Mia Hamm biography
Mia Hamm, byname of Mariel Margaret Hamm, (born March 17, 1972, Selma, Alabama, U.S.), American soccer (soccer) participant who turned the primary worldwide star of the ladies’s sport. Playing ahead, she starred on the U.S. nationwide staff that received World Cup championships in 1991 and 1999 and Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004. She was revered for her all-around talent, aggressive spirit, and knack for objective scoring. She retired from the nationwide staff in 2004 with 158 targets in worldwide competitors, probably the most by any participant, male or feminine (her document was damaged by countrywoman Abby Wambach in 2013). She was twice named Women’s World Player of the Year (2001–02) by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
Hamm’s goal-scoring expertise as a young person drew consideration from prime school applications in addition to the nationwide staff. At age 15 she turned the youngest particular person ever to turn into a member of the U.S. staff. In 1989 Hamm entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and, by the point she graduated in 1994, she had helped the Tar Heels win 4 National Collegiate Athletic Association championships.
Hamm made 276 appearances with the nationwide staff. During her profession, along with profitable the 4 main championships, the U.S. ladies completed third within the 1995 and 2003 World Cup tournaments and took a silver medal on the 2000 Olympics. With Hamm because the star, they loved media consideration unprecedented for a ladies’s sports activities staff, particularly throughout the 1999 World Cup held within the United States. Jerseys along with her quantity 9 turned a prime vendor, and her reputation, which continued into her retirement, rivaled that of the best-known male athletes.
Hamm additionally performed professionally for the Washington Freedom of the short-lived Women’s United Soccer Association (2001–03). After retiring from aggressive play in 2004, she remained concerned within the sport. Notably, in 2014 Hamm turned a co-owner—alongside along with her husband, former baseball participant Nomar Garciaparra, and quite a few others—of the Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer; the staff started play in 2018.
Hamm cowrote (with Aaron Heifetz) Go for the Goal: A Champion’s Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life (1999).