Celebrating Mother’s Day and the beauty of sports
one for tennis player Serena Williams, who gave birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia, last Sept. 1. The 36-year-old Williams returned to tennis for a Fed Cup event in mid-February, her first official match in 13 months. Williams, who has 23 career Grand Slam titles, is setting her sights on passing the record of 24 set by Australian tennis legend Margaret Court.
Williams can gain inspiration from Kim Clijsters, who won the 2009 U.S. Open to become the first mother to earn a Grand Slam tennis title since Evonne Goolagong won at Wimbledon in 1980. Williams could also be inspired by Paula Radcliffe, who won the 2007 New York City Marathon at age 34 and only 10 months after giving birth to daughter Isla.
Mother’s Day is a great time to celebrate the moms who support athletes and the moms who are athletes.
Danielle Dubuc is a mother most soccer moms can relate to. She has two sons — David and Mathieu Choinière — who started playing the sport when they were 5 in their hometown of St-Alexandre and worked their way up the Quebec soccer ladder. David, 21, is a midfielder with the Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer, while Mathieu, 19, is part of the Impact Academy U19 team.
When asked how many soccer games she has watched involving her two boys over the years, Dubuc responded: “I stopped counting … I can’t say. But there were quite a few. As a soccer mom you have to be active on the road bringing them to practices and games, and making sure their homework is done. You have to co-ordinate everything.”
Dubuc is a spokesperson for the Danone Nations Cup, which is billed as “the world’s greatest football tournament” for children between 10 and 12. Both of Dubuc’s sons have competed in the tournament for Canada with David playing in France in 2008 and South Africa in 2010, while Mathieu went to Spain in 2011. This January, both brothers were invited to a Canadian U23 training camp in Florida that featured players eligible for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
When asked if she has any advice for other soccer moms, Dubuc said: “Tell your kids to believe in their dreams.”
That’s what France St. Louis always told her son, Martin.
“She was always my biggest fan even though she didn’t know much about hockey,” St. Louis wrote in The Players Tribune in August 2015 after finishing a 16-year NHL career that included a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004. “Very little, actually — there were times when she’d watch a game and have no idea that I’d even scored until my father told her. What she did know was how important hockey was to me, so she did everything in her power to support my pursuit of it.
“Most men make this assumption that they take after their father,” continued St. Louis, who was never selected at the NHL Draft. “I recognize many traits I have that come from my dad, like my work ethic and athleticism, but when I look deeper inside, I see just how much of me and my success can be attributed to my mom. To become a professional hockey player, you absolutely need to be able to shoot and skate at a world-class level, but that’s not enough. What my mom gave me was the mental toughness to not let anything stand in the way of my dream.”
Happy Mother’s Day.
As a soccer mom you have to be active on the road bringing them to practices and games, and making sure their homework is done.
DANIELLE DUBUC