Women in sport: when pregnancy spells the end of a career

By Linda Pearce
Updated September 22 2015 - 10:08am, first published July 6 2015 - 12:52pm
Balls in the air: Basketballer Kathleen Macleod with son Jaxson, and netballer Elissa Kent with daughter Frances. Photo: Justin McManus
Balls in the air: Basketballer Kathleen Macleod with son Jaxson, and netballer Elissa Kent with daughter Frances. Photo: Justin McManus
Dual Olympian Hope Munro with her daughters Ella and Olivia Photo: Bohdan Warchomij
Dual Olympian Hope Munro with her daughters Ella and Olivia Photo: Bohdan Warchomij
Jockey Talia Rodder took a safety-first approach when she returned to riding Photo: Vince Caligiuri
Jockey Talia Rodder took a safety-first approach when she returned to riding Photo: Vince Caligiuri
Sharelle McMahon, now retired, with son Xavier, is the only Australian mum to have played in the ANZ Championship Photo: Wayne Taylor WMT
Sharelle McMahon, now retired, with son Xavier, is the only Australian mum to have played in the ANZ Championship Photo: Wayne Taylor WMT
Kathleen Macleod in action for the Rangers in 2014. Photo: Luis Ascui
Kathleen Macleod in action for the Rangers in 2014. Photo: Luis Ascui

Kathleen Macleod and Elissa Kent are sporting sisters; the first an Opals basketballer, the second a 40-game netballer with the Queensland Firebirds and Melbourne Vixens. Macleod, who gave birth to son Jaxon 16 months ago, returned to a job in the WNBL, and perhaps a second Olympics next year in Rio. Elissa, whose baby Frances is now 10 months old, would love to resume at the elite level, but accepts that she will not.