EAST MOLINE, Ill. — Abida Diasso has a love for her teammates at United Township High School.
"Everybody was so accepting of who I was, especially since I wore a scarf when I played basketball, and not many people do that in this area," Diasso said. "It's kind of weird to see it."
The senior says she had difficulties trying to play games earlier on in her career because there was no form for her to get clearance, so she could wear her hijab.
"It was just great to see the whole school was behind my back," Diasso said. "My coaches supported me, and they were like, 'We're going to find a solution for you to play. It's not fair that just because you wear something for religious purposes that you shouldn't be able to play.'"
Diasso and the school worked through negative feedback she got on social media after her story became well known in January of last year. Her struggle with wearing a hijab is not the only challenge she's faced though.
"Especially right now, I'm going through tough times with my shoulder and feeling hopeless and restless."
Diasso started having problems with her right shoulder during the 2019-2020 basketball season, and during this season, the situation got even worse. Diasso had a few tears in her labrum. Tuesday, May 25th, she had surgery to try to get it repaired.
"Not myself," she said when I asked how she felt Thursday, May 27th. "I feel a lot of pain and tiredness, and I can't really do anything."
It was hard enough to get Diasso to come to school because of her surgery, but on that Thursday, we had a very important reason she needed to be at United Township. She was given a $5,000 SOAR Scholarship thanks to The Sedona Group. SOAR stands for Strength, Optimism, Achievement and Resolve, and Diasso has showed this over the past two years.
She wants to go to med school and become a doctor in pediatrics. Diasso would love to open up her own family clinic in the future for people that can't afford healthcare.