{"id":668600,"date":"2026-05-14T09:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668600\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T09:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:19:20","slug":"7-tricks-of-the-trade-for-bringing-the-cfl-to-life-in-punjabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668600\/","title":{"rendered":"7 tricks of the trade for bringing the CFL to life in Punjabi"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Asian Heritage Month, and the Punjabi-language voices of the CFL are prepping their vocal cords for another season behind the mic.<\/p>\n

For Manpreet Singh in Edmonton and Harpreet Pandher in B.C., calling games in Punjabi means much more than translating football terms on the fly.<\/p>\n

It also means explaining the game in real time to new listeners \u2014\u00a0some of whom may be longtime fans, while others may never have watched a football game in their lives.<\/p>\n

Singh and Pandher kindly took the time to bring CFL.ca into the broadcast booth and share seven tricks of the trade for bringing the CFL to life in Punjabi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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START WITH A LOVE OF THE GAME<\/p>\n

Pandher\u00a0 \u2014 perhaps best known for his work on Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition \u2014 fondly remembers his introduction to the CFL at a game during Expo 86 in Vancouver. Singh lugged the football as a running back at Edmonton\u2019s W.P. Wagner High School and is a long-time season ticket holder at Commonwealth Stadium.<\/p>\n

Love for the game is crucial for fans in a culture overflowing with passion for their favourite sports teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big part of the lifestyle, just being Punjabi,\u201d Singh says. \u201cWe are very happy. We\u2019re very excited about even the smallest things \u2014\u00a0and it really shines in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

COME READY TO BUILD YOUR OWN DICTIONARY<\/p>\n

Quarterback sneak, blitzing the quarterback, dropping back in pass protection \u2014 football is full of words and phrases that might confuse English-speaking newcomers to the game. And that confusion can be exponentially higher for those who speak a different language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain things that happen in football, and there\u2019s not really words for them in Punjabi,\u201d Singh says. \u201cSo we had to create our own language.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it started before the first broadcast, but then you see things as they happen live. You\u2019ve got to adjust and provide that information at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our July 29th game against BC was the first professional football game ever to be called in Punjabi!<\/p>\n

Shoutout to our announcers @HarpPandher<\/a> & @TaqdeerThindal<\/a> on @580_my<\/a> radio.#OurTeamOurCity<\/a> #GoElks<\/a> #CFL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UHP81ynxsE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Edmonton Elks (@GoElks) September 22, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n

LEAN ON TERMINOLOGY FROM OTHER SPORTS<\/p>\n

From a defensive perspective, the quarterback sack is one of the most exciting plays in football. So Pandher and Taqdeer Thindal borrowed a term from kabaddi, a sport popular in\u00a0 parts of South Asia to\u00a0describe when a defensive player breaks through the offensive line and brings the quarterback to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just thought it sounded really good,\u201d Pandher says. \u201cSo we always bring out the word\u00a0jhaffa\u00a0when there\u2019s a sack. And we\u2019ve had good feedback on that one, because there is a correlation of kabaddi and football being kind of similar tackling sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

SOMETIMES THE BEST WORD IS THE MOST OBVIOUS ONE<\/p>\n

It can prove tempting to try to translate every football term into Punjabi, says Pandher, noting the same phenomenon exists in hockey.\u00a0Even the basics presented a quandary when Pandher and Thindal called the first CFL game in Punjabi back in 2023.<\/p>\n

Their first quandary?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were figuring out, like, is there a word for touchdown we could use?\u201d Pandher says. \u201cSo we played around with it, but we were just saying, you know what? We\u2019ll have a couple variations, but we\u2019re going to stick with \u2018touchdown,\u2019 because if we literally translate it, it kind of gets lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh adopts a similar philosophy in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wanted to say \u2018quarterback sneak\u2019 in Punjabi, it\u2019s so many words. It would have happened 10 times before I was able to say it one time,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s some things where there\u2019s no way to say it in Punjabi, so we just say it in English.\u201d<\/p>\n

ENVISION THE AUDIENCE<\/p>\n

Regardless of the language, the fine art of football broadcasting involves teaching people about the game in a captivating manner that doesn\u2019t sound preachy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing the call to people that potentially have never seen or heard anything about this sport before,\u201d Singh says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pandher\u2019s dad and many of his friends have attended BC Lions games as season-ticket holders, so they know the sport and don\u2019t require \u2014 or desire \u2014 any extra explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the most part, when we\u2019re calling a game, you hear it like you would in English but in a different language,\u201d Pandher says. \u201cSometimes, when we slow it down, we switch it. I feel like I\u2019m talking to my grandparents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came in the \u201980s, and they never really learned English. They\u2019re older. Some of the newer people that come, they find football one of the trickier sports to pick up on or know what the rules are.\u201d<\/p>\n

DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND LEARN FROM THE BEST<\/p>\n

Success in football rests largely on practice and game planning, and the same holds true for those in the broadcast booth. The preparation for calling a game starts long before the opening kickoff \u2014\u00a0especially in a stop-and-go sport where the broadcasters often need to chat at length between plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe attend practice at least once a week and find out what\u2019s going on,\u201d Pandher says. \u201cWe\u2019re picking the brains of the visiting team\u2019s radio broadcasters. There\u2019s new players that we always want to get our pronunciations right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pandher turns to veteran broadcasters like BC Lions play-by-play announcer Bob Marjanovich and analyst Giulio Caravatta for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of senior broadcasters who we can call anytime,\u201d Pandher says. \u201cThey\u2019ve been great to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

TURN THE VOLUME UP<\/p>\n

Great football plays are exciting in any language. For his part, Singh still gushes over the excitement of calling the jaw-dropping, one-handed catch made in traffic last season by Winnipeg receiver Ontaria Wilson at the expense of the Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe bobbled it twice in the air, he was in the air himself, and he managed to corral that and bring it in,\u201d Singh says. \u201cThat was probably the coolest thing I\u2019ve seen and called.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passion is a must for any Punjabi-language broadcaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m versed in both languages,\u201d Pandher says. \u201cIt might be a little bit over the top if you\u2019re speaking English, but in Punjabi, it\u2019s not. I think people appreciate the louder, energetic goal calls or touchdown calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is kind of in the culture where things are very loud and proud. There is that loudness, the pride and just general excitement and merriment.\u201d<\/p>\n