Bilquis Abdul-Qaadir dreamed of playing professional basketball ever since she was a child shooting hoops in Massachusetts. She excelled and won many titles; she was the first woman to wear a hijab while playing NCAA Division I basketball. Then her career was cut short by a rule that prohibited her from playing while wearing a headscarf, and she stopped playing rather than play without her hijab. She challenged the rule, which was eventually changed. The victory came too late for Abdul-Qaadir to continue her career in basketball. Instead, she teaches basketball to Muslim girls through her organization Muslim Girls Hoop Too. About the rule change that allows Muslim women to play with the headscarf, she said: "I love the fact that the door has been opened." Referring to one of the players who went through that door, Batouly Camara, now playing in Spain, the country Abdul-Qaadir had wanted to play in, she said, "I'm proud to say that, if it wasn't for me sacrificing my career and staying strong, she maybe wouldn't have that opportunity to play.

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