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Mia Hamm became the youngest woman ever to make the United States national team when she joined the squad at 15. Mia Hamm was born on March 17, 1972. She was born in Selma, Alabama. Her full name is Mariel Margaret Hamm. She went to University of North Carolina. The other sport that she enjoys is golf. | |
| The position that Mia plays is forward (offense). Some of the accomplishments that she has made are: winning the women's World Cup, Olympic games- in Atlanta, Georgia, 4 NCAA titles and 2 college player of the year awards. Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy were the founding players of the WUSA professional women's soccer league. |
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Most People did not think that Team USA had a shot at winning the tournament. But Mia believed that her team was as good as any other team. But Mia and her teammates had worked together and pulled out an amazing win for their last game. Their record for the season was 5-0, with a combined score of 23-4 . They had beaten the Norwegian team by one goal, with less that three minutes left in the game. In the 1996 Olympics, during Team USA’s second game, Hamm crashed into the Swedish teams goal keeper. She fell to the ground in pain. Her ankle was badly sprained, and she was forced to skip the team’s next game, that ended up being a tie, against China. Next up to play was Norway. Mia was in great pain from her injury, but refused to sit on the bench. She had the team’s trainer tape up her ankle as tightly as she could bear. Her ankle was still hurting, and she could not run well. But she still played and helped her team beat the Norwegians in a dramatic overtime goal. Now the United States had to play China in the Olympic final. | |
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Team USA, along with its star, Mia Hamm, had become one of the biggest stories of the Olympics. Mia had been feeling better in the first half, against China, and it was showing. Early in the first half she made a great pass, leading to a goal. But China soon tied the game. And to make it worse, Mia’s ankle had began to throb. But even with her bad ankle she was still a valuable player. So she stayed in the game. In the middle of the second half she helped her team score a second goal. That goal turned out to be the game- winner. Once again Mia and her teammates were champions of women’s soccer.
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Mia Hamm’s sponsor is Nike. She got to help customize the shoe as well. But for her pair, she added some things, like a firmer sole and different laces and a different tongue that covered the laces. She wore them in a game recently after she had a hat trick in that game. She said, “I’m not sure if it is talent, luck or these pretty nice shoes, but I did play a heck of a game, I must say!”
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The opening match of the Olympics found Team USA playing Denmark in front of 20,000 fans- a new record for women’s soccer in the United States. In Team USA’s next match, the Swedes were waiting for Mia- and they had no intention of letting her beat them. During the game, they assigned one player to cover Mia at all times, and whenever she attempted to win a loose ball, they slammed into her. A half- dozen times, Mia was sent crashing to the ground and each time, she got up. Finally, the Swedes had accomplished their goal. Mia sprained her ankle and couldn’t even stand up. Team USA still ended up winning, 2-1.
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Mia Hamm managed to score her 108th career goal during the spring season of 1999. Her 108th goal had made her the top scorer in history. But during that season she went through an eight- game stretch where she could not score a goal. People could see the tension in her face. For the first time, people could also see the tension in the face of the women’s soccer. Mia Hamm has been on more than a dozen national magazine covers. Her popularity has helped women’s soccer become a “mainstream” American sport. She is very modest about all of her talent. She doesn’t act cocky and she really doesn’t like all of the spot light on her. Mia always finds ways to improve her skills and be a team player.
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