Khamila Sani Ibrahim used to sneak out to play basketball, telling relatives in Kano State she was visiting friends. Now she wants a US college scholarship. [1]

The shift came through Grassroots To Greatness, an initiative founded by youth sports advocate Jawahir Bello to give girls in northern Nigeria a place to train and compete without abandoning cultural or religious norms. Players wear custom hijabs, long sports vests and athletic tights. "Whether you put on a hijab or innerwear under your jersey, modesty is key," Bello told Al Jazeera. "You come out modest, decent and fully covered." [1]

The program ran a multi-state tournament drawing female players from up to nine states, providing jerseys, hijabs, basketballs, transport and financial stipends regardless of outcome. "It made us feel seen and valued," Ibrahim said. [1] Fatima Diouf, an Abuja player who joined at 11, said the tournament taught her "teamwork, confidence, discipline" beyond the game itself.

The obstacles remain concrete: limited courts, scarce coaching, family skepticism, and coaches who assume girls can't compete. Mansur Abdullahi, assistant coach of Nigeria's U-20 women's national football team, said grassroots groups can build trust that larger sports federations can't reach. [1] Ibrahim's own father opposed her playing until he watched a game and saw the structured, modesty-respecting environment for himself.

What the story doesn't answer is who sustains this beyond one initiative's ambition — whether the stipends and gear scale, and whether any of these players reach a paid or scholarship pathway the coverage only gestures toward.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos