Mia Hamm: A trailblazer for Women’s soccer in the USA

Born in Selma, Alabama on March 17th 1972, Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra to this day is a soccer icon in the USA and around the world.

The future Olympic gold medallist and two time FIFA World Cup winner, however, would have to fight for everything.

Spending most of her childhood travelling the world with her parents, who were regularly based overseas with the armed forces, Hamm would have to overcome difficulties as a toddler after being born with a club foot and forced to wear corrective shoes.

However, that little girl had a passion for soccer and it was during her time in Italy when her love affair with the game began.

Hamm joined her first soccer team in Texas aged just five as her father coached her and older brother Garrett, who was eight at the time.

Ironically, the year that she was born, would see major changes in federal law to prohibit discrimination in federally funded education programs which would open the door for many young girls and present them with new and exciting sports opportunities.

At a young age, Hamm played and excelled at sport, although, it would be soccer that she became focused on, and whilst playing on the boys’ team at junior high, many would get a glimpse of the future Olympic gold medallist’s talent.

By 1987, the 15-year-old would represent the USA at the Olympic Festival in North Carolina and became one of the youngest players to play for the United States National Women’s team, all this whilst still playing for Notre Dame High Catholic School.

Not bad for a girl born with a club foot, proving from such an early age the ability to overcome challenges, many more of which were still to come.

Hamm founded the Mia Hamm Foundation after the death of her brother in 1997 to a rare blood disease called Aplastic Anaemia, something Garrett battled with for over 10 years.

The foundation is dedicated to the promotion of awareness of rare blood diseases and raising funds to help bone marrow transplant recipients. It also encourages families to register with the National Bone Marrow registry and provides regular funding to UNC Health Care and the children’s hospital in Los Angeles.

Focusing also on the creation of opportunities for the empowerment of women in sport is something close to Hamm’s heart. From 1989 to 1993, she attended North Carolina University in Chapel Hill where she led the team to win the first of four NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships in five years.

During this period, Hamm was permitted to red-shirt her time at university to prepare and focus on the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Guangdong, China.

In the coming years, Hamm would go on to win some highly impressive awards and accolades, including the ACC Player of the Year on three consecutive occasions and was named the ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994.

Graduating from NCU in 1994, she left as the ACC record goalscorer netting an astonishing 103 times, already showing the quality that soon made her a household name and leader of the women’s game, not only in the USA but across the world.

Hamm’s spell at Washington Freedom meant she was part of the first match to be shown on ESPN, however, the year would be a tough one after an injury kept her out of action during the 2001 season and the early part of 2002.

Representing her country was always Hamm’s goal, and after she made her senior debut, the Alabama-born player would go on to make a total of 276 appearances, scoring over 270 goals for the USNWT and winning
two World Cups in 1991 and, of course, 1999.

Added to that the fact the USA finished third in 1995 and again on home the soil in 2003, Mia Hamm brought to life her passion for soccer not only in the schools, colleges and universities in the USA but in the hearts of many little girls across the globe.

This was was in-between winning Olympic gold at Atlanta 1996, silver at Sydney in 2000 and winning gold again in Athens 2004.

There are so many polls asking everyone to listen to the same question, who is the greatest player you have ever seen play?

Many, mostly men, respond the same way with the likes of Pele, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, seeing her grace on and off the pitch, Mia Hamm will forever be the greatest player in my opinion.

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