Reena D' souza - There’s no Cool Tricks in This. It’s a Journey and Everyone’s Journey is Different. So Write Your Own (Sports Presenter, India)

I do what rest of the people do. All normal things. But I try my best to have discipline and consistency. 

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I am born and brought up in a small town in Moodbidri, which is 35kms from Mangalore. I completed my schooling from Rotary English Medium school; my 11th & 12th standard from Alva’s PU college and completed my Computer science engineering from Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering (MITE, Mijar, Moodbidri). 

My dad is a retired bank employee and my mother is a retired staff nurse. My sister and I are two daughters to our parents. As a growing kid I was always enthusiastic about talking thus, would compete on various school level elocutions, debate competition; was mostly chosen as MC for school and college events. 

My hobby got wings when my professor at MITE, recognised my talent during MC audition for the college day and pushed me to host a spiritual tv show in a local TV change in Mangalore called as “Namma Tv”. 

While doing my engineering I was working as a part-time TV anchor and that is where I got my foundation stronger. Meanwhile, I was hosting few live gigs too. After engineering, I worked for IBM & Amazon for a brief period. 

It was while working for Amazon I got to host customer and employee meet for Amazon in the presence of Jeff Bezos. They gave me a good break in my career and empowered me to take up MC’ing as a full-time career. 

It was in 2017, I received an audition email from Star Sports; got through the audition in flying colours and the rest is history. 

2. How did you land up being a sports presenter? Was it always the plan?

It was completely accidental. In the year 2017, I was looking for a TV opportunity and was meeting so many senior leaders from different TV channels for an opportunity. 

Looks like, the universe heard my call and helped me fulfil my dreams by launching a sports channel in Kannada “Star Sports1 Kannada”. 

Fortunately and with a lot of self-work today, I have hosted prominent sports leagues like Pro Kabaddi League, Indian super league, Indian premier league, ICC T20 World Cup 2019, several T20s, ODIs and Tests. 

As a kid, I would watch cricket with dad; not by will but by force. I definitely wanted to watch entertainment channels like any other kids; there would be a constant fight over the TV remote but as my dad was in the elder, he had a stronger say in it. 

So eventually I ended up watching cricket and many other sports with him. Thus, unknowingly developed an interest towards sports. It all came to my aid as today I live and breathe sports. 

3. How should one approach this career option to make it and be successful?

First and foremost, should have a keen interest in sports and learning more about it. 

Next, need to love sports fan/viewers too. So that as a presenter, you can understand their pulse and deliver what they want; not what you wanna say. 

Next, start small make mistakes, learn from them, get better, when you are ready; audition for it and if you are good; you become what you wanted to become. 

So, there’s no cool tricks in this. It’s a journey and everyone’s journey is different. So write your own. 

4. If not this, what would you be doing?

Probably, an engineer had few kids by now and would have been settled 😁

5.Which are your favourite players in India?

Without a doubt, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, ABD, PV Sindhu, Max Verstappen, Pawan Sehrawat to name a few. 

6.What does your typical day look like?

I wake up by 5:45 am; Early morning warm water with lime. Exercise for one hour. Breakfast. Read few books or browse articles. A must-read Kannada newspaper. Watch a movie. Write few scripts. Client calls. And sleep early. If working, post breakfast, entire attention and energy flows towards my work. 

I do what rest of the people do. All normal things. But I try my best to have discipline and consistency. I am an early riser and early to bed kinda person. 

7. How do you prepare for the job?

I read newspaper, do my research reading various sports-based news via sports-based apps, most importantly I learn from cricketing legends by having a conversation with them before live shows. 

Also, before every live show, we get dockets for every match, which we read and prepare ourselves for effective delivery. This helps me speak better and helps me deliver content-rich presentations. Well, besides this we have a fantastic grooming team at Star sports, they help us look our best. 

Instagram Profile - Reena D'souza

Interviewed By - Ananya Karan Srivastava