DEARBORN – Dearborn Fordson High School made national headlines this week as news and feature stories poured in featuring the predominantly-Muslim football team and its decision to hold practices after sundown to better accommodate those fasting during the day for Ramadan.

Fordson players huddle up during a break in the action at Fordson’s state semi-final game with Lake Orion at Troy Athens High School on Nov. 21, 2008

Fordson Head Coach Fouad “Walker” Zaban said that it was a joint decision between the players and coaches and that the school made sure to cover all their bases in ensuring that the change was acceptable to school district officials and parents.

“We spoke to the players and gauged their feelings on this, they accepted it and that’s what they wanted,” he said.

“We had one complaint and we explained the situation and what was going on and they accepted it, we took all the precautions, sent out a few letters and had it cleared with the superintendent and the administration.”

Zaban said that Fordson Girls Athletic Director Mark Shooshanian, a member of Dearborn City Council, also helped with the process.

The first practice held during the new time period was just before Ramadan on August 9 at 12:01 a.m. and the first practice to occur during the holy month was from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 11. Most of the subsequent practices have begun at 11 p.m.

Dearborn High School has also moved their practices back for Ramadan and has been practicing from 5 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.

Stories about the practice switch have made local and national headlines ranging from the Detroit Free Press to USA Today to ESPN.com and most of the other popular sports sites.

Zaban said that he was a bit surprised by all the attention garnered by the switch.

“Absolutely, everybody’s writing about it, it’s crazy and anything we do just gets exposed during the holy month of Ramadan,” he said.

“It’s good publicity, you know, but you have your detractors who are always going to be negative towards everything you try to do.

“Ultimately it’s been pretty good but again, it’s crazy the attention we’ve gotten.”

The Fordson football team opens up play on Friday, August 27 against defending Division I State Champion Detroit Catholic Central on the road in what could be the biggest game of opening weekend.

Check back for more on the Fordson football team and other local teams next week as the season gets underway.