Ever heard of a young woman named Naama Shafir? Probably not. There are a lot of reasons for this. She’s a woman. She plays basketball. She plays for the University of Toledo, Ohio. Her home is in Hoshaya, Israel. She’s an orthodox Jew.
All of the above are good reasons for never having heard of Naama. Let’s face it. Women basketball players aren’t on too many folk’s “hero” list. Playing for a University in Toledo, Ohio keeps her out of most national sports stories no matter how good the player or the team. As anyone who follows sports knows, if you’re not from a college in a big east coast or west coast city, no one’s ever heard of you. And does anyone even know where Hoshaya, Israel is located? Ever hear of anyone from there? We didn’t think so. Now, quick. How many orthodox Jewish sports stars can you name?
Since 2008 when Naama played her first game for UT, her star began to shine ever-so bright. Being the first orthodox Jew to earn a Division 1 NCAA scholarship, Naama brought with her a number of eccentricities due to the strict observance of her religion. To Naama, few things are more sacred than Shabbat, the Sabbath, which lasts for 24 hours starting a few minutes before sunset on Fridays and includes most of Saturday, a big day in college basketball. Her food must be kosher and she must avoid modern amenities. She can’t travel by automobile, and she can’t employ electricity, whether it’s turning on or off a light switch, riding in an elevator, or inserting a key card into a hotel door lock. This means she often has to travel separately from the team to arrive at road destinations before sundown on Fridays. A teammate and/or staff member travels with her to flip the light switches, for example. She walks to and from arenas on game day.
Playing basketball on the Sabbath required special permission from her Rabbi. “I was younger, 15, and I was playing for the Under-16 national team and we traveled to Estonia for a tournament,” Shafir recalled. “There were games on Saturday. My dad went to the rabbi in our town and explained the whole thing. He said, ‘yes, she can do it.’” The same dispensation was required for her to play basketball for the University of Toledo.
With both Naama and the University making sacrifices, the pairing has worked out well. The first week of her freshman season, Shafir was named the Mid-American Conference West division player of the week.
“She’s giving our team a lesson in culture, observing differences and respecting them,” coach Tricia Cullop said.
Naama grew up in the small religious communal settlement of Hoshaya in northern Israel. At UT, Cullop needed a point guard late in the recruiting process and had successfully found players from overseas, including Israel, in the past. After starring on her club team and Israel’s under-18 national team, Shafir wanted to take her game to the United States. Cullop watched a DVD of a few of Shafir’s games sent to her by a friend who had tipped her off to talented international players in the past. She offered a scholarship to Shafir.
“I was really impressed with what I saw,” Cullop said. “You could tell she just had unbelievable instincts. She had incredible court vision. A lot of parts of her game were beyond what I thought a normal freshman would have.”
From the beginning, the Rockets wanted to be as accommodating as possible. The 5-foot-7 Shafir had already had discussions with schools in the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference, but a coaching change at one and unwillingness to agree to her requests at the other took them out of play for her.
“She is very devout in her religion, as she should be,” Cullop said. “It was very important to her that she found a place where she could still practice her religion and play basketball. Until she found that, she wasn’t coming.”
Among Shafir’s requirements: she needed to eat a kosher diet, wear a T-shirt under her jersey, couldn’t practice from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and couldn’t ride in a motorized vehicle during that time frame. Cullop thought, “We’re going to have to get creative,” but the offer remained on the table.
Shafir became convinced to come to Toledo after talking with one of Cullop’s former players at Evansville, Israeli Tal Milchan.
“She said, ‘You have to go there, that was my coach and she’s amazing,’” Shafir said. “She said only good stuff about her. That helped.”
The UT coaching staff had several discussions with Shafir’s family through Rabbi Yossi Shemtov of Chabad House-Lubavitch to work out the details.
