Darius Shahheydari
SHAWVILLE March 4, 2020
Hi, I’m Darius Shahheydari and I am the new guy on The Equity team.
Growing up in western Romania, sports were my predominant pastime. My dad, who was born in Iran, introduced me to his passion for soccer when I was young. Whether it was watching it on TV or going out to play at the nearby park, the sport took over my life.
My mom, who is of Romanian descent, chose to sign me up for other sports. I started swimming at a club when I was 5 and playing basketball a year later.
I moved to Canada when I was eight. Here, I was immediately engulfed by the country’s love for hockey. Broadening my knowledge for sports, I started playing, watching and reading articles from the various big leagues on the continent.
Coming out of high school, I dreamed of covering sports. I wanted to be the one to stick a microphone in front of a league MVP and their coach and ask them questions. This is why, two years ago, I started the journalism program at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
During the program, I had the chance to develop my passion. I covered many sports games at the college and wrote a couple of profiles on the prominent athletes, becoming the editor of the sports page in the college newspaper, the Algonquin Times.
I also touched base with pretty much all other branches of reporting. I wrote stories about concerts that happened on the grounds, charities that some students were involved in, the LRT in Ottawa, and everything in between.
Besides sports, I would say covering politics is my second-favourite niche. I also like to write stories about infrastructure projects, and up-and-coming artists.
I look forward to having a chat with you out there.
