On Saturday, January 12, 2008, a female high school runner was disqualified from running in a track meet in the Washington D.C. suburbs. Juashaunna Kelly, who is one of the fastest student runners in the D.C. area, was not allowed to participate at the meet because she wears a unitard that covers her head, arms, body and legs. This covering is in accordance with her Muslim faith. Over the orange and blue unitard she wore the same orange and blue team T-shirt and shorts as her teammates. She was clearly recognizable as a member of the team. In fact, Kelly had been wearing the unitard for the past three years at many track meets and had never been disqualified for it.
However, the track meet director on Saturday ruled that Kelly’s unitard violated the rules of the meet’s national sanctioning body. The issue is not that the unitard provides a competitive advantage for Kelly. In fact, the opposite case could be made. Running with more clothing on one’s body than competitors have would seem to be a hindrance, not an advantage. The specifics of the rule violation are disputed. The track meet director claimed it was because the unitard had more than one color and the runner’s mother claims the officials were first contending that the head wear portion of the unitard was the problem.
In my opinion, the track meet director made the wrong call for several reasons. First, there was no due process, since the unitard had been worn for three years, without objection, including at the exact same meet last year. The director disqualified Kelly at the meet just before she was to run. If the color of the unitard was contrary to the rules, the better practice would have been to let Kelly participate and then correct the color of the unitard for future competitions.
Secondly, there is no claim by officials that the unitard gives Kelly an unfair advantage so there would have been no injury to other competitors if the officials had permitted Kelly to run as scheduled.
Third, school officials should be encouraging, not discouraging, female students to participate in sports. Thirty-five years after the passage of Title IX, there are still more boys and young men participating in sports than girls and young women. Participation in sports by both sexes is beneficial for their health. Athletes develop life skills, such as teamwork, discipline and sacrifice.
Fourth, it is admirable that a young woman like Juashaunna Kelly is devoted both to her religious faith and to her sport. She should not have to choose between the two and be denied her opportunity to participate in a track and field meet by small minded and inflexible officials. Shame on them! I hope that this incident will not discourage Kelly and that she will not quit. There was the case of a Muslim female basketball player at the University of South Florida who reportedly quit playing after her coach asked her not to wear a head covering and long pants and long sleeves.
American pop culture and the fashion industry promote images and clothing for young girls and women which encourage them to dress in overly revealing and tight clothing. Maybe it would be better if we had more role models like Juashaunna Kelly, young women who combine athletic excellence with modesty and faith.