Mia Hamm
Mia Hamm (born Mariel Margaret Hamm on March 17, 1972 in Selma,
Alabama) is an American soccer player. Hamm has been able to garner
the respect of soccer experts and build a large fan base in the United
States, where she played for 17 years as a member of the United States
women's national soccer team.
Hamm, one of four daughters of an Air Force pilot, was born in Alabama,
and lived in several different places before her family settled in Wichita
Falls, Texas. Her parents later adopted two boys; the older, Garrett,
became her main source of encouragement in her athletic interests. At
age 12, she played on her junior high school's football team, but
eventually settled on soccer. She later moved to Northern Virginia to
finish her high school career, living with relatives until the rest of her
family joined her a year later. The youngest player ever to play for the
national team at age 15, Mia later attended the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was nicknamed Jordan by her peers, in
reference to another UNC athlete, Michael Jordan. She helped take the
Tar Heels to four consecutive NCAA women's championships. She was an
All-American and Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year for the
last three years of her college tenure.
In 1991, when the US women's national team won the FIFA Women's
World Cup for the first time with Hamm and teammates including
Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, and Kristine Lilly, Hamm became the
youngest American woman to win a World Cup championship at the age
of 19. In 1993, she graduated from college with the all time records for
her conference in goals with 103, assists with 72, and total points with
278.
She has garnered numerous awards and recognitions during her career as
a soccer player. Among those, she was elected as the Soccer USA's
female athlete of the year five years in a row (1994-1998), she was
elected MVP of the women's cup in 1995, she was elected one of the 50
most beautiful people in the world by People Magazine in 1997, she was
elected number 14 among soccer's most influential people by Soccer
Business International magazine, and won three ESPY awards in a row,
given to her by ESPN, one of them for soccer player of the year and the
other two for Female Athlete of the Year.
In 1996, Hamm and the rest of the US women's national team played for
the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in front of 80,000
spectators in Athens, Georgia, then an all-time record for any women's
sporting event. That day, Hamm and her teammates were able to beat
China to win the gold medal.
In 1999, Nike named the largest building on their corporate campus after
this star, and that same year she, Chastain, Kate Sobrero, Lorrie Fair,
Tiffeny Milbrett and the rest of the women on the national team became
world champions again, by winning the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Chastain's take-the-jersey-off celebration after the win became an
instant legendary sports moment. The final match surpassed the Atlanta
Olympic final as the most-attended women's sports event, with over
90,000 filling the Rose Bowl.
Also in '99, Hamm began the Mia Foundation, dedicated to help with
bone marrow research and to help women sports programs progress. She
was inspired to create her foundation by her adoptive brother and
original athletic inspiration Garrett, an Amerasian who died of a bone
marrow disease shortly after the 1996 Olympics.
She was first married in 1994 to her college sweetheart Christiaan Corry,
a Marine pilot, but their marriage was strained by long absences (his as a
military aviator, and hers in international soccer), and they divorced in
2001. In 2002, she became engaged to marry Nomar Garciaparra, a
baseball star then with the Boston Red Sox (now with the Chicago Cubs).
Also in 2002, she was named by the FIFA as the Female Player of The
Year alongside Ronaldo, who won Male Player of The Year honors.
On November 22, 2003, Hamm and Garciaparra were married at Fontana,
California in a private ceremony. A few hundred guests attended. On May
14, 2004, she announced her retirement effective after the 2004 Summer
Olympics, expressing an interest in starting a family with Garciaparra. To
the end of her career, she enjoyed meeting and greeting her fans,
especially young girls, and signing autographs.
In March 2004, Hamm and former USA teammate Michelle Akers were the
only two women, and the only two Americans, named to the FIFA 100, a
list of the 125 greatest living soccer players selected by Pelé and
commissioned by FIFA for that organization's 100th anniversary.
In a friendly against Australia on July 21, 2004, Hamm scored her 150th
international goal; she has long held the record in that category for any
player, male or female. This match also marked her 259th international
appearance; only her teammate Kristine Lilly has played in more
internationals.
She helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2004 Summer
Olympics, and was also chosen by her fellow US Olympians to carry the
American flag at the Athens Closing Ceremonies. After the Olympics,
Hamm and her teammates went on a "farewell tour" of the United States,
which finished on December 8, 2004 against Mexico at the Home Depot
Center in Carson, California. In the game, which the US won 5-0, Hamm
assisted on two of the goals. During halftime, she switched jerseys from
one with "Hamm" on the back to one with "Garciaparra". Hamm is one of
three longtime national team members who announced their retirement
from international play at the end of the tour; the others are longtime
captain Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett (Fawcett did not play due to back
surgery after the Olympics). Hamm retired with 158 international goals,
more than 50 ahead of any other player (male or female), and 276 caps,
second only to Lilly.