By Marissa Payne
A high school in Portland, Maine, is believed to be the first secondary school in the United States to offer its Muslim student athletes performance hijabs, the Associated Press reports.
The sport hijabs, which are specifically designed to stay in place during rigorous activity, will eliminate the need for female Muslim athletes at the high school to provide their own head coverings, which often shifted or threatened to fall off during play.
The new head wear makes “a huge difference,” Deering High School tennis player Tabarek Kadhim told Portland’s CBS affiliate WGME. “I feel so comfortable now. I can play without my hijab falling off.”
Natalie Delgadillo is an editor and writer living in Washington, D.C. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Bloomberg's CityLab, and The Atlantic. She was previously the managing editor of DCist.
