For the first time, an Olympic village nursery for the offspring of athletes will be open during the 2022 Summer Olympics in France.
The assistance given to parent-athletes during the Olympics in Paris is only a small example of a wider trend that highlights maternity and parenting demands as women’s sports become more popular. For the first time in Olympic history, a nursery will open to athletes’ children in the French village, and organizers will provide nursing moms with separate rooms. It’s not only the Olympics, though.
FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, has introduced new standards that build upon revolutionary rules that were implemented in 2020 and guaranteed athletes at least 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. The new regulations extended benefits to coaches and provided non-biological moms and adoptive parents with paid leave periods.
Similarly, in April, USA Track and Field introduced a program designed to provide athletes with increased health coverage and financial help as they recover after childbirth. Similarly, in April, USA Track and Field introduced a program designed to provide athletes with increased health coverage and financial help as they recover after childbirth.
Casey Krueger, defender for the U.S. national soccer team, is happy that sports are giving pregnancy and the needs of players who are parents of little children more attention. For Krueger, it’s individualized. She will have a place to nurse her infant when she competes in France starting this week. In an attempt to iron out some logistical issues, Krueger stated, “I just actually had a conversation with the coaching staff and U.S. Soccer because they’ve been in contact with FIFA.”
“I still nurse my son, so we go to the stadium together. They’ve been accommodating and are seeing to it that he has a room so that I may tend to the nurse in advance of the game.
I therefore felt very supported. Generally speaking, though, parental demands are not always met in local leagues or during major international events like the Olympics; these efforts vary depending on the sport and the country involved.
FIFA is in a unique position compared to other sports to set criteria for its players since it administers the biggest women’s only global athletic event, the Women’s World Cup, and establishes the worldwide standards for the game.
FIFA had the opportunity to propose new regulations for competitions that require participants to stay away from home for weeks at a time at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last year. Among the modifications were provisions for nannies to accompany traveling contingents and the provision of kid car seats on official transportation.
The new FIFA regulations also mandate that clubs provide time off for menstrual-related problems. In addition, teams now have more leeway to sign players in the event of an athlete’s pregnancy or leave due to changes in player transfer regulations.
“If women are to play football, we have to include them in every aspect of the sport.””We need to ensure that they are protected in the workplace, that they can support themselves through football, and that they are not penalized for wanting to start a family—whether biological, adoptive, or not—or for being the mother of the child,” said Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s chief of women’s football.
“And these measures are necessary to ensure that more and more women around the world are playing the game and earning a living from it.” However, most athletes find that negotiating maternity and childcare may be difficult and complex; a lot of the time, it comes down to their nation’s legislation or lack thereof. Conventional labor contracts do not cover many Olympic competitors.
Corporate sponsorships have long been a source of assistance for track competitors. Allyson Felix, an 11-time Olympic medallist and former sprinter, criticized Nike in 2019 for how the corporation treated her while she was pregnant. She finally broke up with Nike, but not before pressuring the company to alter its rules. Hurler Christina Clemons, a new mother who just participated in the Olympic trials, expressed gratitude to corporate sponsor Doritos and USATF as well as the USATF foundation for their assistance. However, it hasn’t always been a good experience.
“I had a baby after 12 years with Adidas, and they refused to re-sign me. However, I’m among the world’s top hurdlers. What sense does that make then? Why? I had a child, that’s the only thing we can look at,” she remarked. The U.S. Soccer Federation and women have long maintained collective bargaining agreements that include provisions for maternity leave and child care. In 2022, the players and the federation reached a historic deal on equal pay, which included a clause providing child care for dads between practices and games.
Labor agreements in other countries, like Australia, have comparable clauses. In their labor agreements, the WNBA and the National Women’s Soccer League have also acknowledged the demands of parents. In 2020, the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement included a daycare stipend in addition to fully compensated maternity leave.
Like Felix, oftentimes times the players are the ones pushing for reform. The WTA implemented a new ranking guideline that did not punish women for taking time out to have children, in response to Serena Williams’s pregnancy comeback. Athletes are granted a full 26 months of paid maternity leave by the Rugby Football Union of England.
However, these regulations have not yet been implemented in many regions of the world. That’s why initiatives like FIFA are crucial. Because the players are well-protected, perhaps this message won’t have much of an effect in the US. For example, it is the same in Spain and France. According to Emilio Garcia, FIFA’s top legal officer, “We are not reinventing the wheel in certain countries; the message is already there in a certain way.” However, we oversee 211 areas. Thus, in some nations, these actions may have a significant effect.
