Women’s hockey league taking care of mothers
Maternity leave, nannies among player benefits
Years from now, once her sixmonth-old son is mature enough to appreciate his upbringing, Kendall Coyne Schofield looks forward to sharing pictures and video of road trips the two will have enjoyed together during the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s inaugural season.
Coyne Schofield can already envision the possibilities of spending time at various rinks, hotels and airports, and Drew being doted upon by his many new aunties, aka, her PWHL Minnesota teammates.
“It will definitely be really special to look back at pictures with him and explain the journey that he was on for the first few years of his life, whether he wants to believe us or not,” she said.
The experiences mother and son will enjoy go much deeper for Coyne Schofield, a three-time Olympian and former U.S. captain. In preparing for Minnesota’s opener at Boston on Wednesday, the game will underline Coyne Schofield’s determination in returning to competitive play, which some questioned was possible after taking leave from the national team a year ago.
“When I first announced my pregnancy, the first comment that I got out of a majority of people’s mouths were, `Oh, so you’re retiring,’” Coyne Schofield recalled.
Rather than being an end, this is but a new beginning.
“I’m 31 years old and I would argue I’m still in the prime of my career,” she said. “I want to make sure that (Drew) knew he was never the reason I stopped playing hockey. He was the reason I continued to play hockey.”
Coyne Schofield is hardly the first elite female athlete to return to competition after giving birth. She joins the likes of tennis star Serena Williams, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, Alex Morgan and many other famous soccer moms, and hockey’s Natalie Spooner, who rejoined Canada’s roster in April some four months after having her first child.
Coyne Schofield certainly won’t be the last at a time the international women’s sports landscape is expanding, and with the commitments the PWHL has in place to assist new moms, who will face a 24game schedule into early May that includes road trips and occasional games on consecutive days.
Aside from maternity leave being included in a collective bargaining agreement Coyne Schofield played a role in negotiating — it was ratified July 2, the same weekend Drew was born — she said she was recently informed the league will provide a nanny for players’ children through their first birthday.
This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise for Coyne Schofield, given she and Drew are initially making the move to the Twin Cities on their own, while her husband, Michael Schofield, continues his career as an NFL offensive lineman.
“I was almost in tears because that’s life-changing. And it’s life-changing for others, too, who may not have kids yet,” she said. “It’s knowing like, `Wow, I may be able to play hockey a lot longer. I don’t have to decide between having a kid and having a career. I can have both.’”