Asma Elbadawi is a Sudanese-British spoken word poet, activist, basketball player and a coach. She is known to have petitioned and succeeded in convincing the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and A ...

(FIBA) to remove a ban on hijabs and religious headwear in the professional sport.

Early years and education

Elbadawi was born in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

but raised in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Her family moved to Bradford,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

when she was an infant. She holds a bachelor's degree in Photography, Video and Digital Imaging as well as a master's in Visual Arts.

Career

Elbadawi began her career in sports while she was schooling in the university. She is a member of the Bradford Cobras basketball club. In 2017, she petitioned ''the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)'' to remove their ban on religious headwear on the court. After over two years of campaigning to FIBA, she and her friends succeeded in getting 130,000 people to sign an online petition, and that resulted in the FIBA reversing their decision. Aside sports, Elbadawi has made strides as a spoken word poet. Her poems mostly creates awareness about vital social issues. In 2017, to mark Women's Sport Week, a poem she wrote about being a female Muslim basketball player was featured on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Awards

* In 2016, she won

BBC Radio 1xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

's ''Words First competition in Leeds.'' * In 2019, she won the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consulti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbadawi, Asma Living people Sudanese emigrants to the United Kingdom 21st-century poets British Muslim activists British Muslims Year of birth missing (living people)