Candace Parker, the veteran Los Angeles Sparks star of the WNBA, moved into a two-bedroom apartment with her 11-year-old daughter, Lailaa, to play. In order for it to work, Parker said he had to raise childcare help from family members for the more than 40 days he had hoped to be in a sports lockout.
But there was never any question, Parker said, that Lailaa would come. “She had her bags packed before me,” said Parker. “It’s always been that way when I’m better when she’s here. I don’t think the Sparks want me without her.
Terri Jackson, president of the WNBA players union, said that as plans were made for a Florida bubble, the league made it clear that it would prioritize mothers, offering them the option of housing and taking care of some costs that other players are expected to cover.
That was an important step forward, Jackson said.
“If you take a historical look at the entire league, it makes you wonder: If it’s a women’s sports league, where are the moms?” she said. “You wonder, how many players looking to become mothers have we lost?
“We should have more Candaces – and Lailaas – in the league.”
Unlike the WNBA, which is in its third decade, the NWSL still finds its financial base in its eighth season, and wages remain relatively low: $ 20,000 to $ 60,000 a year.
But mothers in the league praised the proactive moves taken by new commissioner Lisa Baird, who took over the NWSL in February after she had been leaderless for several years. Baird is also a mom, with a college-age daughter who, on a tight budget for the league, has been helping with childcare within the league bubble in Herriman, Utah, near Salt Lake City.
