Sports After Marriage
The transition from a Miss to a Mrs in the field of sports is absolutely not easy. Women in sports have struggled to carve a niche for themselves after their marriage. It is a difficult balancing act for them: at one hand are the demands of the family and society, and on the other are the tough demands of sports. It is a global phenomenon spanning disciplines, from tennis to table tennis to athletics to chess.
Does Marriage Influence Sports Life?
A research study in Hungary indicated that marriage chances might influence the probability of reaching the status of top athlete. In other words, marriage may put an end to the ambition of becoming a top sports person. In some cases, marriage puts an early conclusion of sports careers and also changes the course of life subsequent to such careers. They may indirectly affect even the quality of top female sport in a given country.
Many sports women have been forced to choose between home and career. The problem is compounded when the spouse is from a different field or not interested in sports. This is a reason why many sportspersons tend to choose a life partner in their fraternity.
There are sports women who voluntarily opt out of sports after marriage. They take a break from the circuit and return as coaches so that they can put their experience to good use. Some sports women feel that women must continue sports after marriage. They are of the opinion that it is easier to engage in physical sports after marriage because the flexibility of the muscles increases after childbirth.
Success Stories of Sports After Marriage
Again there are examples of women who have been able to continue with sport even after marriage and childbirth, although, it is largely because of their husband’s encouraging attitude or because the spouse himself has been a sportsperson. There are a number of such success stories. Two of them are highlighted here.
Alex and Mary Triantafyllou are the head coaches of the Chico State women’s rugby team. They share the bond of marriage and the responsibility of managing a successful squad. For the two coaches, balancing matrimony and dump-tackles is the fun part. However, Mary sometimes feels like concealing their marriage during games for the purpose of having an athletic edge, though she finds it impossible to do so. “Love doesn’t go away, even at rugby games,” she says.
Yasmin Zarook is a sports woman star who represented Sri Lanka, not only in one sport discipline, but in two - Swimming and Squash. In 1972, Yasmin married a leading Criminal Lawyer whose name was Razik Zarook. He was a keen sportsman, who encouraged sports in a big way, and gave a helping hand to many young sportsmen and sportswomen. After marriage, she played Tennis with her husband and was crowned as the Southern Province Women Tennis Champion. She won the Mixed Doubles with Colone Devanayagam as her partner. After they came to Colombo to settle down, she became a member of Sri Lankan Ladies Squash Federation.