By Jonathan Reynoso
In the summer of 2018, coming off of an injury, Yasmin Said was left questioning her place and her future within sports. After returning from a soccer tournament in Egypt, Said met Amreen Kadwa, founder of the Toronto-based not-for-profit Hijabi Ballers and became involved in their work, which allowed her to find a piece of herself that she felt she was missing.
“When I got involved with Hijabi Ballers, it put into perspective the idea of community that can arise and being able to find your people,” explained Said. “I think it’s important because the more I meet women in sports and women who are interested in athletics, the more I start to see the privilege that lies within myself…It opened my eyes to how that community is there if you are willing to find it.”
Hijabi Ballers is a space “to create positive sport experiences for Muslim girls and women by eliminating systemic barriers to their participation,” according to their website.
Toronto is a city rich with sports history, where the culture and diversity within each of the six boroughs seep into the foundation of its sports. Nevertheless, because many spaces and sports are not inclusive or accessible to those from marginalized or underprivileged communities, people continue to feel like outliers.
Reports in 2023 from Statistics Canada show that “Nearly one in five people report experiencing or witnessing unfair treatment, racism or discrimination in sports in the previous five years.”
“I still felt like sports in general, for me, had at times felt really isolating”
To combat this, organizations like Hijabi Ballers, Lay-Up and HOOPQUEENS are working to make Toronto a city where people of all ages, genders, cultures and religions have a space in sports where they can feel seen, feel heard and find their belonging. For many like Said, this is a relatable pursuit.
“I still felt like sports in general, for me, had at times felt really isolating,” explained Said, who was previously the public relations officer and a co-lead of the Black Muslim Female Athletes Fundraiser for Hijabi Ballers.
For some, the first step to welcoming a community is creating a safe and affordable space. Lay-Up is a basketball charity whose mission is to make sports more accessible to youth in Toronto.
The city’s vast size might make finding that community challenging, but for Lay-Up, making the effort to engage the broader basketball-loving community helps to reduce financial and social barriers for kids and create inclusive spaces where everyone can feel a sense of belonging.
“Whether it’s playing on a basketball team or at a community level, some of the most diverse neighbourhoods in the city are also neighbourhoods where there are a lot of barriers to access,” said Chris Penrose, executive director of Lay-Up.
The challenge of lacking inclusivity and accessibility to suitable programs in sports is one women and girls—especially women of colour—have been trying to tackle for years. Girls have 1.3 million fewer high school sports opportunities than boys, according to the Women’s Sport Foundation. Limited school programs, high costs and a lack of nearby facilities make it even harder for girls to participate.
For HOOPQUEENS, the first professional women’s basketball league in Canada, the key to solving this imbalance is funding for women’s programs, better facilities and an intentional focus on uplifting female athletes.
Nakissa Koomalsingh, founder and CEO of HOOPQUEENS, said organizations, brands and policymakers must actively create pathways for women to succeed through sponsorship, mentorship or leadership opportunities in the sports industry.
“Ultimately, inclusivity means breaking down financial, social and systemic barriers so that talent and passion, not gender or background, determine success,” said Koomalsingh in an email statement to The Eyeopener.
She said HOOPQUEENS’ goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem for women’s basketball.
“We’re creating a space where women and girls can be a part of the sport in a new way. Here, they can develop their skills, find the support they need and be part of an ecosystem that’s intentionally built for them,” said Koomalsingh. “Basketball has historically been a space where women haven’t always had the same opportunities, so our programs are designed to change that.”
For some in sports, feeling represented in a workspace is transferable to watching and playing sports—organizations like Lay-Up relay this by “always wanting to create experiences.”
An article by Michel Ruiz Fuentes titled “The Importance of Representation in the Workspace” highlights the importance of the connection between youth of colour and adults, who benefit from relationships with others who share their experiences and can offer understanding and support.
Penrose has seen firsthand why representation matters. While sitting in front of the TV enjoying their favourite team, the Toronto Raptors, his then-six-year-old son asked him, “How come everyone who talks about basketball doesn’t look like who plays basketball?”
Whether on the court or off of it, a sense of belonging can mean a lot to diverse athletes in Toronto and their communities.
“When you’re walking into a space you’re not really familiar with, it’s better to have that reassurance, that the idea of representation is so important,” explained Said. “It translates into community because when you see yourself being represented, you’re able to find that community and hold onto it.”
Including diverse faces also drives educational advancement in these spaces. To Said, it is important for young athletes to “see it to believe it,” ensuring that men, women, boys and girls—along with those around them—stay well-informed about the spaces created for them. This is why organizations like Lay-Up orient the space to make their members feel as comfortable as possible.
“We also learn along the way that one of the barriers for the older girls is sports bras or there are Muslim girls who want to play competitively wearing a hijab. These are where we are creating these points of access,” said Penrose.
Lay-Up has built a relationship with the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) basketball community by employing students from the school as content creators, having course-based collaborations to support the organization’s work and attending TMU varsity basketball games. They were recently featured courtside and recognized for their continued efforts within the Toronto basketball community.
“I want to see more women pursuing basketball professionally”
Organizations like Lay-Up and Hijabi Ballers not only open up the sports to those often counted out but commit to bringing in fresh opinions and viewpoints in their pursuit to improve diversity within sports in Toronto.
“If you don’t have outside perspectives, you’re not going to be able to understand the gaps in a more holistic way,” explained Said. “I think people sometimes forget that, especially with sports, it can be very political. It could be very governance-based.”
With efforts to create more access, educate and promote more representation in the sports spaces, each of these organizations makes strides to continue diversifying Toronto’s sports ecosystem.
With no clear end in sight, their goal—individually and collectively—is to maintain and grow the communities that have been created out of what makes Toronto the diverse city it is.
“I want to see more women pursuing basketball professionally, as well as being involved in different areas of the game,“ said Koomalsingh. “I want to be part of making that happen, not just for the athletes, but for future generations too.”
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