TOLEDO, Ohio — Let Noor Run - an initiative aimed at ending discrimination in sports - kicks off tonight at Lourdes University's Franciscan Center at 7 p.m.
The mission of the event is to host different dialogues within the sports community to further educate and shed light on discrimination in sports.
The effort came into being after Noor Abukaram, a cross country runner for Sylvania Northview, was disqualified after wearing her hijab at a meet in 2019. A hijab is a headscarf that some women of the Muslim faith wear that covers the head and neck, but leaves the face clear. Noor had proudly worn her Nike sport hijab in many other meets without issue, but ran into a problem last year when meet officials told her after a race that she was disqualified for being out of uniform requirements.
"My heart dropped. I felt like something horrible happened to me, something that I always thought could happen, but never has happened," Noor said shortly after the disqualification. "I think I was mostly embarrassed, because like I never expected that to happen," she said.
NOOR'S STORY:
At the time of Noor's disqualification the Ohio High School Athletic Association required coaches to have a waiver for athletes wearing anything that is not a part of league-approved uniforms. Noor's family and coach were unaware that she needed a waiver, mainly because she's been competing in multiple sports for three years, always wearing her hijab with no issues.
Noor's disqualification and high-profile attention following it seems to have led to a change in policy by the OHSAA. In December 2019, the OHSAA board of directors moved to amend the uniform regulations regarding headwear. The updated language reads: "Refer to the National Playing Rules of the particular sport to determine what head decorations or headwear are permissible." The NFHS Cross Country Uniform Rules don't have a set rule on whether or not students can wear religious head coverings (like a hijab) at meets.
Friday's event also includes a panel on which Noor will speak alongside fellow hijab-wearing athletes Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, who was the first Muslim woman in a headscarf to play NCAA Division I basketball, and Minnesota-based teen boxer Amaiya Zafar, who spent two years fighting for a waiver to wear a hijab while boxing.
The event will offer a screening of the documentary “Life Without Basketball,” which traces how rising basketball player Abdul-Qaadir’s life was derailed by the International Basketball Federation’s ban on religious headgear.