A special note was slipped under the hotel room doors of
Norway's players in the run-up to their Women's World Cup
match against Thailand in Ottawa.
It was nothing to do with football; it was an invitation from
midfielder Solveig Gulbrandsen's young son to his ninth
birthday party.
The veteran midfielder's husband Espen, their son Theodor
and three-year-old daughter Lilly were all staying in the
team hotel and were very much part of the squad.
"We have followed this principle for many years and it works
quite well," says Norway's director of women's football,
Heidi Store, a 1995 World Cup winner.
"The children stay at the same hotel as the team and Solveig
is able to spend some time with them every day. This
increases her wellbeing and performance on the pitch, in our
experience.
"The other players are used to having these children around
and it does not affect them negatively - it is rather the
opposite."
Gulbrandsen, 34, could add to her 183 caps when Norway
face England in the last 16. However, her family will no
longer be present by that point, having only stayed for the
first 10 days of the tournament.
"It means everything to have had them here," she says. "It
means that I can play; if you take the pre-camp and the
whole length of the tournament, it's too long to be away. For
me, it's important to have them around sometimes - not
every day, but in a part of this long journey."
An issue that continues to trouble England
Norway's approach is in contrast to that of the English
Football Association, which does not allow any family
members to stay in the women's team hotel, citing the need
for players to concentrate on their football.
It is the same for England's men, who had their fingers
burnt at the 2006 World Cup when the decision to allow
families to join the Three Lions in Germany backfired - the
shopping sprees of the players' wives and girlfriends
making bigger headlines than the football.
The FA stance means one of the two mothers in the England
team, veteran midfielder Katie Chapman, thought she would
not be able to have her husband and three boys by her side
in Canada, as the FA does not pay for families to travel.
Chapman, twice named FA International Player of the Year,
only recently returned to England duty after a five-year
hiatus that she says followed the cancellation of her
contract when she asked for time off to be with her
children.
Having been picked for England's World Cup squad,
Chapman said the FA could still improve its childcare
support and that she expected to endure a "really tough"
time because she could not afford to pay to fly her family
out to Canada.
In the end they arrived anyway, at their own expense, to
surprise the Chelsea skipper for her 33rd birthday and her
youngest son's second, and she has been able to see them
during the downtime permitted to all players at head coach
Mark Sampson's discretion.
The FA says it is in the process of reviewing its childcare
provisions and "benchmarking against other sports".
"Our players are supported financially through central
contracts and we take a flexible approach to the terms of
those contracts, factoring in various considerations
including players' childcare commitments," the FA says.
However, Chapman's England colleague Casey Stoney, who
has twins with her partner, the former Lincoln Ladies
skipper Megan Harris, has had to remain in contact with her
children through Skype.
And despite her delight at seeing Chapman unexpectedly
reunited with her boys, Stoney says she felt a strong pull
for her family afterwards.
"I was emotional because they'd done that and then straight
away I thought 'oh, my children aren't here', and I had a bit
of a wobble," says the 33-year-old, who was made an MBE
on 13 June.
"But that's to be expected in tournament football. I'd love to
have them here but I just financially can't do that. I miss
them so much."
Different countries, different approaches
Many of the footballing mothers in this World Cup will be
away from their children for long periods, but that is not to
say Norway are alone in their enlightened approach.
Since 1996, US Soccer has allowed children into each
training camp, paying for the cost of one nanny - usually a
close friend or relative - plus their airfare and
accommodation.
"It's an important element to help players with children to
continue to contribute to the national team," explains US
Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe.
"It allows players the ability to concentrate on their job of
playing soccer without having to be away from kids for long
periods of time, or worry about how they will be able to
balance their family and career while on the road during a
training camp."
The "soccer moms" in the US squad include defenders
Shannon Boxx and Christie Rampone, striker Amy Rodriguez
- and head coach Jill Ellis.
Children have never stayed with their mothers in the USA
camp during major tournaments, but speaking to Fox Sports
recently, 37-year-old Boxx praised US Soccer's policy of
allowing them to be "part of the team" at training meet-ups.
She added: "It's so great to have my little daughter there
knowing that there are 23 other moms there to take care of
her at times."
Reigning world champions Japan have no mothers in their
Canada 2015 squad but the Japan Football Association has
previously paid for former midfielder Tomomi Miyamoto's
son and her mother to attend her training camps.
Their current policy, put in place in 2008, allows players to
bring children aged 18 months to three years, and a
babysitter, to camps lasting no more than two months.
The JFA says it hopes this can bolster the national team by
allowing players who are mothers to concentrate on their
game while helping "enhance and activate women's football
in Japan by showing hope and a reassuring picture of the
future to female players".
As most nations at this edition of the World Cup have no
mothers in their team and never have had, many say their
approach to the issue will be considered when it becomes
necessary.
Among those countries is Switzerland, whose spokesman
says: "If one day we do have players who are mothers, we
are very likely to cope with such a situation not according to
some overall policy, but according to the best possible
personal solution for both mother/child and the team."
'I really miss him a lot'
Cameroon striker Madeleine Ngono Manie says she does
not get assistance from her association and it would be a
"really big step forward" if a policy was introduced.
The 31-year-old has not seen her 13-month-old for almost
a month and he remains at home with his dad in Cameroon.
"I really miss him a lot," she says. "If some people say they
don't miss their children when they're away, well, it's not at
all the case with me."
Cameroon have just made it through to the knockout stages
so Manie will have to wait a little while yet before she meets
up with her son again, but she is hopeful improvements in
childcare will come.
"Even if I don't end up benefiting from something like that
myself, I hope at least that some of the younger players do,
one day," she says. "I'd really like that to happen."
Australia's veteran goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, who is
taking part in her fourth World Cup, kept her husband and
daughter close to her in spirit before the opening match
against the USA by taping a photo of them to her locker.
"To remind me who is with me on this journey," she wrote
after posting a photo of the image with another family
picture on Facebook.
All told, there have been enough footballing mothers at this
World Cup to make a team if you also include Sweden and
Chelsea Ladies goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, who has a son,
and Ecuador midfielder Erika Vasquez, whose daughter is
two years old.
And while some of these players will remain in Canada for
longer than others, they and their teams will have many
reasons to feel pride in their achievements.
"I made a conscious decision that I was coming out here to
make my children proud," says England's former skipper
Stoney. "And that is what inspires me every day."
By Catherine Etoe
Women's football reporter. BBC sport
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