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Muslim player quits over uniform issue
ESPN ^

Posted on 09/15/2004 6:03:37 PM PDT by MikefromOhio

USF player said issue was a distraction

TAMPA, Fla. -- A University of South Florida women's basketball player who wanted to wear Islamic clothing on the court quit the team on Wednesday.

Last week, USF had asked the NCAA for an exemption to its uniform policy to allow Muslim convert Andrea Armstrong, 22, to wear long pants, a top with long sleeves and a scarf during games.

In a letter Wednesday to coach Jose Fernandez, Armstrong said she was leaving the team because she didn't want the uniform issue "to cause further distraction."

Armstrong first said last week that she had left the team and lost her athletic scholarship after Fernandez told her she could not wear religiously mandated clothing during practices or games.

In a meeting Friday with Armstrong, university officials and a representative of Council on American-Islamic Relations, officials agreed that the team would accommodate her Islamic attire and reinstate her scholarship. The university also agreed to work with the NCAA on the scarf issue.

But Fernandez said Armstrong requested a meeting with him Wednesday and left the team.

"I offered her an opportunity to think further on her decision, and she assured me the decision is final," Fernandez said.

Armstrong, a senior forward from Lakeside, Ore., played one season with the Bulls after transferring from Kansas State University.

Religion and sports have intersected elsewhere. At Towson University in Maryland, star player Tamir Goodman, an Orthodox Jew, wore a yarmulke on the court and did not play on the Jewish Sabbath. At the Olympics in Greece, several female athletes wore head scarves.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Florida; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: basketball; florida; headdress; marchmadness; muslim; muslimamericans; muslimwomen; ncaa; player; usf
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I wondered how this would end up....from what I can see in the article, she never got an answer from the NCAA...
1 posted on 09/15/2004 6:03:40 PM PDT by MikefromOhio
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To: MikeinIraq

I think it was a mistake to name the team the USF Infidels.


2 posted on 09/15/2004 6:04:58 PM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: MikeinIraq

If islam didn't insist on murder and world wide warfare, nobody would mind.

Would we have let players wear swastikas in play? Even now?


3 posted on 09/15/2004 6:05:03 PM PDT by Kornev
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To: MikeinIraq
At the Olympics in Greece, several female athletes wore head scarves.

I guess she should have participated there instead. ;)

4 posted on 09/15/2004 6:05:52 PM PDT by canalabamian (Common sense, unfortunately, is not very common)
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To: MikeinIraq

It's amazing how many people have forgotten that the world doesn't owe them anything, that life isn't "fair", and that they can't always have their way. This is freedom in action. You're free to play.........by the rules.


5 posted on 09/15/2004 6:06:05 PM PDT by Jaysun (The probability of someone watching you is proportional to the stupidity of your action)
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To: All

Pathetic, simply pathetic. I went to school at USF, and the other muslim that is "famous" from there is a terrorist group fund raiser.

"I am a viking and demand to wear a viking horn helmet!!"
-Soon to be heard from a nose guard in the NFL.


6 posted on 09/15/2004 6:07:20 PM PDT by EvilRightWingRepublican
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To: MikeinIraq

Don't let the door hit you on the @ss on your way out.


7 posted on 09/15/2004 6:08:44 PM PDT by pipecorp (If they pull the great electronic plug, where will all the ones and zeros go?)
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To: MikeinIraq
Muslim player quits over uniform issue

Good riddance.

8 posted on 09/15/2004 6:09:03 PM PDT by SlickWillard
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To: MikeinIraq
wanted to wear Islamic clothing on the court quit the team on Wednesday.

Bye.

See ya.

Get out.

LVM

9 posted on 09/15/2004 6:09:16 PM PDT by LasVegasMac (John Kerry says he has changed his mind about all those NO votes in the Senate.)
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To: EvilRightWingRepublican
"I am a viking and demand to wear a viking horn helmet!!"

LOL
The Texas Longhorns could do some damage.
You gored me. (pun)
10 posted on 09/15/2004 6:10:51 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Rather calls Saddam "Mister President" and calls President Bush "bush")
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To: MikeinIraq


She can go play for Palestinian U.
11 posted on 09/15/2004 6:11:10 PM PDT by Dallas59
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To: MikeinIraq

Islam controls everything in life, just like Big Brother.


12 posted on 09/15/2004 6:11:15 PM PDT by jolie560
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To: MikeinIraq

Typical "convert" to the muslim religion. Always so over the top in their zealousness. Another Sultana Freeman looking for attention.


13 posted on 09/15/2004 6:12:01 PM PDT by roamincadillac (friends don't let friends vote democrat.)
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To: MikeinIraq

The meaning of the noun "uniform" is easily understood by MOST people.

So's the adjective.


14 posted on 09/15/2004 6:13:55 PM PDT by hellinahandcart
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To: MikeinIraq
when in rome, do as the romans....or go home.
15 posted on 09/15/2004 6:14:12 PM PDT by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never Forget)
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To: MikeinIraq

In honor of Rosh Hashanah they ought to give the athletic scholarship to a non-whining Jewish athelete.


16 posted on 09/15/2004 6:14:23 PM PDT by kcar (theUNsucks.com)
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To: MikeinIraq

> I wondered how this would end up...

I was afraid she'd threaten to behead herself.

Imagine the chaos if nudism was a formal religion.


17 posted on 09/15/2004 6:15:33 PM PDT by Boundless
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To: MikeinIraq
...long pants, a top with long sleeves and a scarf during games.

With secret pockets for the plastique?

(No doubt the b*tch will declare jihad on the ref, the players, and the fans if she fouls out of the game.)

18 posted on 09/15/2004 6:15:36 PM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: MikeinIraq

I thought she was objecting to the team's new mascot....a Caterpillar bulldozer.


19 posted on 09/15/2004 6:16:10 PM PDT by N. Theknow (N. Theknow: Proud Charter Member - Vast Right Wing Googling Pajama Monkeys)
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To: MikeinIraq

....And don't let the Door hit you in the A$$....


20 posted on 09/15/2004 6:17:50 PM PDT by Ramonan (Honor does not go out of style.)
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