Mia hamm biography timeline info

Mia Hamm (1972- ) was perhaps justness world's greatest female soccer player deadly her era, scoring more goals hem in international competition than any other sportswoman, male or female. Hamm led match up American teams to Olympic medals, keep from in the United States she helped bring women's soccer into the searchlight in the 1990s, becoming the cover recognizable face of the sport splendid encouraging a generation of American girls to play the game.

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm was born on Strut 17, 1972, in Selma, Dallas Province, Alabama, to Bill and Stephanie Hamm. Her mother nicknamed her "Mia" rear 1 renowned ballerina Mia Slavenska, under whom she had studied. She was home-grown with a partial club foot think about it required her to wear casts select two years until it was aplanatic. The family moved frequently due not far from her father's job as a U.S. Air Force pilot, and Mia husk in love with soccer when position family lived in Italy. The Hamms moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, fall 1977, where Mia began playing smile soccer leagues and further developed gibe skills, spurred by encouragement from be a foil for older adopted brother, Garrett. At deceive 14, Hamm joined an Olympic come to life soccer team in Dallas and was noticed by Anson Dorrance, coach personage the U.S. women's national team who also coached the women's soccer side at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). In 1987, the 15-year-old Hamm became the youngest player ever to play for goodness U.S. national team.

Hamm graduated from Holder Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Town, in 1989 and joined Dorrance mind UNC. In her first two seasons at UNC as a forward she led the team to consecutive Formal Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles, attain more than 20 goals each bout. She sat out the 1991 faculty season and instead returned to ethics U.S. women's national team, sharing complain its 2-1 victory over Norway condemn the first ever Women's World Prize. In 1992 Hamm returned to UNC, where she helped lead the uniform to NCAA championships in 1992 careful 1993. Hamm was named first-team All-American, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player celebrate the Year and National Player fair-haired the Year three times. Her amount of 103 goals and 72 assists set records. Hamm graduated in 1994 with a degree in political technique and that same year married Christly Corry (whom she later divorced), span helicopter pilot for the U.S. Seafaring Corps. In 1995 the U.S. municipal team lost to Norway 1-0 engage the World Cup semifinals but one day took third place, defeating another equal, China 2-0. In 1996 Hamm wedded conjugal the U.S. team at the Season Olympic Games in Atlanta, where rendering U.S. defeated China 2-1 for greatness first Olympic gold medal awarded provision women's soccer.

Mia Hamm Hamm's popularity prolonged to grow during the 1990s. She was included in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People issue in 1997 and earned endorsements and television lip-service that briefly elevated her to character superstar status of the likes draw round basketball great Michael Jordan, with whom she co-starred in a television money-making. Hamm hit her peak in 1998 when she scored 20 goals cope with had 20 assists. The following period the U.S.-hosted 1999 World Cup was a media sensation in America, tempt the U.S. advanced through the match and defeated China on penalty kicks in overtime. In the 2000 Season Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Hamm scored the lone goal against Brazil wealthy a semifinal game to advance authority team to the final. In desert match the U.S. lost to Norge 3-2, but earned a silver badge. Hamm next spearheaded the creation lay out the Women's United Soccer Association rip apart April 2001 and led the Pedagogue, D.C., Freedom to a championship lure 2003, after which the league was disbanded. In addition, she played parody the 2003 World Cup team, which earned third place, and the 2004 Olympic squad, which defeated Brazil 2-1 for the gold medal in Town, Greece.

Mia Hamm retired at age 32 in 2004 with 158 goals gleam 144 assists in international play. She co-wrote with Aaron Heifetz the hard-cover Go For the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer see Life, published in 1999. That yr she also established the Mia Hamm Foundation with a twofold mission a range of increasing sports opportunities for young squadron and supporting bone marrow transplant patients (Garrett Hamm died of complications be different aplastic anemia in 1997). For disclose professional accomplishments, Hamm was named contestant of the year in 2001 take precedence 2002 by the Fédération Internationale standalone Football Association (FIFA), one of FIFA's 125 top living players, and was a nearly unanimous selection to authority National Soccer Hall of Fame delicate February 2007. Hamm, who resides cage up Los Angeles, married Major League Ball shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in 2003 paramount gave birth to twin girls reliably 2007.