(CNN) “We had to make this really tough decision between our love of our faith or our love of sports.”
Simran Jeet Singh – CEO of Aspen Institute’s Religion & amp; Society Program, which studies religion, racism and justice – remembers its own experience of fighting for inclusion as a turban-filled Sikh athlete.
Growing up in Texas, he says he and his brothers were often denied the right to play school and college sports because of their turbans, a religious headdress worn by Sikh men.
Hans is one of the voices welcoming the US state of Maryland’s Inclusive Athletic Attire Act, also known as House Bill 515, which came into force on 1 July.
The law requires the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, governing bodies of public higher education institutions, county education boards, and community college trustees to allow student athletes to modify athletic or team uniforms to conform to their religious or cultural requirements, or preferences for modesty.
By law, modifications to athletic or team uniforms may include headgear, undershirts, or leggings worn for religious reasons.
House Bill 515 states that “any modification of the uniform or headgear must be black, white, the predominant color of the uniform, or the same color used by all players on the team.”
Any uniform modifications must not interfere with the student’s athlete’s movements or pose a safety risk to themselves or others. The bill also stipulates that uniform modifications must not “cover any part of the face, unless it is necessary for the safety of the user.”
In a press release issued by the Maryland Office of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Director Zainab Chaudry said, “Our lawmakers have fundamentally leveled the playing field and improved the lives of thousands of children in our state.”
She added: “Maryland ranks among the worst states in America when it comes to juvenile justice … This progress is long overdue, and we thank the sponsors of the bill and every legislator who voted on the right side of the history of these measures.”
Forced to choose between faith or sports
Forced to choose between faith or sport
“I’m so encouraged to see that a state in the United States, Maryland, is no longer going to stop people from playing the sport they love because of the way they look,” Singh told CNN Sport. On the same subject : What Apple TV’s MLS deal says about sports and streaming.
“I think that’s what I really believe in sports. You have to bring people together, not divide them.”
Singh held on to this belief during his own days as a student athlete, where he and his brothers coveted various sports governing bodies to allow them to play in religious attire, paving the way for greater inclusion.
To play football in high school while wearing the turban, Singh says he requested the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and received a letter to be carried from match to match stating that he could maintain religious attire while playing.
“Although it was useful to me personally, it was essentially an exception to a discriminatory rule. But now we are in a place where we should only change the rule that is discriminatory,” Singh said.
“We should not put the burden on individuals, and especially on children, to be allowed to play, and that is a very important element of this Maryland rule.”
Applying for permission to play in religious garments was the very obstacle that student athletes like Je’Nan Hayes faced.
In 2017, the Maryland student was excluded from the basketball team’s first regional final appearance because of her hijab, which she said no one had previously invoked a rule saying she needed a state-signed exemption.
Noor Alexandria Abukaram had a similar experience. The athlete in high school in Ohio was disqualified from a cross-country meet in 2019 for wearing a hijab, which she later found out violated the uniform regulations since she had not previously been granted a dispensation to wear the headgear.
Abukaram’s experience drove her campaign for law changes. Earlier this year, the state of Ohio signed the Senate Bill 181, which means that sports students will no longer be required to present a dispensation to practice sports in religious attire, following similar legislation passed in Illinois in 2021.
Last year, the National Federation of State High School (NFHS) Association’s athletics regulations committee added a new rule stating that students no longer need authorization from state associations to wear religious headgear in competitions.
A press release from NFHS states that athletics in 2021 was the eighth sport to “change rules related to religious and cultural background”.
The other high school sports where athletes no longer need prior approval to wear religious headgear are volleyball, basketball, football, field hockey, spirit and softball, according to the NFHS release.
In swimming and diving, participants will be able to wear suits that provide full body coverage for religious reasons without having obtained prior approval from state associations.
Singh cites other examples of progress beyond the world of high school sports. In 2014, FIFA’s governing body approved the use of religious headscarves on the pitch, and in 2017, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) changed its rules to allow players to wear approved headgear.
Permission to play does not guarantee acceptance
Permission to play does not guarantee acceptance
Despite this, Singh says there is much more progress to be made around the world. This may interest you : The inside story of how Paolo Banchero became the NBA’s #1 draft pick.
“It’s great that Maryland is taking action on this law. It’s huge,” he told CNN. “But I think it should be across the board in every state in the United States. I think it should be true in every country. I think it should be true with all sports governing bodies.”
And for players wearing religious attire, permission to play is not the only obstacle to acceptance.
Singh recounts the setback his younger brother Darsh Preet Singh suffered after writing history as the first turbaned Sikh American to play college basketball, led by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Opponents tried to weaken this triumph through a series of online harassment against Darsh. Pictures of him playing basketball in the turban provoked derogatory comments and were used to create racist online memes.
“There were some anti-Muslim comments,” Simran Jeet Singh said of his brother’s harassment. “After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our performances fit very well with the profile of who the Americans thought their enemies were.”
The problem is not isolated to the United States. The stories of the Singh brothers highlight the racism and xenophobia that ignites the flames of ongoing debates around the world about religious attire in sports.
Earlier this year, French lawmakers proposed a ban on hijab in competitive sports, threatening the inclusion of women with minority backgrounds, such as French Muslim society.
In March, an Indian supreme court upheld a ban on the use of hijab or headgear in educational institutions in the state of Karnataka, following religious clashes and growing tensions between the country’s majority Hindus and Muslim minority populations.
Singh says that such a conflict can only be resolved by “collective humanity” sincerely acknowledging that just because there is a legal ban on religious garments, does not mean that such rules are fair or just.
“I think people need to go back to the table and say, ‘Hi, these rules were not necessarily created for the society we live in today or take into account global diversity,'” he said.
“This is a matter of equality and inclusion, and there is so much more for us to work on.”
