NBA champions the Toronto Raptors have released a sports hijab featuring the team’s logo, inspired by a group of female Muslim athletes in the Canadian city.
Members of the Hijabi Ballers were featured in a video announcing the product, which was posted on the Raptors Twitter account on Friday.
The Hijabi Ballers project, based in the Greater Toronto Area, seeks to recognize and celebrate the athleticism of Muslim girls and women.
“There was a story about them that came out during the playoffs in the [Toronto] Star talking about how we connect with our diverse group of fans, and that’s where the idea came from,” Jerry Ferguson, senior director of marketing for the Raptors’ parent company, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, told the newspaper. “We were very inspired by them.”
The Raptors said that the Nike-made hijab designed for sports and featuring the club’s claw-footed basketball logo would be available for sale at the team’s Scotiabank Arena.
Support from the Raptors is “creating an atmosphere where girls who play basketball can do so with more confidence and more empowerment, and actually feel welcome in that space,” Hijabi Ballers founder Amreen Kadwa said.
In 2017, basketball’s international governing body FIBA reversed a controversial ban on professional players wearing headgear — a ruling that prompted Qatar to pull their women’s basketball team from the 2014 Asian Games.
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