Latifah McBryde's joy over earning a spot to represent the United States at the Pan-American Women's Wrestling Championships in Mexico earlier this month turned to disappointment when the international governing body for wrestling ruled she could compete only if she wore the form-fitting singlet that grapplers traditionally don during matches.

The 17-year-old Buffalo resident said no thanks and gave up her spot on the team.

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, does pushups, nearing the end of a street training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. 

McBryde, who is Muslim, observes an Islamic teaching that calls for women to cover their entire bodies with loose-fitting clothes and a scarf over their hair. She said she won't ever wear just a singlet, a skin-tight leotard-type garment that leaves the arms, legs, shoulders and neck exposed.

McBryde, who aspires to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, has wrestled successfully for years in an outfit that includes sweatpants, a baggy T-shirt, and a hood-like head cover. In May, she finished in second place at the national women’s championship in Texas, earning her a spot on the U.S. team at the Pan-American Championships.

McBryde asked United World Wrestling for a waiver from its singlet requirement. UWW officials denied the request, stating in a letter that they needed to test whether such a uniform modification would create any competitive disadvantages for opponents.

McBryde stayed home. She says wearing a singlet is contrary to her faith practice.

“My goals are built around my religion,” she said. “I’ve built everything around my religion, so it’s not something I’m going to compromise on.”

McBryde wants to keep wrestling and will continue seeking a waiver that would allow her to compete internationally in apparel that conforms with Muslim modesty standards. Nearly 12,000 people have signed an online petition supporting McBryde and urging the UWW to reconsider.

UWW Secretary General Carlos Roy said McBryde’s request was the first of its kind to UWW, despite “having a lot of Muslim women already competing in our events.”

He said McBryde’s proposed uniform should be “tested in real conditions” at “lower level competitions, but certainly not in a continental championship.” He also said other wrestlers should be consulted on whether alternative uniforms “would affect their techniques and their preparation.”

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, was unable to participate in the Pan-Am Championships earlier this summer because the international wrestling or…

Roy’s letter was addressed to USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender.

McBryde's father, Mustafa McBryde, who wrestled in high school and college, said the singlet has been an impediment for many girls and boys who would like to wrestle, including Muslims and non-Muslims.

Wrestlers wearing an alternative to the singlet gain no advantage, and, if anything, their opponents wearing singlets may benefit by having more clothing to grip onto, he said.

United World Wrestling denied Latifah McBryde's request to wear a uniform that conforms with Muslim modesty standards.

Latifah McBryde, who typically wrestles in the 72 kilogram weight class (158 pounds), said the extra clothes also can be a disadvantage by adding 3 pounds at weigh-ins, as opposed to a singlet that is less than 6 ounces.

Mustafa McBryde has reached out to USA Wrestling officials to see at what future tournaments UWW can test the uniforms worn by Latifah and her two sisters, Jamilah and Zaynah, both of whom also placed within the top four in their respective weight classes and age divisions at the national tournament in May.

The McBryde family has been down this road before.

Muhamed McBryde, Mustafa’s son and brother of Latifah, Jamilah and Zaynah, missed nearly a year of competitive wrestling at the University at Buffalo in 2014 because NCAA rules at the time prohibited facial hair in matches. Muhamed McBryde said Islamic teaching required him not to shave his beard.

Jamilah McBryde, 19, watches as her sister Latifah McBryde throws their sister Zaynah McBryde, 16, onto the mat, running wrestling forms in their yard on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022.

McBryde eventually received a waiver to wear a face mask and chin strap covering the beard. The NCAA has since dispensed with the prohibition against facial hair altogether.

Muhamed McBryde won fifth place in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2017 and continues to compete in national and international tournaments while also working as volunteer assistant coach for the University of West Virginia men’s team.

The McBrydes may have a more difficult path with a uniform waiver because the UWW is an international organization, and thus not bound by the same American religious liberty standards as the NCAA was in Muhamed McBryde’s case.

Ahmed M. Mohamed, an attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that shouldn’t be the case given the UWW’s stated goal of fighting against any kind of religious discrimination.

Latifah McBryde's sincere religious beliefs are not negated because some other Muslim women wrestle in the singlet, said Mohamed. 

“She’s held onto that belief ever since she started competing,” he said. “Just like every other faith, Muslims have different interpretations of what their faith requires. We have Muslim women, for example, who wear hijab (headscarf). We have Muslim women who don’t wear hijab. That doesn’t make either one of them less Muslim.”

