Twenty-third International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

The aim of this study is to survey and interview Muslim female athletes from a Toronto local sports organization, Hijabi Ballers [HB], to investigate the unique perspectives of Muslim sportswomen. The HB is a local community sports organization in Toronto, founded by Amreen Kadwa, offering sports programs and sports participation opportunities, community events, and conferences (Hijabi Ballers, n.d.). attempting to unpack and explore their experiences with sports and sports culture in Canada in sport organizations. This chapter addresses several research and knowledge gaps including how feminist scholars research sports, how Muslim women are portrayed and depicted in sports scholarship, and how we may shape and reshape sports and sports culture in Toronto to be more reflective and inclusive of the city’s diverse population. To situate the research questions, we consider the current body of literature in feminist sports scholarship and feminist research methodologies. This research project is guided by the overarching question: How do Muslim sportswomen come to, engage with, and experience sports and sports culture, including sports media, in Toronto? These questions recognize a multi-dimensional approach to studying sportswomen that include accounting for the “holistic experiences” (Toffoletti & Palmer, 2017, p. 159) of Muslim sportswomen. Subsequent questions guiding this study will revolve around the triad of representation, consumption, and participation. This chapter turns to a T