Photos by Mouna Photography

ISM-West’s Women’s Badminton Club: (First row, left to right), Maimoma Ahmad, Mehwish Adrian, Sabahat Sharwani, Rabia Latif, Romeena Koreishy, Sadia Aman, Rifat Khan, Gazala Sajjad, Sadia Ansari and Masrat Allaqaband, all of Brookfield. (Second row) Swathi Golla, Asma Ali, Alia Sohail, Tahseen Hussaini and Nawal Ilili of Brookfield; Tahmeena Siddiqui of New Berlin, Faiza Awan of Franklin, Tamkeen Siddiqui of New Berlin, Anila Torania and Nadia Omer of Brookfield, Mehwish Zaidi (Musa) of Menomonee Falls; Sadaf Siddiqie, Shahela Dalvi and Samiah Zia of Brookfield.

Every Wednesday morning, all year round, women from Greater Milwaukee and beyond meet in Brookfield to play indoor badminton. 

At a recent session, women of multiple ages and ethnicities buzzed across three courts, occasionally stopping to share snacks and stories. Some appeared to be professional players, others complete novices. 

They ranged in age from about 30 to 60 and beyond. They came from Milwaukee’s western suburbs but also from as far as Mequon to the north and Franklin from the south. Sometimes women travel from Oak Creek and even Chicago to join in, players said.

Some are single, some married. Some with professional careers; some work at home. Some are pregnant; some have young children; some have adult children; some have no children. Some are grandmothers. 

Most are Muslim but some Hindus and Christians are regulars. Women of all faiths and no faith are welcomed, organizers say. 

Islamic Society of Milwaukee—West in Brookfield sponsors the Women’s Badminton Club, the first Muslim sports club for women in the state. It meets every Wednesday morning from about 10 a.m. to noon in a facility at 13799 Hope St., Brookfield, owned by the non-profit Insight Life Learning Institute. 

(During Ramadan, when many participants fast from sunrise to sunset, the sessions are scheduled later—afternoon or early evening.) 

There is no fee. ISM-West pays to rent the space and provides equipment (though most players bring their own rackets, there are rackets available for newcomers). The founder and two of her friends run the club as volunteers.

“All you have to do is show up,” said Asma Ali of Brookfield, a nutritionist who initiated the club’s formation. 

(Left to right) Club founder/organizer Asma Ali, and lead volunteers Ghazala Sajjad and Alia Sohail

Exceptional benefits

Wisconsin Muslim Journal recently met at Panera in Brookfield with the three women who voluntarily manage the badminton club to ask what motivated them to start the club in 2022 and about its history and benefits. 

Ali grew up in Pakistan playing badminton. “I played in school all the way through high school and got good at it.

“There were not many sports for girls. We had table tennis, badminton and volleyball. We also had a girls’ cricket team at school. For badminton, you need very little equipment and you don’t need a big area. You can play outside in your front- or backyard with neighborhood kids.”

When she moved to Wisconsin 10 years ago, she saw her husband playing tennis and table tennis. “I like sports. I wanted something to play.

“Badminton can be very fast. It depends on the players’ level. I was lucky to find enough women who were interested in this sport and shared my same energy and enthusiasm,” Ali said. Even more than the activity itself, “what’s amazing are the bonds you build. Badminton comes with a strong social component attached.”

Alia Sohail of Brookfield had not played badminton before, but she has played sports since she was 4 years old. “I grew up in Dubai playing all sorts of sports. You name it; I’ve played it.” 

In high school, she was captain of the basketball team and the table tennis team. She married, moved to Wisconsin and soon became a busy mother of young children with little time for herself. “This was a rescue for me, to be with like-minded people who want to get together and play a sport!”

Ghazala Sajjad of Brookfield played tennis all her life. She also occasionally played badminton because it was a popular sport in Pakistan, where she grew up.

When her friend Asma approached her about forming a badminton club for women, “we all pounced on it,” Sajjad said. “Over here where we are, with focusing on our kids as they grow up and some of us working, we haven’t been playing sports,” the busy realtor added.

Sajjad’s children are now young adults. She has time to go to the gym to exercise, but playing a team sport with other women offers more important rewards, she said.

The big payoff has been the relationships they’ve developed. “One hundred percent, the relationships have made all the difference. I knew some of these people before we started playing. We’d meet at parties here and there, but playing together weekly makes us much closer. 

“You get to know each other intimately. You talk together, make jokes and relax together as you fight over points.”

Some women bring young children to badminton. While they play a game, there are plenty of “aunties” to watch their toddlers. 

Building a team of their own

Eager to find a place to play, Ali searched and found a club for men and women at Ridgewood Baptist Church in Brookfield. It offers sessions twice a week for a fee. She recruited a few friends to join her.

“The turnout there is huge. There’s a lot of waiting time and sometimes you only get one or two turns,” she said. Ali and her friends talked among themselves and decided they wanted to start a ladies-only club.

They knew of a building on the east side of Brookfield owned by two Muslim men where ISM-West rented space for Sunday school, and men and youth activities. A former school, it has a gym.

“Two sisters at Masjid al Noor (the ISM-West’s mosque) floated the idea that women were interested in starting a club and that men had clubs going on under the ISM banner,” Ali said. “This was the first time any sisters requested a sports club.”

ISM-West approved the club after several months. Since then, it has been very supportive, she said. “They give us that facility every week, absolutely free. It is a big contribution from the ISM.” It only required someone to take responsibility for the program. Ali, Sohail and Sajjad stepped up.

Ali and her husband bought tape and marked off the courts. They also bought nets and rackets, which ISM-West reimbursed them for.

Ali started a WhatsAp group for the club and everyone started sharing the news about it. “At every gathering, every picnic, wherever we went, we were asking people, ‘Are you interested in playing badminton?’ We can add you to the group,” Ali said.

And come they did. At the first session almost three years ago, eight women came to play. Soon between about 15 to 30 women showed up every Wednesday. During summer, numbers are a bit lower. In the winter, it’s a full house.

After playing together for a year, the club organized a day-long tournament with other clubs. They are considering putting on another tournament next year with a club from Chicago.

“The volunteers are doing a phenomenal job,” Tahseen Hussaini, an ISM-West council member who plays with the club and serves as the club’s liaison to the masjid. “They are very responsible.”

The benefits of the club extend to the masjid, Hussaini added. “The masjid really wants to support the women’s health and social opportunities. This is a perfect way to do it. It helps especially during the winter months when it can be a little lonely and isolating here. 

“The masjid’s community is strengthened as the sisters bond and become super close—talking with each other about their lives, their families, sharing information and advice with each other.”

Reflecting on what they have achieved, Ali said, “It’s so rewarding, so fulfilling.

“I was nervous when we started. What if nobody showed up? What if it crashes in a month? What if it fails?”

Going on three years, the club is thriving. “It gives me confidence to see that even small dreams can succeed,” she declared. “We’ve built a sisterhood.”