The UConn Huskies women’s basketball team members are there for each other, on and off the court.
With March Madness in full swing, the University of Connecticut team is doing what they can to support all its members, including Jana El Alfy as she observes Ramadan during the NCAA tournament.
In an interview with CT Insider, UConn’s Paige Bueckers shared that she makes El Alfy breakfast during March Madness before her daily fast.
This is the first time the Egyptian-born athlete has balanced the Muslim holy month and NCAA basketball tournament. To help, Buekers gets up before dawn to make El Alfy, who is also her roommate, a meal.
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“I’m her roommate, so just to be able to be there to support her, let her know we’re here for her through everything, and we know what she’s going through is tough to do,” Bueckers said. “To be able to do Ramadan, fast and play basketball at such a high level right now. So just anytime you can support somebody, especially when they’re going through something; it’s a lot better when you’re going through something with somebody.”
Bueckers recalled an incident over the weekend where El Alfy slept through her alarm on March 23 and nearly missed her special meal.
“I was like, ‘Jana, wake up! I didn’t make these scrambled eggs for nothing!’” Bueckers said, with El Alfy adding, “She makes really good scrambled eggs.”
This year, Ramadan — a time of reflection, praying, community and fasting for Muslims around the world — takes place from Feb. 28 to March 29. March Madness starts March 17 and runs through the championship on April 7.
El Alfy shared that on the second day of Ramadan, her roommate brought home “two big grocery bags” of food and told her she’d support her during the holy month.
Breakfast for El Alfy is usually around 5 a.m. and among her favorite early meals is avocado toast with scrambled eggs. When she breaks her fast at dinner, El Alfy said her teammates have been known to show up at her apartment in the evening with food.
Aside from Bueckers, El Alfy said that teammates Caroline Ducharme and Allie Ziebell have occasionally joined the roommates for their early morning breakfast.
“We’ve had some pretty good meals together, just getting up, making sure we’re getting the right nutrition,” Bueckers told the outlet, adding that while she makes breakfast, she’s been known to get some extra shut-eye as her roommate enjoys the meal.
“(El Alfy) makes me eat with her sometimes, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Bruh, I can’t eat right now, I’m going back to sleep,’” Bueckers said.
El Alfy called Bueckers’ cooking for her “really, really sweet.”
“And it meant a lot because obviously, being away from home, that’s tough, and my teammates made it so much easier for me,” she added.
The 19-year-old added that she feels “blessed and grateful to be surrounded” with such caring teammates who check in with her and ask how she’s feeling. “I think I wouldn’t have done it or made it this far if it wasn’t for my teammates.”
El Alfy has been fasting full-day since she was 11 years old, the outlet reported. Amid her grueling workout and training sessions with the Huskies, she’s had to adjust her routine.
“It’s definitely tough. It’s an important month for me,” El Alfy said. “I try as much as I can to fuel whenever it’s time to eat and manage it with playing. Obviously, it’s hard. It wasn’t easy at all. But my teammates really helped with that, and the staff, they were all supportive.”
To maintain her fasting schedule, El Alfy said she likes having practice in the middle of the day to distract herself. She then tries to nap before sunset.
“Once I’m on the court I really forget about everything,” she said, explaining that when she’s practicing, “I don’t think I ever think about, ‘Oh, I didn’t eat today,’ because I think I’ve gotten used to it when I’m on the court.”
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