Dearborn 12-year-old becomes first hijab-wearing female to win world's largest jiu-jitsu tournament
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A 12-year-old girl from Dearborn has made history after winning gold at the world's largest jiu-jitsu tournament.
For Aaminah Abdrabboh, 12, she will always be daddy's little girl.
"I can't stop saying that I'm a dad. She's a girl, daddy's little girl," says Aaminah's father, Mohammad Abdrabboh.
For those not familiar with Aaminah, she's "that girl in the scarf."
"Two of our daughters also wear hijabs, and they compete as well. But Aaminah, just at a younger age, was able to hit the gold faster than them, and I think it is because she learned it younger," says Nancy Abdrabboh, Aaminah's mother.
And while her love for jiu-jitsu grew from age seven, Aaminah's choice to compete while wearing a hijab never wavered.
"Wearing a hijab, they are such at a disadvantage … but more importantly for her, I want to wear my hijab. I want to wear it. I want to keep it on. Nothing is going to make me take it away, and I'm just going to train and do the things that I need to to be successful in competition," Mohammad Abdrabboh says in regards to his daughter.
The road to the competition was never a clear one.
Before 2014, the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation banned women who wore a hijab from competing.
"They lifted the ban in 2014. And this year, she is the best, and if they would have had a competition with that ban, the best wouldn't have been in the room," Nancy Abdrabboh says.
Thankfully, Aaminah was in the room to make history at this year's PAN Kids IBJJF Championship.
"She won the biggest tournament for children all over the world," Mohammad Abdrabboh says.
"Seeing her win, I was very, very happy. I was hugging her after she won. It was amazing," says Aaminah's brother, Jabril Abdrabboh.
And while Metro Jiu-Jitsu is used to bringing home the hardware with multiple world champions across all age groups, Aaminah's bold move to gold is more than just a medal to the Abdrabboh family.
"It makes me feel good because some people couldn't do that when they, before when it was banned. Some people couldn't do that. So it feels good to make people feel you can do anything with a hijab on," Aaminah says.
Aaminah says while she is soaking in her recent success, she has her eyes set on repeating as world champion at next year's Pan Kids IBJJF tournament.