Starting a family during an active career is still rare for top athletic women. The topic has also spoken in sports circles, at least among athletes.
– It has not created a positive atmosphere (for starting a family) that is acceptable or permissible. After all, sports careers could be longer if you thought you could start a family and then come back and it works, triple jump Kristiina Mäkelä says.
Beach volley player Taru Lahti-Liukkonen highlighted the challenges of combining top sports and motherhood in March. After returning from maternity leave, Lahti-Liukkonen was left without an athlete’s grant and is now applying for a decision on administrative redress.
Sports contacted numerous athletes, sports influencers and researchers, but one thing became clear: hardly anyone felt they were the right person to talk about. The challenges related to combining top sports and motherhood have not been studied in Finland, and there is no public debate on the topic – at least from a social perspective.
Maternity is not mentioned in the award criteria for athlete grants. In the top sports unit of the Olympic Committee responsible for Finnish top sports, motherhood is not mentioned in the instructions.
– If grants are only distributed on a year-by-year basis and have just had a child at prime time, it can be really challenging. There is no clear pattern or rules for how to do this. Now we should come to modern times in many ways, Mäkelä says.
The chairman of the Confederation of Women’s Organizations, who has worked in sports for years, agrees Terhi Heinilä.
– I think it is important that models are built in the Olympic Committee and sports federations, for example, that support women’s sports during pregnancy and motherhood, and that women can continue their sports careers after pregnancy if they so wish, Heinilä says.
Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Education and Culture responsible for grants Kari Niemi-Nikkolan according to maternity is not mentioned in the conditions because the situations during and after pregnancy are individual and species specific. Niemi-Nikkola assures that the athlete’s pregnancy during the grant period has not interrupted the payment of the grant.
– The decision to start a family requires every athlete to consider and make arrangements for the continuation of a professional and goal-oriented, internationally successful sports career, Niemi-Nikkola explains in her e-mail reply.
Kristiina Mäkelä believes that the best way to improve the position of top athletes who become mothers is through open discussion. She also reminds us that pregnancy is not just a burden. Good examples can encourage others.
Pregnancy can lead to termination of the contract
In ball sports, the situation can be even more complicated than for individual athletes. At least players playing professionally abroad may have a clause in their contract that the club has the right to terminate the contract or not pay if the player becomes pregnant.
There was one too Taru Tuukkanen, when he played as a professional abroad. Tuukkanen, 44, played for years in Spain, Italy and France and recently won the Finnish Championship bronze medal with the Boys of Torpa.
– I have not had such people in Finland, but I do not know what the practice is today, Tuukkanen says.
In 2016, the American player who represented HyPo in the Women’s Basketball League played almost the entire fall, concealing her pregnancy. The matter was not revealed until the end of November, and she gave birth in December. At that time, the contract was not terminated due to pregnancy, but such a contract clause existed.
Tuukkanen emphasizes that the combination of family and sports has always gone well for him. She has managed to schedule her pregnancy so that children are born from the end of the year, when she has had time to play the previous seasons to the end. Tuukkanen has always signed a new contract only after returning from maternity leave.
– It was many years that there were no mothers at all in the Basketball League, but now there are a couple of us. It’s not normal yet, but little by little. I think it’s great that people understand that things can be combined and not always have to choose between the two. It is important to encourage people to be able to continue their sports careers with children, Tuukkanen says.
In some sports, players ’associations have been pushing through reforms aimed at improving the status of women. One example is the FIFPRO International Football Association.
Under current FIFA rules, players on maternity leave must be paid at least two-thirds of their salary. A player may be replaced for the duration of maternity leave, but a player returning from maternity leave must be guaranteed a job. Clubs also do not have the right to terminate a player contract due to pregnancy.
– It is wild that we are living in 2022 and we still have to talk about such things. They are the lifeblood to improve an athlete’s professional status and to clarify maternity and paternity leave for players and clubs, Vice-President of the Footballers’ Association Katarina Naumanen comments.
In Finland, only a few players in the National League earn a living by playing football. The average age of the players is also low: until a couple of years ago, it was only 21.5. Motherhood is not topical for many.
– That may be the reason why motherhood is a challenging topic and what players and clubs can’t talk about, Naumanen ponders.
Basketball representative of the Team Athletes Association, founded in December Ninni Salmi says that the joint players’ association of team athletes also intends to address the issue in the future.
Salmi and Naumanen have not heard of any cases in Finland where a woman’s contract has been terminated due to pregnancy.
Supporting motherhood can become a competitive advantage for clubs
The combination of top sports and motherhood has not been studied in Finland. Having researched the subject in Sweden Anna-Maria Jennerheim of Hellborg according to the weighing down of starting a family is often related to finances and physical recovery. There are still other things to think about when returning from maternity leave – and for which there are no general guidelines.
– It is often unclear what happens to the contract, the national team position, the rankings and the sponsors. Issues related to parental leave are also often unclear, Jennerheim Hellborg lists.
In the case of Lahti-Liukkonen, for example, he felt that the top sports unit had viewed the rankings unfairly. According to the rules of the Volleyball Association, an athlete returning from maternity leave in Finland is allowed to keep 75% of the points earned by playing before pregnancy. In the International Volleyball Federation, the rule is one hundred percent.
– The (international) rule used to be 75%, but it changed because we wanted to support motherhood, which is very normal in our species. You can play at the top until you are 40, Lahti-Liukkonen points out.
On the tennis side Serena Williams is the best-known example of a player who has suffered from starting a family in the middle of a sports career. Williams won the Australian Open in January 2017 and was left number one on the world list after maternity leave. When he returned in March 2018, his ranking was 451st.
Many sponsors today have a positive view of an athlete’s pregnancy news, but this has not always been the case. As an American middle distance runner, even called a miracle worker Alysia Montanon the pregnancy came to light, sponsors announced that the contract will be suspended. In the United States, sponsorship income is the most significant source of income for athletes.
The union refused to pay her health insurance on the grounds that, due to pregnancy and maternity leave, she was temporarily unable to compete at the same level as before.
How, then, could clubs or unions express their support for a top athlete who becomes an parent?
– For example, sharing information about combining top sports and parenting, allowing parents to take a child to competitions and practice, or providing childcare or other support that shows the athlete that the club or association is familiar with these issues and considers them important, Jennerheim Hellborg suggests.
So far, only a few unions and clubs in Finland have this. It should be if Jennerheim Hellborg is asked.
– Clubs and associations need to raise their awareness, as combining top sports with motherhood is becoming more common. The combination of maternity and elite sports should be normalized and clubs and associations must show that they are child-friendly.
The Swedish researcher sees that in the future, a favorable attitude towards starting a family can also be a competitive advantage for the club.
– I think at the moment information is the key to change. If clubs and federations think that athletes stay in the sport for longer by supporting women with family support, they can win a lot.
Taru Lahti-Liukkonen’s grant case is being considered by the administrative court, but otherwise the everyday life will continue to be filled with training, competitions and a daughter who is just over a year old. Although returning from maternity leave to top sports requires a variety of efforts, she does not regret her choice.
– It still feels like a 110% right solution, that you dared to go towards your dreams and we managed to have your own child. I wanted to bring this out so that if this helps someone, I’m happy about it.