Singh breaks down barriers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2023 (940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It may be an uphill battle at times, one that is still filled with division and hate. Harnarayan Singh is breaking barriers in the broadcast booth, showing that hockey really can be for everyone.

The 38-year-old Alberta product, whose parents immigrated to Canada from India in the 1960s, is a rising star on Sportsnet. He’s in town for Saturday night’s Winnipeg Jets game against the Chicago Blackhawks, which also happens to be the organization’s first South Asian Heritage Night at Canada Life Centre. There will be an extra sense of pride for Singh during his Hockey Night In Canada call.

“It provides a sense of belonging for these communities within the game, but also within Canadian society,” Singh told the Free Press on Friday.

“When I was growing up, these types of theme nights didn’t exist. I know these types of nights would have made me feel so much more comfortable and given that sense of belonging that I was searching for as a young kid in the late ‘80s and ‘90s when I was growing up in Canada.”

Singh fell in love with hockey watching Wayne Gretzky lead the Oilers dynasty. A naturally outgoing child, he decided early on he wanted to one day be doing play-by-play in the NHL, using toy microphones to practice describing the action on his television. One thing he didn’t see was anyone who looked like him.

“As a kid, you have an innocent dream where you don’t realize what the reality of the world is,” said Singh. “And then as I grew up, I started realizing that the chances of this happening are pretty slim.”

Even those within his life suggested he was silly for thinking there might be a prominent place for him in the game.

“In my teenage years, for example, a family doctor was trying to caution me. And even when I decided to go into broadcast school, I had professors or teachers try to steer me towards maybe behind-the-scenes production,” said Singh. “And even if I really wanted to pursue an on-air career, they thought then maybe news was the better way for me to get my foot in the door because there just wasn’t diversity in sports, let alone hockey for TV and radio.”

Fortunately, Singh was stubborn and his persistence, against long odds, paid off. He studied broadcasting at Mount Royal University in Calgary, including hosting a hockey-themed show on the student radio station. After a TSN internship in 2004, he was hired as a news reporter at CBC in Calgary. Then came a big assist from former NHL goaltender (and Calgary native) Kelly Hrudey, who went to bat for Singh with some higher-ups at Sportsnet when they were casting a net for additional announcers.

“Kelly is just that type of guy. He’s so positive. He’s so genuine. He provided a lot of mentorship for me in terms of learning how to prep for games, where to go for information and what kind of things to look for,” Singh said.

Joel Darling, the executive producer of HNIC, offered him the chance to call a game in Punjabi. That initiative launched in 2009, which ultimately paved the way for him to eventually move into English-speaking broadcasts, where Singh moved into a full-time role in 2021. The rest, as they say, is history, and Singh is very much making history as the first Sikh-Canadian to get to this stage. The author of One Game At A Time, a memoir he launched in 2020, hopes he won’t be the last.

“There was a gentleman from the Sikh community at an Edmonton book signing and he came up to me and said that he was telling his parents for many years that he wanted to go into sports broadcasting. He said they weren’t open to it. That they wanted him to be realistic and try for something that he had a realistic shot at,” Singh recalled.

“But he said that ever since he and his family saw me come onto the scene, that’s the only way he’s been able to convince his parents. You know, he has their blessing. He’s actually in a sports broadcasting program right now.”

Representation is key, something Singh is seeing in his own household. His seven-year-old daughter lights up when she sees women such as Jennifer Botterill and Caroline Cameron on Sportsnet broadcasts, and players such as Sarah Nurse showing off her on-ice skills with NHL players during last week’s all-star skills competition.

“It’s a beautiful moment,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

“And then for my son (who is five), he’s just obsessed with hockey, and he just carries as many hockey sticks around the house everywhere and anywhere. For him, there’s no barrier anymore in the sense that they can just dream, like no one can tell them that the chances of this are pretty slim. Instead we can say look, there’s examples for you and you can do it. It’s pretty remarkable to just sit back, reflect and realize that there’s so much more than just my personal journey.”

Unfortunately, it’s not all positive. Being in the position he is, and being who he is, has meant plenty of vitriol and racist attacks directed his way on social media. He’s had to scale down his usage as a result.

“It’s disheartening and it’s frustrating that people who are fellow Canadians have those types of opinions which are completely ridiculous,” said Singh.

“When people want to single you out and spread hate and say all kinds of things like diaper hat or go back to where you came from, it’s just difficult to deal with. Like, I’m from here. I’m just as Canadian as you and just because I look different, it shouldn’t make a difference. I’m so patriotic as a Canadian and I grew up with this image of Canada that we’re the best country in the world. I still believe it, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Fortunately, people like Singh are leading the way. His passion comes through in the broadcasts, which included being honoured with best sports play-by-play at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.

“My job isn’t a job for me. I’m such a fan of the game. I love combing for info and I love those exciting moments within the games, the climax to the third period or an overtime. That’s what I live for,” said Singh.

“And being the voice of that to the fans and trying to portray that excitement. To me it’s the beauty of doing this job. I think I’ve got a lot of room to grow and hone my skills. You want to make sure that you do a good enough job so that the door you just broke open remains open. But I’ve been very, very lucky and blessed. I’m not the type of guy to take things for granted. I even sometimes still have pinch-me moments. Like how is this even happening?”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg