Teen Noor Abukaram Was Reportedly Disqualified From a Cross-Country Match Because of Her Hijab
An Ohio teenager, Noor Abukaram, was reportedly disqualified from her cross-country match because of her hijab. Noor’s cousin, blogger and Cure Your World founder Zobaida Falah, recently shared that the 16-year-old athlete was participating in a 5K district meet when she was told her scores didn’t count. The Toledo Blade reports that Noor ran “her fastest 5K of the season at last weekend’s Division 1 Northwest District cross country district meet in Findlay: 22 minutes, 22 seconds,” but her scores weren’t counted and she was disqualified because she wore her traditional hijab during the race. The Blade reports that wearing a hijab is “apparently prohibited by Ohio High School Athletic Association rules unless a competitor has a signed waiver.”
According to Abukaram’s cousin Zobaida, who posted about the disqualification in an Instagram and Facebook post, Noor was surprised to see her scores weren’t counted as she was allowed to finish the race. “They were checking me and my teammates in per usual. The officials were checking our uniforms, making sure we didn’t have any uniform violations,” Abukaram recounted to her cousin. “The officials noticed a stripe on one of my teammates [sic] shorts which didn’t match the rest of the teams uniforms so they made her change into plain black shorts before the race. Immediately, I began to wonder if they were going to call on me next since I was wearing all black pants and hijab. I have been a student athlete my entire life, and every time we compete, the thought crosses my mind during uniform checks. At this point, the girl on my team changed her shorts and I was relieved that they had not said anything to me.”
Abukaram, who is part of the Sylvania Northview team, also added that she noticed her coach talking to the officials before her race, but after the race, she checked her placing to discover her name wasn’t there, and her teammates told her she had been disqualified because of her hijab. “Immediately my heart drops, I become nauseous and feel like I got punched in the gut. This is something that I had always feared which has now become a reality,” she said, adding that she felt “humiliated, disappointed, rejected and in denial.”
“The officials did not give me the same respect that they gave my teammate who was also violating a rule when they told her to change her shorts and gave her the chance to fix herself,” Abukaram told her cousin. “I wasn’t given the chance to explain myself to them because they didn’t have the decency to tell me what the issue was,” she continued. “I should not have to get a waiver signed and approved by OSAA [sic] to allow me to race due to my religious head covering. Hijabs are not specifically prohibited by OSAA [sic] rulings.”
A representative from the OHSAA told Teen Vogue that “Cross country runners may participate in competitions with religious headwear, provided the runner has obtained a waiver from the OHSAA and submitted it to the head official before the race, since it is a change to the OHSAA uniform regulations. The official was simply enforcing this rule since a waiver had not been submitted. After the race, the OHSAA communicated with the school, which then submitted a waiver request. The request was approved immediately, which will permit the student-athlete to compete this weekend at regional competition.”
According to the Blade, her coach, Jerry Flowers, was made aware of the issue at the same time he was told about her teammate’s shorts. “He respected her religious beliefs and knew that she wasn’t going to take [the hijab] off,” Northview athletic director Chris Irwin told the publication. “He wanted her to compete even though he knew her score wouldn’t count.”
Flowers told the the Blade that he takes responsibility for not having a signed waiver, but will do so in the future so Noor can continue to race. When reached for comment, the communications director for Sylviana Schools told Teen Vogue that the athlete’s attire did not come into question in previous competitions, and added, “The coaching staff has been in contact with the OHSAA to ensure her eligibility that allows her to wear her hijab in future races.”
Abukaram told the Blade that she isn’t upset with her coach or her team. “I couldn’t ask for a better support system. My coach is completely on my side and my teammates are so supportive,” she said. “I’ve been a student-athlete for as long as I can remember and wearing hijabs since 2016 … which is why I was so appalled when there was an issue. It’s never happened to me before and I certainly didn’t expect it to happen to me at cross country.”
The Blade reports that the cross-country rule book “does not appear to address hijabs specifically, but do ban the use of most head coverings like hats and caps.” The book does, however, state that “athletes who require an exception to the uniform rules because of religious restrictions or otherwise, must submit a request for to the OHSAA by email.” The OHSAA told Teen Vogue, “The OHSAA is also already looking at this specific uniform regulation to potentially modify it in the future, so that religious headwear does not require a waiver.”
In an email to Teen Vogue, Abukaram said, “I initially felt humiliated and crushed because this sport which I gave my whole heart and soul to, had verbal rules against a part of me, which is my hijab. I was upset that the officials did not pay me the same respect they gave my teammate when they asked her to change her shorts which were a violation of uniform. I really want people to know that hijab is part of someones identity. it's not just an accessory that we can remove at someones convenience. I never want another student athlete to endure the same fate that I did. I never want them to have to sacrifice one part of themselves to satisfy the a rule in order to participate in a sport that they love.”
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
