. My goal is obviously to make it to the top. I want to cast on the main stream. I want to push myself further and further and make it to the top, because why wouldn't I?

In a more near possible future, I would love to work with organisations more closely, and branch my work within esports to a more general events focus, being presenting, content, and even involvement in other games perhaps. Working with Team Liquid in The Grid was an amazing experience, and I would love to work in an environment like that on a more permanent basis.

There are a lot of directions to go, the hard part is finding the correct paths. Luckily for me, I'm surrounded by so many great people that I am confident that, with their guidance, I will stumble on the correct path for me eventually.