"Something is changing": the coach breaking taboos with paternity leave

BarcelonaDays after achieving third place in the Women's Euroleague and just before starting the play-offs for the Women's Endesa League title, Casademont Zaragoza announced that its coach Carlos Cantero will not temporarily manage the team because he is taking paternity leave. His wife Paula has just had a son (Mateo) and, as the club explains, "the coach will exercise his right to suspend the contract for the birth and care of a minor, in accordance with current labor regulations".

Catalan Arnau Ferreres will temporarily assume the coaching duties. "I wish the team all the luck in these play-offs. I know they are ready," assures Cantero, who recently renewed his contract until 2028. Casademont Zaragoza will play the quarterfinals against Enginyeria Ambiental Estepona. The tie, which begins on Thursday in the Malaga town, will be decided on Sunday at the Príncep Felip pavilion.

Marta Fernández, former basketball player, has taken advantage of Cantero's case to explain the experience she had with her partner, Alberto Miranda, current assistant coach for Unicaja. "There was a time, and not so long ago, when being a father in sports simply meant trying to fit life in as best as possible. Adjusting unique moments into a calendar that doesn't wait, that doesn't stop. I remember that moment very clearly. Hospital, everything ready… even scheduling a C-section so he could be there. Trying to make everything fit, to coincide, to align. And almost without realizing it, you normalize things that are actually huge. Two days later, back with the team. Because that's what was expected. Because it had always been that way. And no one questioned it," she wrote on her Instagram account.

"Today I read that Carlos Cantero decides to stop, take paternity leave and be there. To be truly present. And I can't help but stop for a second. Because there are moments that don't come back. Moments that don't understand calendars, competitions, or demands. It's not about looking back or pointing fingers at anything. It's about realizing that something is changing. Little by little. That sport, which has been above all else for so long, is beginning to make space for life. For what's important. For being there. And that, even if it seems small, is enormous. Hopefully, the day will come when this isn't news. But in the meantime, it's worth explaining, valuing it... and moving forward. Because, in the end, there are decisions that don't just talk about sport. They talk about life," he added.

"She never forgave me for not aborting"

A press conference by Sarunas Jasikevicius went viral in 2017. A Lithuanian journalist asked the then-Zalgiris coach for his opinion on a player missing a semi-final game because he had become a father. The coach's response was blunt. “I gave him permission. Do you have children? When you do, you'll understand. It's the best experience a human can have. Do you think basketball is the most important thing? When you become a father, you'll understand that this is the most important thing in life. Then you come and tell me, because it's the best in the world. Believe me, not titles or anything else. Augusto Lima, emotionally, is in heaven right now, and I'm happy for him.”

Saras's response had an extra layer of emotion. Rita Jasikeviciene, his mother, was part of the USSR handball team that was to compete in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. “My career was going very well until I got pregnant and missed those Games. The coach, Igor Turcin, clearly said he never wanted to see me again. He never forgave me for not aborting,” she told the Lithuanian newspaper Kauno Diena.

On March 5, 1976, Jasikeviciene gave birth to a boy whom she named Sarunas. The USSR women's handball team won the gold medal in those 1976 Games without Jasikevicius's mother, who continued her career but never returned to the national team. “I used to joke and tell little Sarunas: ‘You owe me an Olympic Games.’ A few years later, he fulfilled it and bought us tickets to see him at Sydney 2000”.