No reason to stay mum about the brilliance of sporting mothers

InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O'Connor Cup Final, National Basketball Arena, Dublin 22/1/2023 Trinity Meteors vs Killester Killester's Ieva Bagdanaviciene celebrates with her daughter Atene Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Have you recovered from the Caitlin Clark hysteria yet? 

Her high-scoring heroics en route to US college basketball’s NCAA finals has her hyped as the sort of transformative player who could blow up the women’s professional game and she is expected to be picked up by the Indiana Fever at the WNBA Draft on Monday. 

Clark shoots from so far downtown that the ESPN commentator roared one shot was ‘from the future!’ during the final and bellowed ‘She’s POSSESSED!’ when the Ohio phenom drained yet another ‘logo three’ in the semi-finals. 

Hard to believe, right, that the NCAA withheld the use of their ‘March Madness’ branding from their women’s finals until two years ago? Or that the warm-up facilities they provided at one of the women’s playoff venues in 2021 consisted of one set of free weights and some yoga mats compared to a giant lifting gym for the men. 

Social media may be a scourge at times but it has been a brilliant tool for amplifying inequality and driving change in women’s sport. Progress still didn’t happen without the usual gobdaws interjecting that women’s collegiate players couldn’t complain until they were bringing in the same amount of eyeballs and dosh as their male counterparts. This year? The NCAA women’s final attracted 18.7 million TV viewers; more than any individual game in last year’s NBA finals or baseball’s World Series.

And ‘CC’ ain’t the only female baller inspiring young hoopsters these days. The WNBA already has Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu and here in Ireland we’re lucky enough to get to witness Ieva Bagdanavičienė who will be lining out for Prybobel Killester in the MissQuote.ie Champions Trophy final Sunday, live TG4, 1.30). 

She racked up 26 points in the playoff that decided this year’s Super League title - Killester’s first in 44 years. Watching her celebrate with her two-year-old daughter brought flashbacks to an identical scene 15 months earlier when Bagdanavičienė shot five unflappable ‘threes’ in her 17-point MVP performance to win the national Cup. 

This time she won MVP on her 30th birthday. For decades brilliant women gave up high end team sport when they became mothers though not any more. Motherhood just makes them phenomenal multi-taskers. Bagdanavičienė lives in Kilcoole Co Wicklow, where her husband (a former professional soccer player) settled when he moved to Ireland for work. 

That means a 132km round-trip to training on Dublin’s northside twice a-week even before travelling for games. She also works full-time, initially in child-care, but now at least from home. Yet still she produces boomers on big occasions, racking up 24 points against Brunell last time out to help Killester to their second major final in three weeks. 

Her skill has unshakeable foundations. Playing since she was six in her hometown of Siauliai, she played underage international for Lithuania from U16 to U20s and made it as far as a national senior camp in a country where basketball is the sporting religion.

She took the professional route while pursuing a degree in sports teaching and coaching and has played pro ball in Belgium, Romania and, most notably, with Wasserburg and Heidleberg in the German Bundesliga where she was playing when COVID struck. 

She quickly joined her husband in Ireland, got pregnant soon after but, a year after giving birth, led Killester to last season’s Cup title. It was a Lithuanian friend who had played for Brunell who recommended Killester and how lucky they were to get her. Motherhood, she insists, has not diminished but actually empowered her. 

“Women’s bodies are something amazing,” she says. “I never thought about how unique and impressive they are until I had my baby. I’m not as strong physically because I used to practise twice a-day, not twice a-week, but mentally I am way stronger now. If I wasn’t having a nap before my evening practice before I would be complaining, so tired. 

“Now I’m waking up at seven in the morning, working from eight to four - sometimes without sleep in the night - with my daughter beside me and I’m still smiling going to practice and getting home at 11pm.” 

Mark Grennell’s women stand on the cusp of a considerable treble – winning the Cup, Super League and Champions’ Trophy in the two seasons since she joined them.

Signing top international Clare Melia and two exciting young Americans this season also supercharged them but Bagdanavičienė’s quality, experience and calm in the heat has been central and the fact that she is a mother is worth highlighting. 

Opponents SETU Waterford Wildcats also include two young mums in Stephanie Connors and Sinead Deegan whose babies were only born last summer. Mothers can now play sport at every level, from participation to professional.

Yet, as we saw at March Madness, watching women dazzle at the pinnacle, whether domestic or international, is what really inspires others to follow, attracts sponsorship and coverage and silences the knuckle-draggers.

In Ieva Bagdanavičienė, Killester and Irish basketball has another powerful role model.