Team effort helps Whitecaps rookie train while fasting during Ramadan

"It's not easy."

That's how Vancouver Whitecaps rookie Kamron Habibullah describes practising and performing at an elite level on an empty stomach.

Habibullah, at 17 the third youngest player to ever suit up for the MLS soccer team, is observing Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which marks when Muslims believe Allah revealed the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad.

During the month, which this year began April 13 and ends Wednesday, Muslims take part in extra prayer and abstain from eating during daylight, having only a pre-dawn meal to get them through the day and then eating again when the sun sets.

Team effort

For an athlete like Habibullah who trains for hours every day and burns a lot of calories doing so, it is important to have support on hand to ensure his body is working its best on minimal fuel.

"Most of us take the approach that we are the team supporting Kam, he's the person at the centre of this and he is the person living through this," said team nutritionist Emma McCrudden.

McCrudden said when possible, trainers and coaches will adjust the intensity of a drill for Habibullah. She also keeps tabs on what he does eat when he can break his fast to make sure he is eating optimal foods, she says.

McCrudden warns that weight gain can be quite common during Ramadan, even for elite athletes.

"Often people can choose really high-sugar and high-fat foods when they are breaking their fast and over a 30-day period that will affect their body weight and their overall body composition," said McCrudden.

She said people who break fast often tend to be thirsty and she advises sipping, not gulping water so that your body retains it better.

'Fighting through it'

McCrudden said this year, Habibullah's first with the team, comes with the additional challenge of the squad being temporarily based in Sandy, Utah, due to COVID-19 and Canada's border restrictions. 

This means that on top of hunger, Habibullah also has to contend with a change in altitude — Sandy is more than 1,000 metres further above sea level — and the fact he is away from his family back in Vancouver. 

"I've been fighting through it," said the midfielder/forward. "To me, religion is first."

Habibullah, who was born in Uzbekistan in 2003 and moved with his family to British Columbia in 2005, made his field debut with the Whitecaps on May 2 against the Colorado Rapids.

He also represented Canada's U-17 men's national team in 2019, scoring three goals during qualifying before making three appearances later that year at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.

LISTEN | Habibullah on Early Edition: