WNBA stars Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley this week announced the birth of their first baby, born last month shortly after fellow baller Emma Cannon and her spouse Tia added twins to their family.
Vandersloot and Quigley, who both play for the Chicago Sky, announced on May 11 in People that their baby had arrived earlier in April. Vandersloot then posted this adorable photo on Instagram, saying, “Everyone meet Jana Christine, our whole world,” adding, “Mom, Thank you for showing me what unconditional love looks like, I’ll always aspire to be just like you. I know you’ll always watch over her.”
Five-time All Star Vandersloot, who won the WNBA championship last year with the New York Liberty and in 2021 with the Sky, is a four-time All-WNBA Team member who returned to the Windy City for the upcoming WNBA season. She has also played for several leagues in Europe. Three-time All Star Quigley has played for multiple WNBA teams throughout her professional career, but has been with the Sky since 2013, although she sat out the past two seasons and looks to be doing so again this year. Born in Illinois, she is also a Hungarian citizen and has played for the Hungarian national team as well as various European leagues. Vandersloot and Quigley married in 2018, after having played on opposing Euroleague teams and getting to know each other during a flight back to Chicago to play for the Sky, People reports.
Early April also brought good news for the Cannons, as twins Sage Ja’Nae and Suede Ja’Cole arrived, making the couple’s 3-year-old son Dior a big brother. Emma is currently with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, after playing for several other teams, and has played in leagues in Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. She told ClutchPoints recently, “I have three kids now, and it’s just knowing they’re looking up to me and their happy to see me when I come home…. That just keeps me going.”
Almost as much fun as the pregnancy and birth announcements themselves, though, are the reactions from other players, who have been piling into the comments to offer congratulations. These kids have aunties galore!
Basketball isn’t the only women’s sport to welcome babies recently, either; soccer stars Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis also just became parents.
Women’s sports still have a way to go before being fully supportive of the growing number of parents in their midst, however. Expect maternity benefits to be a big part of the WNBA’s upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations, perhaps inspired by the young but rapidly growing PWHL hockey league, which seems to be leading the way in incorporating such benefits from the start. (And if you’re not currently watching the PWHL playoffs, you’re missing out on some of the greatest action around, even though my personal favorite Boston Fleet didn’t make the postseason this year.)
Every pro athlete who becomes a new mom (or baba, or …) gives the various women’s leagues more reason to support parent players, since many of them will continue competing well into their parenting years. I look forward to watching the growing number of pro athlete moms as they offer both their kids and the rest of us models of determination, teamwork, and excellence.
In Addition
Check out the brand-new middle grade anthology Athlete Is Agender, edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby, illustrated by Jess Vosseteig (Christy Ottaviano), a varied collection of insights and inspiration from, for, and about athletes of many LGBTQ identities, sports, and levels of sports involvement.
