When Arda Öcal turned to sports broadcasting as a career, his Turkish father had a request for him.
“One of the first things he said was you should hide your background because you don’t want somebody to use it against you,” Öcal told The Athletic Ummah.
“Looking back on it now, the fact that he had to even think like that just goes to show you where things were in society,” the ESPN sports broadcaster added.
Öcal considered using a stage name like “Adam” to make his name more palatable to North American hiring managers.
But years after breaking into the industry, Öcal’s Muslim and Turkish backgrounds are front and centre in his broadcasting. He always spells his surname with an umlaut, the two dots on top of the “O”. He also uses terms like Masha Allah in his scripts, especially when he covers Muslim athletes.
The Canadian-Turkish broadcaster said it’s important he keeps his religion and culture at the forefront of his identity because he wants to be the representation in the media industry that he never saw as a kid.
“I don’t want North American families or kids growing up with a similar dream to mine to have to worry about that kind of thing or feel like they would be excluded — or worse — as a result of their culture,” he said.
Finding representation
Growing up in Toronto, Canada, in the 1980s and ‘90s, Öcal said there weren’t a lot of Muslims or Turkish people he could turn to for inspiration.
“And if we did see Muslims or people from our corner of the world, it might have been negative stereotypes,” he said. “So we didn’t have positive examples of people from our corner of the world.”
That was especially true on the media side. Öcal, who holds a degree in mathematics and business administration from the University of Waterloo, said he didn’t initially consider journalism a viable career. That was partly because he lacked community contacts in the field.
“I didn’t think that I would ever be able to do that, or it didn’t even cross my mind that it would be an option because I just didn’t know how those jobs were even attained,” he said.
“When you put your faith in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, it just makes you feel more confident in things, that the path will unfold as it unfolds.”
Arda Öcal
That didn’t stop Öcal from trying to find those connections. Öcal went as far as looking through the credits of movies and TV shows for a Mustafa, Muhammad or Fatima — any name that suggests similar roots to his.
“That’s where my mind was at because the examples on the air were so few and far between at the time,” he said.
Similar-sounding names were also hard to come by in North American sports, which were Öcal’s favourite pastime. But while he couldn’t find any sports journalists to follow, there was a legendary boxer that the young Öcal took an extreme liking to: Muhammad Ali.
“He was the only example of a very successful, famous Muslim figure that I could look to and say, ‘Wow, someone named Muhammad has thrived and succeeded.’ So that was very cool,” he said.
Öcal didn’t get to see Ali fight professionally — he was born the same year Ali retired. But he read a lot about how Ali put his faith front and centre of his identity, whether it was by reciting dua before a fight or by praying in congregation during Friday salat.
That open religiosity resonated with Öcal.
“He was very strong with his faith, and he never shied away from it,” Öcal said. “He always used it as a function of change and a function of positivity.”
During his career, Ali stood by his Islamic values when he refused to be drafted into the American military for the Vietnam War. He also backed humanitarian causes like Palestine’s fight for justice, the 1975 African drought relief and the United Nations’ campaign against apartheid.
After his retirement, Ali helped negotiate the release of American hostages in Lebanon and a prisoner exchange during the Iran-Iraq war. All the while, he travelled across the world to build relationships and support those in need, in the name of Islam and humanity.
All of this had a profound impact on the young Öcal, who was trying to find his place in the Western world as a Muslim.
“He brought Islam to positive heights that maybe no other public figure ever has in recent memory.”
“The way that he was able to shine a positive spotlight and attempt to break stereotypes is remarkable,” he said. “He will always have a place in the hearts of many people.”
The power of a name
Even if Ali hadn’t achieved the successes or done the humanitarian work that he did, how he carried his name was something that inspired Öcal.
Ali was very adamant about having his Muslim name be respected — and he was very firm with anyone who called him by his “slave name” Cassius Clay.
