Saudi women jump through many hoops for basketball team

[ensho]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0416/p04s01-wome.html


The Jeddah United team in Saudi Arabia openly flaunts a ban on women's sports.


The Jeddah United women's basketball team trickled onto the court, each player wrapped in a black abaya and head scarf. Within minutes, the women had shed their cloaks and were in uniform – white pants and jerseys with their names in red – practicing layups, passes, and foul shots.

The team, made up mostly of Saudi students and housewives, is preparing for a local tournament this month. But what the women would really love to do, many said, is compete internationally and represent their country abroad, something Saudi Arabia does not permit.

"We want to reach Olympic levels," said Shatha Bakhsh, a law student. "We have a lot of potential, but not the chance to show it."

Saudi Arabia follows a strict version of Islam that bans men and women from mingling and does not allow women to drive or to travel without a male guardian's permission. Powerful religious clerics also ban sports for girls in public schools, deeming it un-Islamic, and recently canceled two rare all-women's events, a soccer match and a marathon. Gyms for women were closed in the early 1990s and have been allowed to reopen, but only when affiliated with hospitals.


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Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries competing in the Olympics without a female delegation. Though the kingdom has come under increasing pressure from the International Olympic Committee to include women on its team, many in this deeply patriarchal and traditional society agree with the restrictions, believing that allowing female athletes could lead to Western-style independence for women and an erosion of established culture.
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religiously insane men are a danger to women and children

more power to the women of S.A.

back before title 9 - at 5'1" I was on the H.S. basketball team. we had no uniforms and the woman gyn teacher was the coach on her on time and money. we played at night after dinner in various school gyms. back then parents didn't watch school sports. dropped the kids off at the site and came back and got them.

we had a ball!

may the women of S.A. prevail.

[LeftinOH]

1. While I don't agree with boycotting any Olympic games, the Saudi

olympic athletes' men-only rule should exclude the Saudis from any and all Olympic games until they catch up with the rest of us (which could be another millennia or two).

[ensho]

2. I'm hoping for protests from the audience when the S.A. team marches

into the stadium for opening ceremonies.

with signs like: WHERE ARE YOUR WOMEN?

[Book Lover]

3. Ah, the irony of history

The original festival-of-zeus Olympics banned women from participating also, of course.

[ensho]

4. of course

get with it Saudi

[bean fidhleir]

5. *Flouts* the ban, not "flaunts" it

What's the CSM coming to these days