How 3 Muslim sisters helped change the rules of American women’s wrestling

Jamilah, Zaynah and Latifah McBryde never expected to become college athletes, much less change the rules of American women’s wrestling.

The sisters are devout Muslims who were homeschooled and grew up wrestling one another in Buffalo, N.Y.

“We always said we would never be able to wrestle in college,” said Jamilah, 22.

Coaches recognized their talent when they were teenagers, but they couldn’t wrestle with boys, nor could they wear the required wrestling singlet — due to their faith.

Eventually their passion for the sport – and their perseverance – led to rule changes allowing Muslim women to compete in full-body uniforms at collegiate and national levels.

The sisters based their initial uniforms off those developed for Iranian women wrestlers: a long-sleeved shirt with another shirt over it, and leggings underneath pants, along with a head covering.

“It started off kind of rough,” Zaynah, 19, said. “The more we trained and, like, started to try to compete, it was like, these hijabs aren’t staying on.”

Trainers and coaches offered helpful suggestions; the sisters now use velcro to keep their shirts tucked into their pants, and they tape their hijabs onto their heads.

“It’s like the people that we’ve met along the way, our coaches and athletic trainers have really helped develop the uniform,” Jamilah said.

These modest uniforms honor their faith, but they also sparked controversy. In 2022, when Latifah, 20, qualified to represent the U.S. at the Pan American Championships for Wrestling, United World Wrestling (UWW), which governs the sport at the international level, denied her request to wear the modified uniform. She ultimately wasn’t able to compete.

But college coaches were excited to recruit them. They recognized the sisters’ potential, though several coaches struggled when asked how they would handle referees who objected to the uniforms. The response from coaches at Life University in Marietta, Ga., stood out.

“The coaches at Life were the first ones that said, ‘If they’re on our team, they’re part of the family. We’re getting the rule changed,’ ” said Zaynah.

“We really wanted to open that college door for them and give them the opportunity to keep competing at a high level,” said Ashley Flavin, the head coach of women’s wrestling at Life University.

Thanks to Flavin and other wrestling coaches’ efforts, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), one of the organizations that governs wrestling at American colleges, approved the modified uniforms in the summer of 2022.

That fall, the sisters enrolled at Life University, where they found a welcoming team culture.

“Girls on the team have the prayer app downloaded on their phones to tell us when prayer time is,” Jamilah said. “While there is a lot of negativity and people who don’t support us wrestling this way, there are a lot who do.”

Jamilah won her first national title last year, qualifying her for U.S. Olympic team trials — but that dream was shattered after UWW ruled that their modest uniforms created an unfair advantage.

The sisters and their coaches strongly disagree, arguing the uniforms are more likely a disadvantage. Flavin said the extra clothing means the sisters get hotter during competition. The sisters also said some competitors have tried to tear their hijabs off to gain an advantage.

But Jamilah said they’ve also had more positive experiences.

“There are people that we’ve wrestled against and our hijab will come off in the match, and they’ll stop wrestling and cover us and wait for our coach to come over and bring tape,” she explained.

After the McBryde sisters advocated for change, USA Wrestling, the national governing body for the sport of wrestling in the U.S., changed its rules this year to allow modified uniforms. “I was just shocked,” Jamilah said. “Like, it actually happened. We did it.”

This year’s NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championship fell in March, during Ramadan, which meant the sisters trained and competed while fasting. Despite that added challenge, Zaynah and Latifah won the championship for their weight classes, and Jamilah finished second to a former Olympian.

Though Olympic dreams remain out of reach due to international rules, the sisters are hopeful that will eventually change.

“I’m just kind of content with the idea now that, like, OK, even if I don’t ever step on an Olympic stage … I’ve had a lasting impact on wrestling,” Latifah said. “Even if I’ve had a positive effect on one other Muslim girl to let her know that she’s capable of doing things and that she can be strong and modest and feminine — all at the same time — then I’ve done my job.”

All three sisters plan to stay involved in the sport after college; Zaynah and Latifah are interested in coaching. Jamilah doesn’t think she’ll follow that path, but she says wrestling isn’t something she can fully step away from, given her family’s love of the sport.

“I think it’s definitely going to be a part of our lives forever.”