"It's unrealistic": experiences of Swedish elite female ice hockey players considering parenthood.

Introduction: The number of elite female athletes combining athletic careers with mothering has increased during the last decades. Many mother-athletes return to an equal or an even better level of performance postpartum. Despite numerous success stories across a variety of sports, there are currently no mother-athletes in Swedish elite ice hockey. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore how Swedish elite female ice hockey players perceive challenges associated with initiating and maintaining the mother-athlete role.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 7 elite female ice hockey players (5 prepregnancy and 2 mothers/former athletes) and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Thematic analysis revealed three main challenges facing elite female ice hockey players: (a) Making ends meet, (b) A leap in the dark and (c) You can't be what you can't see. Due to these challenges, the participants perceived combining elite ice hockey and mothering as unrealistic. Consequently, they felt forced to either retire from elite sports early or postpone mothering to post career.

Discussion: Continued work with improving the financial support and developing clear maternity policies is essential to prevent early dropouts before elite female ice hockey players have reached peak performance. Enabling more players to prolong their athletic careers during pregnancy and postpartum will likely produce more positive mother-athlete role models. Further, keeping more players in the sport for a longer period could help women's ice hockey to develop to its highest optimal quality (e.g., level and competition).