Throughout her five years in Toledo — her junior season was wiped out by a knee injury and surgery — Naama has become well known everywhere in town. Not to get carried away, but like Cher and Pele and Elvis, no last name is necessary, at least in Toledo. She is Naama.
“It’s rare to find that kind of humility in that good a player,” said UT coach Tricia Cullop. “I definitely think because of that she has developed a strong bond with our fans. There are a lot of people who come to our games who might not have been basketball fans, but they were Naama fans. I hope they’ve become basketball fans, but either way they’re still Naama fans.
“Her character and ability to stand for what she believes in, to be steadfast in her beliefs, well, her whole story has inspired a lot of people,” says her coach.
We don’t always find that among those who are the most talented, do we?
In 2011 as a junior guard, Naama poured in a career-high 40 points to lead the University of Toledo to victory in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship. She was crowned the basketball tournament’s MVP. And then she walked about two miles home.
“The game was one of the most incredible moments of my life,” Shafir told the Forward. “There were over 7,000 people there, and during those seconds when the game was over and the whole crowd ran to the court, I experienced an unbelievable high.”
Tomorrow night, Naama will play her final regular-season game at University of Toledo’s Savage Arena. There were 2,300 on hand for the first game she played there in 2008, and it will be double that, or more, for her finale. In between Naama and her team have set many records in the NCAA’s Division 1 for women’s basketball.
Soon, she will leave Toledo heading home to Israel, to her large family, to a future that is something of a question mark, although she is sure it will include basketball.
Wednesday will be Senior Night, and five UT players will be saluted. Shafir will be uncomfortable with the spotlight The University will be shining on her, but, hey, we are talking about the most popular women’s player in UT history, are we not?
“You’re asking me? That’s an awkward question,” Naama said. “It would be a lie to say I didn’t like that. It’s fun to know people appreciate the way I play, that I’m doing some good things. But a lot of people make it happen, not just me. I’m part of a team, a great team. And I’ll miss my team. I’ll miss the fans so much.
“It will be sad. But I’m going home to family and friends and a special place. That will be happy. But, yes, when this ends it will be hard. I hope this makes sense, but to go home I’ll be leaving my second home.”
First, though, one final introduction at Savage Arena, the lights dimmed, the video board focused on her, the sound system on tilt, Sharon Ravin waving the flag. Shafir will be last off the bench. “At guard, from Hoshaya, Israel, No. 4, Naaaaaah-maaah …”
The last name will be drowned out. That’s OK. It’s not necessary.
(This story is culled from many that have appeared in the sports pages of the Toledo Blade.)
-Y
Comments (12)
I saw a clip on ESPN and anotehr channel (can’t recall). Are you fans?
Hey Hunt. Yes, we’ve been UT fans since Naama joined the team in 2008. J heard of her first. He’s Jewish and was intrigued by the idea of an orthodox Jewish player.
-Y
Wow, what a cool lady! You know, I had never thought of it before, but I don’t think I have ever heard of a famous female Jewish athlete before? Thanks for the find!
Backatcha girl! Thanks for stopping by!
-Y
She is a real treasure, and I hope she is successful in whatever she does. Toledo is a fine city, and deserves better than the way some people view it.
I’m not into sports much any more, but it’s nice to read a shout-out about a woman for any reason:]
I like hearing of sports stars who don’t let their success go to their head. Actually Toledo has had a formidable football team in some years past.
@RighteousBruin -
Well, such is the way of the sports world. Toledo will never forget her. You can bet on that!
- Y
@an_OM_aly -
We’ll see if we can find more for you!! In the meantime, let’s push for the next woman Pope!
- Y
@quest4god@revelife -
Those kind of sports stars are few and far between. But it’s always refreshing when you come across one!
- Y
haha, i hadn’t come back to read your reply, and from the snippet in my feed, just thought you were going to say woman president, pope is a great idea, hahah! Just going around rec-ing to give my son an idea of who i sub too.
LOL Thanks muchly, girl! Give him our regards.
-Y