Disclaimer: One of the sources, Gabi Grande, is a previous contributor with The Eyeopener. The writer has previously taken RTA 233 with Shireen Ahmed, another one of the sources.

Students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are keeping their aspirations of working in the sports industry alive with guidance from sports journalism professors.

TMU has a long history of developing sports industry titans. With a decorated roster of alumni such as Jamie Campbell, Martine Gillard and Cabbie Richards—all of whom have grown huge presences in sports broadcasting since graduating—who are the people behind the sports professionals machine today?

As two big hitters among sports journalists, Shireen Ahmed and Sonny Sachdeva are media instructors at TMU who work to educate the next generation of sports industry moguls. 

Sachdeva has been with Sportsnet for nearly nine years and has been a staff writer for the last five. He works within RTA Sport Media and has taught RTA 433: Social Issues in Sports as well as RTA 233: Sport Journalism. 

Being surrounded by professors in his personal life, Sachdeva said teaching always interested him and was a natural course in his career.

“My partner is a professor. We spend a lot of time talking about teaching and her philosophy of teaching,” he said.

Sachdeva said he remembers how hazy it was as a young journalist trying to find his path—he believes teaching allows him a platform to work with young writers and share his experiences. 

Ahmed has been a senior contributor with CBC Sports for the last five years. She describes herself as a sports activist and journalist whose work focuses on the “intersection of race and gender
in sports.”

Ahmed’s journey as an educator was less straightforward than Sachdeva. “I never considered teaching,” she said.

After completing her Masters of Media Production in communications and media studies at TMU in 2021, her supervisor asked whether she would be interested in teaching.

Though Ahmed said she had experience teaching kids before, it was “absolutely not [her] jam.” Despite this, she took a chance and began teaching the Sport Journalism course online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two years after beginning her teaching career at TMU, she was asked to take on the role of lead instructor for the course. 

Across her four years at the university, Ahmed has left a lasting impression on her students. 

Gabi Grande is a fourth-year journalism student who took Sport Journalism with Ahmed. 

Grande said throughout their entire education, they have never been in a classroom that “felt right” until being taught by Ahmed. 

“Every day I wake up wishing I could just go back to that class.”

According to Grande, what makes Ahmed stand out among educators is, “she doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit.”

Ahmed said she’s simply being herself. 

“I just walked in there, and I’m like, ‘This is who I am,’” she said. “I had children the same age as my students, and I approached it similarly to the way that I parent: You absolutely have agency here, but this is my house. There’s going to be housekeeping rules.”

Sport Journalism is an introductory course that covers various types of storytelling. In it, both Sachdeva and Ahmed emphasized the importance of being multidisciplinary. 

“It’s just not an industry where being a columnist is going to get you through. Otherwise, I would just be in my pajamas all day writing stories at my desk,” joked Ahmed. 

The sports industry is constantly evolving and incorporating digital media isn’t the only way  educators are adapting.

According to Sachdeva, one of the best ways to get ahead of the changes is ensuring readings and discussions reflect sport’s connection to the current landscape. 

Sachdeva said, “I like to have my classes be very discussion based. The best way to teach these issues is to talk about how they’re actually interacting with the sports we’re watching and interacting with the storytelling people are doing in real time.” 

In true multidisciplinary spirit, students from outside journalism and sport media are seeking out the insights Sachdeva and Ahmed have to offer.

Piper Speers is a second-year communications student who took journalism and news studies courses to be eligible to take Sport Journalism. She was taught by Ahmed, who she said is one of the best professors she’s ever had.

“She’s so blunt and honest and gives you honest critical feedback on everything you write,” Speers said.

She said she hopes to possibly apply the skills she learned in the course to a future career doing public relations for a sports team. 

But the content of a course is only as strong as the student experience, something Grande said was what made Ahmed’s course so gratifying. 

“She just put a lot of thought and effort into creating an environment where everyone can feel comfortable, and I’ve never felt that in a class setting before,” explained Grande. “I created this schedule with my mom—after every class, I would call her because I was so excited about everything that I learned from Shireen.”

For Sachdeva too, having a comfortable classroom is a priority. 

“I try to create an environment where people feel comfortable trying to do interesting things with their writing and it’s a safe space to just explore who you are as a writer,” he said.

He explained there aren’t many other places where young writers can experiment without judgement, and being the person they can do that with is rewarding.

Sachdeva said, “I want people to take big swings with their writing…I think that’s the best thing—giving somebody an opportunity to try the craziest thing they want to try and I’ll help them land the plane.”

Grande hopes that through a career in sports media, they will find their way back to being in a room with Ahmed.

“I’m hoping one day to work with Shireen,” they said. “When I envision my career, one stop in my career is to work alongside her.”