A Muslim athlete needed modest sportswear, now she sells it to others

PITTSBURGH – Kiandra Browne had little interest in religion growing up in multicultural Montreal. But she did have a curious mind. “If you know Kiandra, you know she questions everything,” her mother, Ms Sheryl White, said with a loving laugh.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Ms Browne, then a high school senior with a lot of time to think, began to consider the question of faith.

Soon, she was peppering a Muslim friend with questions about Islam. As Ms Browne, who ultimately converted to Islam, peeled back pages of the Quran, she found that many of the messages resonated with her, particularly in relation to her basketball ambitions.

The structure and discipline that are required – stopping for prayer five times each day, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan – echo the commitment demanded of an elite athlete. The concept of sisterhood and setting aside her ego mirrored the fabric of a team sport.

“As somebody who already had a very disciplined lifestyle, Islam just made sense,” she said.

But as she dived deeper into the religion, she was presented with a conflict: Women’s basketball uniforms, with their shorts and tank tops, did not conform with stricter Islamic standards of modesty. But revealing less of her body by wearing a hijab – a head scarf – along with baggy pants and loose-fitting long-sleeve shirts presented its own conundrum on the basketball court.

“You kind of feel like you’re wearing a garbage bag,” she said.

She managed to make do, first at Indiana University, where she began her college career, and then at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she is a forward. But she wondered why there were not more clothing options for Muslim women who had a passion for sports – something less cumbersome than XXL men’s athletic wear and more affordable than US$100 (S$133) name-brand garments.

Eventually, Ms Browne arrived at a solution: starting a business that sells affordable, modest athletic wear, which she obtains from a small family business in Pakistan.

It is, at least for now, a very small business. There is no website. She takes orders through direct messages on Instagram. And she sells about a dozen outfits a month. The small scale is necessary for someone who is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration, playing basketball and working as a personal trainer.

“It’s hard to grow a business in college,” she said. “It’s not my nine-to-five job.”

What has been helpful, though, is that it has been made abundantly clear there is a worldwide market of women who prefer not to exercise in sports bras and skin-hugging leggings.

Ms Browne is scheduled to graduate in May and once she is finished with school, she plans to seek an investor to expand her business.

“Honestly, it’s not about how many sales I make. It’s really about all the messages I get on social media and people thanking me,” she said.

“It’s removing a barrier for women who want to work out but can’t find what they need to wear because they overheat or feel uncomfortable, or it’s just too complicated.”

She said she believed covering her body with loose-fitting clothes was a form of female empowerment that pushed men to appreciate her intellect, talent and personality.

“Women are so incredibly objectified and sexualised,” she said. “My hijab is not allowing anyone to do that to me.”

In February, a group of Muslim girls in Chicago, whom Ms Browne had instructed at a clinic last summer, came to watch her team play.

After a recent home game, Ms Ebtehal Badawi, wearing a hijab, brought her 14-year-old daughter, Layal, to meet Ms Browne, who was signing autographs with her teammates. Soon, Ms Badawi said, her daughter will decide whether she wants to wear a hijab.

“Kiandra is a role model for little Muslim girls if they choose to cover up,” said Ms Badawi, an avid distance runner who founded Pittsburgh Builds Bridges, a community organisation that encourages connections through making art.

“Not everyone has the courage in them to do what they want. At the Oscars or a big event, you don’t see a lot of women covering up. People don’t want to stand out.”

Ms Browne understands that, too. Occasionally, an opponent has yanked on her head covering or a fan has taunted her for wearing it.

She said she was warned by friends and family when she entered the transfer portal that some coaches might view her hijab as an unwanted distraction. But the Duquesne coach, Mr Dan Burt, signalled his interest by asking her what colour head coverings the equipment manager should stock.

When Mr Burt learnt after a road game this season that a fan of the opposing team had taunted Ms Browne, he implored her not to keep it to herself. “If it happens again, I’ll have the game stopped,” he recalled saying.

The first time she was heckled was at Indiana by an opposing player.

“I was really, really shocked in the moment,” she said. “Obviously, people aren’t stupid. They’re trying to get you to think of things other than the task at hand. Now it’s your choice, and you have the opportunity to choose whether to let them cause the hurt that they intended or go ahead and play your game.”

Her parents have watched her from afar, with some trepidation, but also with a good deal of pride as they have seen their elder daughter grow. Another daughter, Serena, is a water polo player at Stanford who represented Canada in the Paris Olympics.

Ms White said her older daughter had always embraced being different.

Ms Browne’s father, Mr Ken Browne, appreciates her commitment. A former college football player, he recounted fasting during Ramadan in a show of solidarity with his teammate at the University of Colorado, the Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam.

“I lost 7kg, which is not great for an offensive lineman, but it strengthened me in ways I never imagined,” Mr Browne said. “What Kiandra is doing is not easy. She isn’t looked at as a regular basketball player, and, oh, by the way, she’s Muslim. Fortunately or unfortunately, men don’t have that.” NYTIMES