Women of the Muslim faith have a hard time being able to play sports and be traditionally dressed. A group of young girls have designed sports uniforms that would allow Muslims to follow their faith but also be comfortable while playing sports.
Here are the details via NY Daily News:
“The girls for years have been telling us, ‘We would like clothing. We would like clothing,”’ said Chelsey Thul, a lecturer in kinesiology at the University of Minnesota who helped lead the two-year project.
The uniforms’ roots stretch back further, to the day in 2008 when then-college student Fatimah Hussein founded a girls-only sports program that now includes the Lady Warriors and began claiming gym time at a community center in the heart of Minneapolis’ Somali neighborhood.
The girls quickly learned that traditional dress and basketball don’t mix well, said Thul, who was a volunteer research consultant to the program.
The answer, Thul said, was a functional yet modest uniform “so they could do that between-the-legs dribble, make that three-pointer, and not have clothing be a barrier.”
She worked with Hussein, girls from her sports league, the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the university, coaches and community members on the project.
The girls came up with two designs. One teal-and-black uniform with stripes — good for all sports including swimming — features leggings and a knee-length tunic.
Both the everyday active wear and the basketball team’s bright red outfit include a tight black headpiece. Arms, legs, hair and neck are all covered.
I must say the uniforms look really nice. It will be great to see Muslims be able to be able to play the sport they love and also follow the practices of their religion together.