From anti-pregnancy clauses to maternity in sport

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Seven years ago, some basketball clubs still included anti-pregnancy clauses in their contracts. Clauses that appeared in the “lack of professionalism” section and that allowed clubs to kick out their players with the same ease as if they had tested positive for anti-doping tests. Sport was the only profession in which labor laws did not apply.

But now the reality is very different. And women begin to have the rights that correspond to them for the simple fact of being workers. Ana Peleteiro, Serena Williams, Margaret Court, Maialen Chourraut, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Alex Morgan, Naomi Osaka, Maria Alharilla, Tianna Hawkins, Magali Mendy, Marta Corredera or Sara Björk are some of the athletes who have refused to choose between her profession and motherhood. And they open a gap of normalization as mothers and athletes.

Alharilla, the first to return

Maria Alharillacaptain of Levante, last November became the first player in the Spanish league to play again after becoming pregnant. The soccer player cannot blame Levante for anything. Quite the opposite. The club He renewed his contract for two years -one more than what is required by the agreement- and trained its professionals for the recovery of the soccer player. “It was a new situation for physios, doctors, retrainers and physical trainers. But at no time have I felt alone,” the player told EL PERIÓDICO. “Over time it will normalize. Soccer is our job and other companies do know how to act. We want the same thing & rdquor ;, she says.

Alharilla has gestated her second child, since her partner had the first. “Now the clubs take us more into account in every way. There are many people on the staff who are more qualified and I felt more confident that I could play again”, he assures. “I never felt afraid, but I did doubt. Any player would have had doubts. I knew that Levante was going to support me at all times, but their closeness surprised me. Quico, the president, called me to ask me about my pregnancy,” adds Alharilla, who was training for up to 15 days before giving birth.

“If a player wants to be a mother, it will be with the support of the club or not. It is a right that we have and that they cannot deny us.”

María Alharilla, captain of Levante

“When I played again I didn’t realize what I had achieved until I got home. I was in the clouds,” confesses Alharilla, who played his first minutes against Sporting de Huelva at the beginning of November. And he admits that “if a player wants to be a mother, she will be with the support of the club or not. It is a right that we have and that cannot be denied to us”, sentence.

The challenge of competing again

Many athletes have shown that they can return to the same state of form after being mothers. Silvia Dominguez she won bronze at the Eurobasket three months after giving birth. Paula Radcliffe she won her second New York City Marathon just a year after becoming a mother. Ona Carbonell she trained 10 hours a day for the Tokyo Games a month and a half after having her first child. And Alex Morgan made his Tottenham debut six months later.

Alharilla she began training six weeks after having her second child. “Everything has gone great for me and we haven’t had any setbacks. I was 50 days without training because it healed more slowly but the rest went smoothly. I had to stop a bit due to joint discomfort but it’s normal after not training for so long, “she explains. “This season I intend to reach the level with which I got pregnant. It is a matter of minutes. I’m great and I’m going to get it”Add.

Ana Peleteiro, seems to follow in the footsteps of Alharilla, Morgan and Carbonell. “Today marks six weeks since I gave birth. Six weeks that, due to lack of information, I thought that having to give birth by caesarean section would keep me away from the slopes for much longer. Today, six weeks later, Despite the doubts, fears and insecurities, I can say that we are in the process and very close to being 100% recovered. And yes, I have run again! Without pain, without discomfort, without tightness and above all without fear and with more confidence than ever,” she wrote on Instagram.

“More and more women are training and we have the right to get pregnant. You have to give it the most absolute normality like in any other job”

Maria Pry, Madrid CFF coach

In case of Serena Williams yes it was more complicated. She was not in optimal condition despite the fact that she won the Australian Open while pregnant, she reached the Wimbledon final six months after having her daughter and she won the Auckland tournament in 2020. “I went from a C-section to a second pulmonary embolism, and then to a Grand Slam final. I played while nursing. I played while suffering from postpartum depression. But I couldn’t make it”, he confesses.

Coaching Moms

Less than two months after Alharilla’s return, it was Maria Pry, the Madrid CFF coach, who made history as the first coach to take leave for ‘care of a minor’, known as maternity.

together with his partner, Ana Flames, second head coach of the team, they were mothers of triplets on December 31. “More and more women are training and we have the right to get pregnant. You have to give it the most absolute normality as in any other job. They have to respect those needs, because each pregnancy and birth is different,” the coach explained to this newspaper.

As in the rest of the jobs, what soccer players and coaches ask for is normalization. Not having to choose. “Football is changing, like society. We have to be aware that we can create our family. We have to normalize a situation that has already occurred in other works& rdquor ;, he affirms. “We try to balance our profession and personal life and all parties have to work for it, clubs, institutions, workers and the players and coaches themselves & rdquor ;, he adds.

In the case of soccer players, they are covered by the collective agreement. To them, labor law. “At the end of December I met with the club. Our situation is atypical, because we are triplets and because they could be premature. Both the club and we had to have this conservation and we informed that I would take leave for ‘Care of a minor’. I am very grateful to the club for respecting our decision”, he admits.

Olympique compensates Björk

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But not all clubs show the professionalism of Levante or Madrid CFF. He Lyon Olympics refused to Sara Bjork his entire salary. And the French team will have to compensate the player with 82,000 euros. Bjork’s fight exemplifies that the evolution of women’s football is still incomplete. “I want to make sure that no one has to go through what I went through ever again. And I want Lyon to know that this is not okay. It is about my rights as a worker, as a woman and as a human being & rdquor ;, she warns in The Players’Tribune.

“I have high hopes for football. The installations? The investment? Level? The fans filling the stadium? We’ve come this far. But the reality is that, when it comes to culture in general, there is much more work to be done. we deserve better“, sentenced the soccer player. The fight continues so that no athlete has to choose again.



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