Boys' volleyball team at MCC Academy in Morton Grove prepare for first IHSA season while fasting during Ramadan
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Student-athletes at MCC Academy in Morton Grove are demonstrating exceptional devotion.
They're balancing sports and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
The boys' high school volleyball team was practicing on empty stomachs, each finding both difficulty and blessing in their journey without food or water from dawn until sunset.
"With it coinciding with Ramadan, it's much more exciting," said senior Sarosh Sanaullah. "It is a little difficult, adjusting to it the first couple of days. You know, no food, no water in your system from dawn to sunset, but, you know, slowly over time, you start to appreciate more of the spiritual side of it."
Another senior player, Youseff Hassab, agrees.
"When you play without energy, you don't want to play. One thing that keeps me going is that I'm doing this as a form of worship," he said.
Another reason to push forward is that this year marks a milestone for the academy: competing for the first time as a boys' high school volleyball team in the Illinois High School Association.
"Hopefully, we bring a lot of success. We had a lot of success with basketball and other sports," said coach Abubaker Surangiwala.
"For the past three years, I haven't played any other sport but basketball, so to try out volleyball this year and to try to bring success to our school as a first-year IHSA program would be amazing," Hassab said.
Hassab has been receiving a lot of attention for his skills on the court. He scored an opportunity to be part of an unsigned senior showcase. The 6-foot-6 forward is the first athlete at the small Muslim school to get that chance.
He said, "The biggest thing I got out of this was to bring the Islamic community to light and represent my school as a Muslim."
And coaches have taken notice. Hassab received interest from at least six schools, including Dominican University in River Forest and Benedictine University in Lisle.
"A lot of schools don't expect us to play during the season because we're fasting. Like, oh, they're going to be hungry, and they're going to be tired, not going to play, but we are here to show them just because we're fasting, It's not a limitation on us; we can still compete, we can still get there. We are playing at the same level you are. Yeah, we are a little bit hungry, but we're still going to give it our all," Surangiwala said.
"There are many times in a game you want to go grab a sip of water or catch a breath of air, it just builds that stamina for our players, and we're able to compete at a much higher level," Sanaullah said.
However, Supt. Habeeb Quadri says the school is handling sports safely by ensuring players do safety checks every 30 minutes and focus more on skills instead of running drills.
"This is an opportunity for these kids where they still have fun, but they balance their religious obligation, and so, their obligation of being a student-athlete," he said.
"Fasting and sports go hand in hand. It sounds a little controversial but they're definitely learning a lot of self-control. That's what fasting teaches you," Surangiwala said.
"It teaches you to be grateful and humbles you a lot," Sanaullah said.
The boys just came off a winning basketball season.
