“Supporting pregnancy should never be a question”

“She wants to fight for the club in return”

Although they carry many of the same values — which we learn are, ultimately, the deciding factor in how to approach maternity leave — the two clubs operate quite differently. Metz have had a certain policy in place for around a decade, while Györ’s approach has developed organically more recently. 

“This situation developed naturally — four of our players announced their pregnancies at the same time,” says Györ Managing Director Edina Fata. “Of course, the club has never rejected or discouraged such intentions; in fact, we support them wholeheartedly. We do not have a formal, detailed policy for this. What we ask of our players is simply to inform us of their family-planning intentions in advance, although we also understand that life may override any plans. In this case, for everyone’s pleasure, all four players succeeded in becoming pregnant at the same time.”

“I saw it was difficult for the girls to manage their pregnancy at the same time as high-level sport, so I imagine several things,” says Metz President Thierry Weizman, who is also a doctor and therefore has that additional understanding of the pregnancy journey. Weizman outlines how Metz players have a contract that extends at least a year beyond pregnancy and that the club ensures the athletes do not have to manage elements such as the government coverage provided for pregnant women in France — the club handles that part. 

“She's sure that after pregnancy, that she has still a job in the same club. And, of course, we help to come back.

“We help her immediately after. And, of course, all the advantage that has a player, like apartment, car and everything, salary, they get it like the other players, even if they don't play. That means that they have not to wait for an insurance to pay half during pregnancy. The club pays and I make my job to get the money back from insurance, but I pay directly — nothing changes for the player.

“Something important for me is that when the girl comes back from pregnancy, she knows what the club did for her, so she wants to fight for the club in return.”

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“It is part of our club philosophy”

For both clubs, it cannot be denied that supporting the players through pregnancy is a financial burden, but they say there is something much more important than finances in this respect — things like what the club stands for and what kind of environment they want to provide for their athletes. 

“At Györi Audi ETO KC, it is fundamental that we do everything we can for our players. Just as we take care of injured players, we provide full support during pregnancy as well,” says Fata. “For us, this is not a special strategic “programme;” it is part of our club philosophy — this is what the #greenfamily truly means. In a modern 21st-century society, supporting pregnancy should never be a question. Good workplaces do this, and the world’s best handball club can be no different. At modern, forward-thinking organisations, this must be a basic principle.” 

“That's the most wonderful thing — to get the baby during the life of a couple and the life of a woman. This is extraordinary,” says Weizman. “We can't imagine that this can be sad because you must stop practising your sport or you will lose your job or something like this.” 

Long-term value far outweighs short-term challenges

Weizman finds that it is not only the pregnant players who benefit from seeing how the club cares for their journey to motherhood — the other athletes also see what unfolds and are therefore reaffirmed of feeling they are in a supportive environment. This then translates into not only increased team cohesion but individual commitment and performance on the court, which also helps to outweigh the financial burden.  

“They are grateful about the club. For a club, it costs a lot. It costs a lot for many reasons, because we continue to pay the player the same salary even before, but we have to pay another player at the same place — we have to pay another apartment, another car, many things like this,” explains Weizman, while Fata says: 

“Naturally, there are tasks to manage. If multiple players become pregnant at the same time — as happened this year — it inevitably affects season planning, roster depth, and rotation options. It also creates some financial burden, for example when temporary replacements need to be brought in. However, we are convinced that the long-term value of the ETO-family’s supportive mindset far outweighs these short-term challenges.” 

“Our shared goal is that the player returns”

As highlighted earlier, maternity leave policies exist outside the bounds of sport and are implemented at a state level. In the EU, members must adhere to two directives, one focused on the rights of pregnant workers and the other on work-life balance. However, these directives and national laws are not created for professional athletes, rather for other forms of employment, which means handball clubs are overall responsible for determining their own approach. 

“Hungary naturally has general regulations and benefits relating to pregnancy and maternity leave, but these are mostly designed for traditional employment structures. When it comes to elite athletes — especially those competing at the highest international level — the regulations are far less specific,” says Fata, while Weizman outlines how in France, the financial support from the government covers four and half months total, surrounding birth, which is far less time than a handball player will be sidelined. 

Crucially, it is on clubs to find their way, as, while both Györ and Metz emphasise a very positive and mutually beneficial relationship with their country’s national team structures, the players’ full-time employment is with their clubs rather than their representative squads. 

“We have a very good relationship with the national teams, but this is essentially a club-level decision. Our shared goal is that the player returns — whether to her club or national team — in the best possible physical and mental condition. That is the priority for everyone,” says Fata. 

Nevertheless, the national teams are invested in the return of their players to the top level. Weizman says this translates into care for their physical condition rather than financial elements. 

“They propose perhaps physical codes, but we give ours from the club to make a programme. And we make also individual training for the girl who stop to play and until delivery. They have individual training by our coach, and also to come back of course. They also work with our physiotherapist,” says Weizman, whose club has had the unique situation of a player, Laura Flippes, giving birth to twins this season. That naturally means a longer road to recovery and a different experience of early parenthood compared to a player who has one new baby. 

Unrelated to Flippes, who welcomed her twins in October 2025, other complications can arise from pregnancy that may require more support from the club in helping the player return. Weizman finds that the peace of mind for players — no matter what might happen, knowing they have a job to come back to — is important. 

“Many things can unfortunately happen when you have delivery, about the muscle or things like this, and you don't know what can happen, but they are sure that they have still a job the year after,” he says.  

Dreaming of a nursery in Les Arenes

In the future, Weizman would like to provide more support for players after childbirth, mainly in having a nursery in the arena itself. 

“My dream with this is that [when] the player come to the training, they don't use time to go to find somebody to put the baby,” he explains, “because the babies are just beside the sport hall. In the sports hall, that's just a room beside, and if something happened, we can go to take the mother to help or something like this, so this is our next step.”

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“A huge step forward is simply to communicate clearly, fairly and predictably”

We cannot ignore that Györ and Metz are two major EHF Champions League clubs with healthy budgets, although Weizman stresses Metz are ranked somewhere from 20th to 30th in Europe on this list. But both clubs focus more on their values when discussing the topic, and Fata in particular highlights that communication is more important than finances. 

“It’s not necessarily the size of the budget that matters — it’s the attitude. A huge step forward is simply to communicate clearly, fairly and predictably with the player about these issues. It’s important to emphasise that for most athletes, the sense of security and appreciation is at least as important as any financial compensation. If a club openly communicates that within its means it will do everything possible to support players who become mothers, that alone holds great value,” says Fata, while Weizman concludes:  

“There are positive and negative things, but the most important is this miracle to get the baby,” he says. “When they have a baby, all the life long they will remember how it was at this moment. If it was a sad moment, it's terrible because they were afraid and not happy at their job. They will think about it lifelong. And if it happens in a good way, like in Metz I hope, they will think about it like a very positive and very happy moment.”

Photos © cedosa (main), Kevin Clement, kolektiff images & Aniko Kovacs (in-text)