Sports and travel are two things Semra Hunter has been passionate about for as long as she can remember. For this Los Angeles, California native, it all started at the age of three years old when she first began playing soccer. Even though she participated in an array of sports growing up—including softball, tennis, swimming, and volleyball—, there was something unique about the game of soccer that quickly ignited an interest in her to pursue a career playing the sport. From watching the Premier League to following all of the World Cup games to even attending the 1999 Women's World Cup, Semra was determined to one day become a professional soccer player. She was all in. Despite not fulfilling that particular dream, she remained committed to identifying a career path that she was passionate about. It was up from there. A few years after graduating from college, Semra received a suggestion from her mom that would change the course of her life. "Why don't you become a sideline reporter? Because it's a great marriage of sports and travel, the two things that you love to do,” her mom said. This was it. This was the light bulb moment that Semra was waiting for, and one that presented her with a clear avenue that merged her two interests. The rest is history! From working as a multilingual sideline reporter for Al-Jazeera Sport to hosting studio shows for Real Madrid TV to joining TRT World as its Sports Anchor and Correspondent to being a lead presenter with LaLiga TV, Semra has worked with various organizations throughout her time in the industry as a sports broadcast journalist. Recently, she has also ventured into sports outside of men's soccer including paddle tennis, women's football, and esports. As she embarks on this new chapter in her career as a freelance professional, Semra is excited to continue highlighting athletes' stories and bringing fans closer to the action through captivating content, storytelling, and event coverage.
Let’s start with your journey early on! How did you get started in the industry?
My first foray into sports was pretty much when I was a little girl. My parents were really into sports. My dad was a big sports buff, so he used to take me down to the park and we would play all different kinds of things. I was really hooked with soccer pretty much from the age of three. I don't know, I just kicked the ball and I fell in love (*laughs*). That was pretty much it. I was really into a lot of sports when I was growing up. I played softball, tennis, I did swimming, obviously I played soccer a lot, volleyball—a lot of different things. The real two that hooked me the most were soccer and volleyball. When I was growing up, my main drive was to become a professional soccer player. I think growing up in the States where the women were always so good, it seemed like a very realistic dream. So I grew up watching the Premier League, I grew up watching the World Cups—I went to the Women's World Cup in ‘99 that was at the Rose Bowl. I had a very deep love and passion for the sport.
That dream didn't come true, unfortunately. I didn't become professional in the end, so for a few years, I didn't really know what to do next. When I went to college, I got my undergraduate (degree) in International Relations because my other passion was travel. I had this sort of naive, romantic, idealistic view that working in the foreign service or working at an embassy or a consulate would be this wonderful way to live in different countries and every few years change and travel the world. By the end of my four years at Berkeley (though), I realized I hated politics. That was not gonna work, right? (*laughs*) So for the next three years, I was quite lost. I did know what to do. The two things I pretty much focused my entire life on up until that point weren't panning out, and I just was really beside myself. I didn't know what to do. I did my junior year abroad in Spain, in Barcelona, so I moved back when I finished college pretty much straightaway. I was teaching English for a couple of years while I was figuring things out. It wasn't until my mom one day—going back to the whole sports buff thing since they love to watch sports—said, “Oh, why don't you become a sideline reporter? Because it's a great marriage of sports and travel, the two things that you love to do.” It was kind of a light bulb moment. I was like, “Oh yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense. Why didn’t I think of that before?” That's really how I got into sports journalism. From that moment on, she planted a seed that grew into what my career is now today. The first step that I took was looking into different master’s programs in Europe because I knew that I wanted to get into soccer, specifically European football. I found a program that was in Madrid, it was in Spanish, I got accepted, I moved to Madrid, did my year-long Master’s program in Sports Journalism and Communication, and then it all just took off from there.
How was that transition from university into the world of sports journalism and broadcasting like for you?
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