The missing sportsmanship in sports
[Music]
we all grew up hearing this phase
sportsman spirit now sportsman spirit
stems from the fact that sports is
generally considered an
equalizer of sorts something that
doesn’t really take
race gender cast
or skin color into account
in fact it focuses on your talent
your skills strength
and above all meritocracy where your
performance in the sporting field
is more important and more relevant than
anything else
now i grew up in the same context
with five boys all cousins
i got bullied and because i used to
spend so much time with them
by default i started playing sports with
him
predominantly cricket because that is
the biggest sport in pakistan
but i was compelled to learn and to face
challenges
just by being amongst five boys
initially it didn’t really bode well
with me but
as i started playing it and watching it
and studying it i started really
enjoying it
and soon this became
my passion yeah
sports became my passion you cannot
imagine how
disappointed they see parents would be
when they find out
that their child is skipping an exam
to follow an event the world cup was on
at that particular time
and i made my choices quite wisely
because i decided to watch that and skip
my
exam that is how passionate i became as
i was growing up
i decided to even save money during the
2009
world t20 i was obviously a student at
that point of time
and i decided to go and watch all the
games
rest assured i was broke by the end i
had absolutely no money
but it was well worth it i was watching
and being
a part of something that i absolutely
loved so when i graduated from england
you know i looked up various
opportunities and
i was in that limbo phase where a lot of
you must be at some point in your life
where you just didn’t know what to do
as a stopgap solution i decided that i
want to do a
corporate job which
was something that i did for a year but
i soon
realized that i’m not cut out for this
my passion
was still sports but i did that
corporate job
and there i had my own share of
challenges
i faced a racist boss i was literally
the only brown girl
in that entire department and he used to
pick on me
on every little occasion eventually i
quit the job
and i had to do some soul searching and
really
understand what is my true calling
i decided that you know i will pursue my
passion
and i will look for opportunities in the
sporting world
because the sporting world should be the
torch bearer of sportsmanship
free of racism free of prejudices
but i was quite wrong in 2015
i was given the opportunity to audition
for a leading news channel within
pakistan
if i’m totally honest i did not want to
go
i had no formal media training i had
no idea how to face a camera
my family had no relevance to the media
but because it was my passion talking
about sports
watching sports my parents really pushed
me
into giving it a go so i ended up you
know nonchalantly turning up
at the door and i had an interviewer
there who was sitting
with a smart on his face
and the first question as i sat down i
still
vividly remember he asked me
reverse swing kyoti
i had a smile on my face because i knew
what context he’s asking me in
it was said in almost the most
condescending way possible
i answered politely he was
half impressed so to speak and he
decided based on those five minutes
that he will give me another opportunity
and that is how
my journey started
which is why there are certain rules of
life that i swear by
the number one is never stop dreaming
even if the world makes fun of you
while getting into it i really had no
mentors to look up to
i was not a tv buff i didn’t see a lot
of shows
i was just following my dream and my
passion
when i did enter this field there were a
lot of people who made a lot of fun of
me
because they believed that a woman
cannot be talking about sports
she cannot be playing sports she has no
business there
this was just the beginning of many
challenges that i faced
it wasn’t only about changing
perceptions
and the mentality that is out there
with our people it was also about
facing personal challenges on my front
remember i didn’t have any formal
training in the field of sports
and i really wanted to make a name for
myself and excel in it
because once i started i realized that
this is my true calling
this is what i should be doing it was
then
when i really discovered a major issue
a personal disability so i’m deaf from
my left ear
and while doing a show your ears are the
most
important thing that keep you facilitate
and manage a show i had my earpiece in
one ear
listening to the director and supposedly
your other air
is to be used to hear all the guests
that are sitting around you
the moment i started getting training
i had a feeling that this was something
that i wouldn’t be able to do or manage
it was about multitasking it was about
using both your senses
it was about being present because
remember
there are no errors on live tv there’s
no room for any errors
at that particular time you get exposed
very easily
so i have to say that i broke down that
day when i realized that i have this
problem
i never thought that i would find myself
in that place
but i broke down and i still remember
calling up my mother and saying
i don’t think i can do this job because
i’ve got this issue
i had to calm down and remember
you should never stop trying even when
it seems herculean
i was so determined and focused i
continued to train i continued to master
my skills
and guess what i somewhat managed to lip
read as well
what worked for me was my knowledge and
research about my subject
the rest was all improvisation
the initial reaction when i was doing
this was rather mixed
a lot of people took attention to what i
was doing
