WEEK #5: FITRIYA M.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Fitriya Mohamed. I came to Canada form Oromia, Ethiopia at around the age of 10. I attend school for the first time and was introduced to all sports of sports in my physical education class. From there, I never stopped. The sports I played included basketball, soccer, badminton and ultimate frisbee. I become good at the sports that I committed to and won MVP awards for most of them (e.g., basketball and badminton). In my graduating year of high school, I was awarded Female Athlete of the year; the first Muslim woman to win it for my high school. From there, I was determined and motivated to pursue a career in the sports industry and four year later, I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management. I founded the MWSBL (Muslim Women’s Summer Basketball League) because I wanted to create an inclusive space for Muslim women because growing up, that is what I wanted but never had it. My hope with MWSBL is to inspire the next generations of Muslim female hoopers around the world, and eventually go back to the mother land and introduce them to basketball. At the moment, I am doing my Master’s at Brock University and the basketball ambassador for Hijabi Ballers.
What is something you’re proud of that is outside of sport?
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- Receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management; being the first in my family to achieve this goal and deciding to further my education at the Master’s level.
- Being the face of the Raptors Pro- hijab, being part of Nike’s you can’t stop our voice campaign and being featured on the Toronto Star.
What elements of leadership parallel your sport and life leadership?
Humility, confidence & transparency.
What advice do you have for parents, coaches or sport administrators to improve inclusion in sport?
For parents: allow their children to choose the sport for themselves, rather than choosing for them. You have to allow them to try out the sports that interest them for them to be able to discover which ones they love most.
For sport administrators: rethink their polices and see how they can be excluding an individual because of their identity. Also, reevaluate the culture of the sport they provide to include more individual from diverse backgrounds. If your organization and sport culture is not diverse, you’re excluding other diverse groups from your organization.
For coaches: If you are not familiar with your athletes’ culture, tradition, or religion, asking more about it and learning about them is the first step to including them into your sports team/organization.
5 words that best describe me:
AMBITIOUS | AUTHENTIC | COMPASSIONATE | CREATIVE | HARDWORKING
Instagram: @fitriya.hoops