Mohamed also said that UWW already allows a modified uniform in its women’s classic tournament so its refusal to grant an exemption from the singlet for McBryde “doesn’t make logical sense.”

Mustafa McBryde said he had resisted having his daughters compete in national tournaments because of the likelihood their uniforms would become an issue. But other wrestling coaches told him the girls had too much potential to not participate, he said.

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, rides an exercise bike during the sprint portion of a street circuit training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. McBryde's training is modified due to a ruptured appendix that went untreated during her time at the Olympic training center. Sprints, jumping and full wrestling training are replaced with other exercises until after an upcoming surgery.

The McBrydes received a waiver from USA Wrestling to wear a modified uniform at the 2021 women’s nationals, where all three finished in fourth place in their respective weight classes and age divisions and earned All-America status.

They competed again this year. Mustafa McBryde said they were unaware going into the tournament that a second-place finish qualified wrestlers to represent the U.S. in the Pan-Am Championships.

Latifah McBryde lost in U20 national finals match to Amit Elor of California, the 2021 world champion in the U17 and U20 brackets. McBryde was the only wrestler to score points in the tournament against Elor, who also won the 2022 U23 national bracket.

McBryde’s showing earned her a spot on the U.S. team for the Pan-Am championships, but she received word in late June about the singlet requirement and declined to attend the event, which was held July 8-10.

College coach sees Olympic potential

Latifah McBryde’s Olympic ambitions aren’t just a pipe dream, according to Life University women’s wrestling coach Ashley Sword Flavin.

Flavin said McBryde could immediately compete at the college women’s championships and already has beaten older Olympic caliber wrestlers.

“She has many wins against highly ranked opponents over the past two years,” said Flavin, who has coached three women wrestlers at Life University who qualified for Olympic team trials. “Her ceiling is so high. We’re not even beginning to see how good she can be.”

The 2028 Olympics are “definitely in the conversation for her,” she added.

Flavin said she’s hopeful UWW will be more flexible about uniform modifications to accommodate more Muslim women who want to wrestle.

“I don’t see why it’s an issue from a competitive standpoint. Outside of her hijab, it’s no different than what every other wrestler wears to practice every day, so I’m not really sure where the hang up is other than it’s never been done before,” she said.

Latifah McBryde's stance against wearing the singlet hasn't diminished Flavin's enthusiasm for the young wrestler, who she is trying to recruit to Life University with her sisters.

Flavin said she admires McBryde even more for sticking to her convictions and handling adversity with grace and a "dedication to who she is."

"Her beliefs came first and that's very rare to see in adults, let alone a 17-year-old," she said. "Her off-the-mat tenacity speaks to how she is on the mat."

Latifah McBryde has resumed working out after a recent injury slowed her down for several weeks.

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, center, drops into a sprawl, or plank pose, while pushing a truck with her sister Jamilah McBryde, 19, left, as part of a street training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. 

Recently, she joined her sisters and a dozen youths from the neighborhood on a vacant city lot for a training session run by her father, who leads them through a variety of drills to improve strength and flexibility.

There are stationary bikes, huge tractor tires for flipping, and exercises that Mustafa McBryde calls “gorilla" walks, whereby participants bend at the waist, touch the ground and propel themselves with their hands. At one point, under a gentle rain shower, Latifah and her sisters latched ropes to an old SUV and pulled it across the grass in an impressive display of power.

Latifah said she gravitated toward wrestling over other sports when she noticed that the harder she worked, the better she got.

“I just want to be the best I can be. I think that is being one of the best,” she said.

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Latifah McBryde's joy over earning a spot to represent the United States at the Pan-American Women's Wrestling Championships in Mexico earlier…

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, does pushups, nearing the end of a street training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. 

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, rides an exercise bike during the sprint portion of a street circuit training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. McBryde's training is modified due to a ruptured appendix that went untreated during her time at the Olympic training center. Sprints, jumping and full wrestling training are replaced with other exercises until after an upcoming surgery.

Jamilah McBryde, 19, watches as her sister Latifah McBryde throws their sister Zaynah McBryde, 16, onto the mat, running wrestling forms in their yard on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022.

Wrestler Latifah McBryde, 17, center, drops into a sprawl, or plank pose, while pushing a truck with her sister Jamilah McBryde, 19, left, as part of a street training led by her father, Mustafa McBryde, on the East Side in Buffalo, July 13, 2022. 

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