Netball: Mums the word for Kiwis

Julie Seymour showed it was possible to combine motherhood and international netball. Photo / Getty Images

While the two nations can barely be separated on the court, New Zealand netball is streets ahead of Australia in one unusual measure.

One in five New Zealand netballers in the ANZ Championship are mothers, managing to combine the demands of high performance sport with the challenges of bringing up children.

In contrast, there is currently not a single ANZ Championship player in Australia with a baby and historically it is a rare event.

Netball New Zealand says mothers can make better players but a prominent former Diamond feels that babies will never be part of the netball landscape in Australia.

"The mother and child reunion - is only a motion away," sang Simon and Garfunkel in their classic ditty, and it sprang to mind last year at the Vector Arena when, within moments of the final whistle in the transtasman test match, babies were being bounced on knees and infants and children were being corralled in the Ferns' technical area.

Five of the 12-strong team - Irene van Dyk, Temepara George, Daneka Wipiiti, Leana de Bruin and Liana Leota - were mothers and there will be four at the world championships next month.

"I think it is a cultural difference and it is a summation of what it is to be a woman in New Zealand - you can do everything and anything," says Netball New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle. "We have to lead the way in this area; if Netball NZ is not going to lead the way in allowing mothers to be mothers, then no other sport is going to lead the way."

Castle adds that, in their experience, motherhood can be be performance-enhancing.

"We find the athletes come back better players after they have been mothers," she says. "They tend to be less selfish - it is a little harsh - but the reality is that things don't faze them like they used to. They can't spend all the time thinking about themselves like athletes who don't have children do."

"You also tend to train harder for very short periods of time because that is all you have got. There is a calmness about the athletes because it is not all about them. So we actually find that it is a benefit - if you have a bad day at the 'office', you can drop it and go home."

"I think that's true," says Silver Ferns vice-captain George. "Once I had my daughter, I did come back stronger. Of course it was a huge physical challenge to come back but generally all those other things get put in perspective and it is not all about you any more."

De Bruin adds that she has found a "new balance" since having her first child 20 months ago and the 33-year-old was named joint MVP in the ANZ Championship last season.

But former Australian representative Kath Harby-Williams was surprised when she first moved to this country seven years ago.

"It was a talking point among my friends - we couldn't believe how many players had babies and it seemed to be part of the environment," remembers Harby-Williams. "It is not a part of the Australian netball landscape at all; we tend to follow a set path of university, your netball career, maybe getting your work life under way and then we think about families. I think it is a cultural mentality - we wouldn't think about having a baby while we were playing, or retiring at a young age so we could start a family."

Instead players like Harby-Williams waited until they stepped off the court to become parents. Laura von Bertouch (sister of current captain Natalie) retired to have children while still at the top of her game. Meanwhile, many in New Zealand - Adine Wilson, Donna Wilkins, Belinda Colling, de Bruin and Julie Seymour to name just a few - made post-natal returns to the sport's top levels.

Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer says they are "very supportive" of athletes having children and isn't able to immediately account for the stark difference.

"On most international measures, Kiwi society is more equal than Australian society and that may mean that Kiwi women have more support to be both high performance athletes, mothers and career women."

That is a guarded way of saying that New Zealand men maybe offer more support to their women than Australian men.

For many, Seymour was the trail blazer. Before she had her first child in 2001, she was unsure if she would have the desire or ability to return.

"After Harrison was born, I still had the urge to play and took it upon myself as a challenge to get back there."

Seymour says she became a stronger person, gaining the ability to "switch on" for an intense training session, despite sometimes barely sleeping the night before.

"Mentally, I think it was easier to push myself," says Seymour. "We would have a tough two-hour training but I would think, this is nothing compared to what I had been through with the little one."

Seymour also relied on the support of a network of family, friends and sympathetic coaches. She was still breastfeeding when she returned to the national team in 2001. When Australia came here to play three tests, Ferns coach Yvonne Willering allowed Seymour's mother to travel with the team and stay in a separate room looking after the child.

"I would be dodging between rooms, team meetings, meals and trainings," recalls Seymour. "I promised Yvonne that as long as I worked hard in training, it would not get in the way."

Apart from cultural elements, Harby-Williams says the immense depth in Australian netball is the other significant factor accounting for the lack of prams by the court.

"I guess we have a much more competitive approach. It is really hard to make the teams and someone is always waiting to take your place. Most girls think it would be hard to get back in if you dropped out for a year or so."

Seymour takes issue with that, saying it is more about a lack of role models across the Tasman.

"Over here, people see that it can be done," says Seymour. "Maybe in Australia, all it would take would be for one or two to put up their hands and show that it is possible."

Seymour says that while Australia may have greater playing numbers, the competition for spots at the top level in New Zealand can be just as fierce.

"It was always hard to see someone else wearing your bib," reflects Seymour. "And there was never any guarantee that you could win your place back. I enjoyed the challenge - I was pretty determined - I would be watching television and thinking 'I want that position'."

Netball is gradually moving towards a professional model and each year, the ANZ Championship places more demands on players' time, but Seymour is adamant players will be able to continue to combine nappies and netball.

"It will still be possible, says Seymour. "In a way, combining netball and motherhood means you get the best of both worlds."

In time, though, it is more possible to see players in this country moving towards the Australian model - postponing prams until after their career, as money becomes a bigger factor.

While Netball New Zealand tries to be fully supportive of players who wish to have children, there are obvious caveats. There is an implicit expectation that players, especially those at the elite level, take into account the timing of various pinnacle events.

"If a player had got pregnant between Delhi and Singapore, we probably wouldn't have been that thrilled but these things happen sometimes," said Castle.