In one of the most famous examples of this, Ali shouted “What’s my name, Uncle Tom?” during a 15-round beatdown of Ernie Terrell. Terrell, who was the then-heavyweight champion, had referred to Ali by his “slave name” in the lead-up and during the pre-fight interview, much to Ali’s annoyance.
“My name is Muhammad Ali, and you will announce it right there in the centre of that ring after the fight if you don’t do it now,” Ali told Terrell in the pre-fight interview.
Öcal said Ali’s persistence contributed to his own insistence on using his name publicly.
“Early in my career, I had doubts on whether to adopt a stage name,” he said. “But maybe Ali’s persistence … when I had a little bit more confidence or a little bit more footing, inspired me to want to continue using my name.”
Öcal said he’s glad he didn’t give in to his concerns and adopt a different name. He said he’s proud he can use his name to break stereotypes and normalize Muslim and Turkish cultures — even if letters like the umlaut make it stand out compared to the average Western name.
“I want people [and] kids watching SportsCenter or watching the NHL on ESPN … to say, ‘Hey, I recognize that name’ or ‘That name looks familiar to mine,’” he said.
“[I want people to say] ‘This is something that I can do because I now have somebody that I can look up to that is doing it.’ That’s extremely important to me because I didn’t have that similar role model growing up.”
Inspiring the next gen
The umlaut certainly hasn’t stopped Öcal from becoming a household name for North American sports viewers.
Öcal has worked for various English-language channels across his career, covering team sports like ice hockey and entertainment sports like WWE wrestling and eSports.
Along the way, he’s been able to share the screen with other incredible Muslim sports personalities, like fellow broadcaster Nabil Karim.
“To my knowledge, when Nabil and I hosted that SportsCenter [in May 2021], it was the first time in SportsCenter’s 40-plus years …. that two Muslim anchors hosted the show together.”
“It is a television institution in the United States. … To do it with Nabil, a fellow Muslim anchor and to make history like that, by the grace of God, Masha Allah. It was a very meaningful moment.”
His position has also allowed him to highlight Muslim stories in the sports world. In 2023, for example, Öcal produced a two-minute ESPN segment on Ramadan, as part of Disney’s Ramadan Celebration Month.
He’s also proudly part of ESPN’s Inclusive Content Committee, which allows him to champion the stories of Muslim athletes and sports personalities.
“I worked very hard behind the scenes, particularly during Ramadan, to be able to go to different departments at ESPN … to be able to tell these stories,” he said.
Some of the stories he’s been able to handle were an interview with UFC’s Belal Muhammad about how he balances training with fasting for Ramadan, and a segment on ice hockey player Nazem Kadri’s Stanely Cup win.
Kadri became the first Muslim to win the Stanley Cup in 2022, and he celebrated by taking the trophy to his childhood mosque in London, Canada.
“This is part of his identity, part of his moral fabric,” Öcal said. “That, to me, is more significant than anything any athlete could do on the field, on the ice, etc.”
“He wants to effect positive change, and to that, you say Masha Allah. It’s just remarkable to see and it will inspire more future athletes to do the same.”
These are stories Öcal didn’t think he’d be able to tell when he was younger. So he’s grateful to Allah (s.w.t) for guiding him to this position.
“When you put your faith in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, it just makes you feel more confident in things, that the path will unfold as it unfolds,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed that it has unfolded the way that it has for me.”
Öcal now hopes he can take the lessons he’s learned from his journey and help ease the path for the next generation of Muslim and Turkish sports broadcasters. He also hopes his work erases some of the negative stereotypes people have of Muslims like himself.
“Maybe they’ll see them doing things — like Nazem Kadri bringing the Cup to a mosque — and say, ‘Hey, maybe I’ll learn a little bit more about this’ … and it changes their paradigm,” Öcal said.
“Hopefully, that is an inspiration for people to understand, to be surrounded by the positive nature of it all; and I hope to be a small part of that as well.”
Headline photo credit: gazeteoksijen.com