Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
Noor Abukaram ran her fastest 5K of the season at last weekend’s Division 1 Northwest District cross country meet in Findlay: 22 minutes, 22 seconds.
But it’s a time that, at least for now, won’t appear in any records of the meet on Saturday. Officials disqualified the 16-year-old member of Sylvania Northview’s girls’ cross country team for wearing a hijab during her race, something that’s apparently prohibited by Ohio High School Athletic Association rules unless a competitor has a signed waiver.
Miss Abukaram told The Blade that she’s not angry toward the school, her coach, or her teammates, but she is frustrated with the ruling and the rule that has never been an issue until the past weekend.
“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.”
Miss Abukaram’s disqualification from the meet first drew widespread attention on Wednesday because of a Facebook post by Zobaida S. Falah, a local activist and cousin of the student-athlete.
According to the post, race officials that day checked runners to make sure their attire followed OHSAA rules. They asked one young woman to change her shorts, which she did. But no one ever said anything to Miss Abukaram, who learned of her disqualification only after she crossed the finish line.
“The officials did not give her the courtesy of informing her of their problem with the hijab,” Ms. Falah wrote. “Instead, they let her run the race thinking she was fine, and after the race, while she was searching for her time alongside her teammates, she discovered her time wasn’t there. When she asked why, her teammates responded, ‘Because of your hijab.’”
An OHSAA cross country rule guidebook for coaches and officials illustrates some of the numerous requirements the association has outlined for runners’ apparel. The rules do not appear to address hijabs specifically, but do ban the use of most head coverings like hats and caps. The guidebook also states athletes who require an exception to the uniform rules because of religious restrictions or otherwise, must submit a request to OHSAA by email.
“If the variance is granted, a written, signed approval of the variance must be presented to the referee prior to competition,” the book says.
The guidebook also states: “a competitor who competes with an illegal uniform shall be disqualified, following a proper warning allowing the competitor the opportunity to correct the error. ... ’’
The OHSAA in a statement to The Blade said: “Cross country runners may participate in competitions with religious headwear, provided the runner has obtained a waiver from the OHSAA and submitted 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. This emphasizes our continual requirement to also assist in educating our coaches on all sport rules. The OHSAA licenses its officials and continues to emphasize consistent enforcement of OHSAA and [National Federation of State High School Associations] rules in all sports. 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.”
Ms. Falah’s post included what she said was the teen’s account of what happened: “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,” Miss Abukaram wrote. “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.
“I feel like my rights as an athlete were violated this weekend because this rule does NOT exist in writing. I should not have to get a waiver signed and approved by [Ohio High School Athletic Association] to allow me to race due to my religious head covering. Hijabs are not specifically prohibited by [OHSAA] rulings.”
Northview Athletic Director Chris Irwin on Wednesday afternoon confirmed that Miss Abukaram was disqualified from the race. Miss Abukaram is a student at the Bounty Collegium, which has an athletics affiliation with Sylvania Schools sports.
“There were two girls in question when they checked in, one had a shorts issue, and so she put on a different pair of shorts, the other participant was wearing a hijab, and our coach was informed that she was not allowed to wear that during the race,” he said.
The girls’ varsity cross country coach, Jerry Flowers, “informed the one girl about the shorts but did not confirm” to Miss Abukaram that she would be disqualified if she wore her hijab during the race.
“He respected her religious beliefs and knew that she wasn’t going to take [the hajib] off,” Mr. Irwin said. “He wanted her to compete even though he knew her score wouldn’t count.”
The coach told the youth about her disqualification immediately after the race at Owens Community College’s Findlay campus, Mr. Irwin said.
“She wasn’t too happy,” he said, “she was definitely disappointed.”
He said Mr. Flowers also spoke to the athlete’s mother, who attended. Mr. Flowers told The Blade that the post’s account of what transpired is “fairly accurate.” “They asked for [Noor’s] paperwork, and I didn’t have it, and they were frustrated that I didn’t have it,” he said. “I know that it was stupid not to have it, but there hadn’t been any issues” in about 10 other races this fall. “And because there hadn’t been any issues, I thought the rules had changed. That’s my mistake for not having it. It’s one hundred percent on me.”
He said that he reached out to OSHAA about the ruling and was told that the official was “correct in disqualifying her” but was not provided with a specific rule he had asked for, “so I’m not sure.”
Miss Abukaram’s mother, Yolanda Melendez, said she and her husband have contacted an Islamic civil rights attorney and will send OHSAA a letter after this weekend’s race about the disqualification and ask for a rule clarification.
“We ultimately want a dialogue,” she said, “to speak out not just on Noor’s behalf, but on future athletes.”
Mr. Flowers said that he now has a waiver for Miss Abukaram, and the disqualification will not prevent her from participating in an upcoming race this weekend.
For now, though, her season-best time of 22 minutes, 22 seconds remains “unofficial,” he said.
That she ran her best only made the disqualification that much worse.
“It was super difficult,” she said. “I ran hard, I knew I ran hard, and I didn’t think anything of the hijab. I felt like I got hit by a truck.”
First Published October 23, 2019, 7:33 p.m.