they were pointing out the fact that
hair is a lady who knows what she’s
talking about
but when you start becoming successful
when you start getting recognition the
flip side is that there are a lot of
people
that will envy your work and will be
jealous of you
that happens in every field that you
walk into
and it happened with me as well i had
fellow journalists from my same industry
putting allegations on me for imitating
their content
for being there due to various reasons
i soon learned how to develop a thick
skin
i realized that i need to keep my focus
and i need to stay even more ambitious
to be where i am
focus is the one thing that kept me
going
even in times of adversity there was
also a time by the way
when some of the cricketing legends that
i looked up to
refused to give me an interview due to
my gender
that has happened i was heartbroken
because as a child these were the heroes
that i looked up to
and by the way after a couple of years
the two gentlemen who did refuse to give
me an interview willingly gave me an
interview afterwards that was the irony
of it all
because by that time i had really
cemented my place in the industry
but it does make you think and reflect
upon these things because
anyone who’s starting out would face
all these issues like i said
the one thing that stood out was my
passion for the job
and that is what kept on giving me
opportunities after one after another
i think the world here was just not
prepared they were just not
used to seeing a woman taking lead
in her field which was normally guarded
by men
for so many years another rule that i
live by
is never ever let the critics bother you
and allow them to get under your skin
because that is something that will
happen
as i got lucky and got more
opportunities
i got offers to host bigger leagues
i did the psl the t10
i covered the pakistan cricket team all
around the world
in australia south africa i was
reporting from there
and i kept on giving my best my hundred
percent and also getting
more opportunities in return and finally
in 2019 i was hand-picked
by the international cricket council to
represent pakistan
at the world cup that was certainly the
peak of my career because
nobody ever from pakistan had reached
that level
certainly not a woman with the increase
of work
my social media following also kept
increasing
the increased number of following also
resulted in
the increased number of harassment and
trolling online
i’m sure you’ve all seen it what we all
go through
it’s also called cyber bullying
in 2017 i clearly remember i went to
cover the champions trophy
and you know as i looked up to certain
heroes
i decided to take a few pictures with
them a few selfies which
then became extremely popular um
i took a few pictures with the heroes
that i looked up to virat kohli
abe davids and the moment i took a
picture with them
they just had a really bad outing and on
the cricket field the next day and got
out on a duck
i was termed up a nothi by the indian
media
for those of you who don’t know what it
means it’s a curse
i could see so many links saying that i
was involved in some kind of a black
magic
i was trying to do some kind of a voodoo
on the indian cricket team
and i had to face so much online
trolling
at that particular point
but i had to remember that this was
something which was extremely irrelevant
i internalized all these behaviors by
the way
and i learned to keep myself focused
on my professional development and
career
despite all the prejudices despite all
the
wavering attitudes that i had to face
i had to remember that my
work was my priority over the past one
year
women in sports have gained
unprecedented attention
there were 80 000 people watching that
women’s t20 world cup this year
at the mcg something that we’ve never
seen before perhaps the biggest
sporting spectacle in the history of the
women’s world cup
it’s also indicative of how big the
women’s game is now becoming
the kind of exposure the girls are
getting and this is also
raised awareness about gender parity
equal pay equal opportunities
women are now great participants and
it’s great to see
that leadership roles are being given
out to them as well
however the pandemic of covet 19
threatens to erase this momentum
because the sporting world has been
forced to cancel events
the sporting world has been forced to
stay indoors
more so for women lastly
i think this is something which is very
personal to me
it’s extremely important to impart your
skills
and knowledge to the people that you
work with
be generous don’t be a hoarder you must
give back
we need to be able to be aware
of inclusiveness unbiasedness when it
comes to
gender now if you look at this industry
we have a hajj rakhan in football
we have more women commentators coming
into the field
like sanamir mumtaz marina igbal the
list is endless
all around the world there has been an
evolution of inclusion of women in
sports
so the list is endless now and it is
great to see
that opportunities are being given and
respect is being given
to all these women that is the true
sporting spirit
and sportsmanship that we talk about
it’s based on fair play
it’s based on talent and
equality women need to be equal
participants in building their lives
back up
amidst covert 19. for women and girls
sports are a powerful tool to challenge
their
gender stereotypes to regain ownership
of their bodies
to really rebuild their lives after
trauma and to find a real sense of
meaning and purpose to their life
and to be able to express their talent
and passion
professionally because i believe
that if there are more women in the
field they will push for equality and
meritocracy ultimately leading to the
true
embodiment of sportsmanship