CLEVELAND — Sammy Dari and his cousin, Faris Thabata, are competitive middle school and high school athletes. Dari is an 8th grade basketball player for Strongsville Middle School, and Thabata is a 10th grade baseball player for Strongsville High School.
Practices are hard as is, but during the month of Ramadan, they become even harder.
“Sometimes, I’ll be like, 'ah, I really want a drink right now,' but I can’t so it’s kind of a struggle,” Dari said.
The boys are both Muslim, which means during the annual celebration of Ramadan, they’re encouraged to not eat food or drink any water from sunrise to sunset, even at school and while playing sports.
“No, absolutely not. I just sit here and get some more work in while the others go get a drink,” Dari said.
Ramadan is the holiest month for people who practice Islam. It’s a time where they focus on prayer, family, charity, forgiveness and becoming a better person.
“It means a lot to me because I get to like get a lot closer with Allah, which is God, and I do it because it not only helps with like me getting closer with God, but it helps with my mental toughness, and it just makes me a better person myself,” Dari said.
To help get themselves through the day, the boys wake up before sunrise and drink and eat as much as they can.
“Even though I'm not hungry in the morning, I still make myself get up,” Thabata said. “Usually I start off the day with some eggs, a protein shake. And while at school, sometimes I get a little bored. So, I watch people eating food on TikTok or Instagram. That helps me out kinda.”
If they find themselves thinking about food or water, they said they try to keep themselves busy and focus on their breath.
“I do some breathing methods to help me with my breathing because at times it does get a little stressing and very, like annoying and tiring,” Dari said. “So I'll do some like breathing methods to help with that.”
As the month goes on, the fasting day gets longer, but at every day at sundown, it’s all worth it. They break their fast with a date, eat delicious food and share some laughs with their family.
“This is the best part of the year, where we actually sit down as a family and eat at the same time, dinner every day for 30 days,” said Muntaha Dari, Thabata and Dari’s grandma. “That's my favorite part of Ramadan is actually having the whole family together.”
After dinner, they complete one of their five daily prayers. Dari and Thabata said it’s a difficult month to get through, but with support from their family, friends, coaches, teammates and God, it’s a rewarding month, too.
At Lakewood High School in northeast Ohio, athletic trainer Jennifer Dix works with many Muslim athletes. She prepared a guide for athletes and coaches to help keep athletes safe during Ramadan.
Her recommendations for student-athletes celebrating Ramadan include:
- Wake up before sunrise and eat a full meal that includes carbs, protein and vegetables
- Protein shakes are good in addition to a full meal, but not as a meal replacement
- Load up on fluids (Water, Gatorade, Pedialyte)
- Avoid caffeine and energy drinks as they can cause the body to lose fluids faster
- After sundown eat several small meals incorporating food from all food groups
- Have healthy snacks on hand when at nighttime sporting events
- Continue to hydrate throughout the night
- Educate yourselves on symptoms of dehydration
- Communicate with your coach that you’re fasting
- Listen to your body and don’t over do it
- Ask for a break during practices and games if you need it
"Just get the information out, let the kids know that 'hey, you know, this is coming up and that we understand, it's okay, we want you to be happy and healthy and observe your faith however you see fit and play athletics safely,' so the more information we get out there to our kids, the better," Dix said. "If you look at what's involved in this month, if you look at the discipline and the focus and the pure perseverance it takes to fast for this many days and still participate in athletics, you know, those are all things that translate really well into athletics: focus, perseverance, commitment. These are things coaches want in their kids. So whether it's regarding their diet or their workout, I think it's important that we just are here to support our student athletes."
For more information about Ramadan, you can visit here.
Editor's Note: The story has been changed to accurately reflect the number of prayers performed by the family. (April 4, 2023)