Women & Sport: Pro female athletes make their parenting role more visible. That's progress

When Serena Williams announced earlier this month that she would retire from tennis after the U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 29, the sports world exploded with anecdotes depicting her greatness — as well as the many ways she transcended sport.

And given her comments about parenting entwined in her retirement announcement, the news also sparked a renewed conversation about professional sports and parenthood, and the very real sacrifices that women in the highest levels of their games often make.

Unlike male athletes, women are more often forced to choose between continuing their careers or growing their families. Pregnancy taxes the body in ways that male athletes don't have to consider. It's why Williams and other female athletes who still appear in their prime often get asked why they don't stick around as long as some men do, like Tom Brady, the famed NFL quarterback who returned to football post-retirement at 45.

Williams was clear about that obvious double standard.

“Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family,” she wrote in Vogue. “I don’t think it’s fair. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family. Maybe I’d be more of a Tom Brady if I had that opportunity.”

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That’s a reality for some of the greatest female athletes in the world. For those who can become pregnant, starting or expanding a family often means pressing pause on their careers — or ending them altogether. For those who choose to return post-pregnancy, critics often write them off.

Still, the narrative is slowly changing. More often, women athletes are being shown on camera post-game with their children in tow.

In the National Women’s Soccer League, toddlers running to their mothers post-game has become a norm. The Orlando Pride may be the most familiar example in recent years, with four players welcoming babies into their families between 2019 and 2021. Those players — Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger — have redefined what being a "soccer mom" can look like.

In 2019, Leroux made an emotional return to the pitch just three months after giving birth to her second child, Roux, during a match against Gotham FC. At the time, she shared on Instagram: ‪”I love this game. This past year was filled with so many ups and downs but I made a promise to myself that I would come back. No matter how hard that would be. It’s been a long road but I did it.”

In February 2020, Morgan stunned the sports world with training videos while seven months pregnant. At the time, she was preparing for the Olympics. The games were postponed by of the pandemic — but Morgan, like Leroux, eventually made her triumphant return to soccer.

Harris and Krieger, who are married, adopted their daughter, Sloane, in February 2021. That December, the two were traded to Gotham FC. The team has a family-friendly culture and a women-led front office. The team’s general manager, Yael Averbauch West, is a former player and mother of two small children. Her Instagram is peppered with images of her young family, as well as workout videos for new mothers. Beverly Goebal Yanez, the team’s assistant coach, is also a young mother.

“This is going to be a really happy time for us, and for our family — and ultimately for Sloane — to be around more badass women who she can see do their job and what they love, and that they’re all passionate about [it] just as much as we are at home,” Krieger said in an introductory press conference in December. “We’re excited to put her also in an environment where she can thrive and soak it all in."

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The issue is not limited to soccer, either. In April, Anya Packer, general manager of the Metropolitan Riveters women's pro ice hockey team, declined renewing her contract to focus on her growing family. Like Serena Williams, Packer — who is pregnant with her second child — made the tough decision to step away from her role to prioritize her family. Her decision, however, meant that her wife, Madison Packer — the Riveters’ forward and team captain — could continue her career. That also means their family will still very much be enmeshed in the world of women’s professional hockey.

In women’s basketball, University of Arizona coach Adia Barnes — a former WNBA champion — was vocal in 2021 about balancing being a mom and coach in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. There were reports of her spending halftime pumping breast milk for her child, Capri, who was six months old at the time.

“I have a baby here. I hear her crying ready to feed," Barnes told reporters at the time. “I represent moms. You can be a coach. You can do it at an elite level. You just have to have a village like I do.”

As female athletes make their roles as parents more visible, it helps show other athletes it’s possible. It also furthers other conversations about child care options, or fertility treatments for athletes who want to start a family.

In 2017, Williams did what may have once been considered the unthinkable. She won the Australian Open while two months pregnant. Five years later, she is stepping away from the game so she could grow her family by making her daughter, Olympia, a big sister.

In many ways, she leaves the sports world better than she left it — in part by showing that being a parent and a pro athlete is possible. Maybe by sparking this conversation about parenthood, the sports world will find a way to ensure that athletes don’t have to choose between a family and the games they love.

Women & Sport is a NorthJersey.com column devoted to female athletes from the rec league level to those in college and the pros. If you've got a tip on an athlete from North Jersey who should be noted in the column, no matter how young they are or how old, please drop me a line at anzidei@northjersey.com.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Pro female athletes like Serena Williams embracing role as parents