Mia Hamm

(http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/05/football ())

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."("Vince Lombardi."). This quote from Vince Lombardi relates to Mia Hamm well. She spent her life working hard to become the great soccer player that she is and her actions inspire many people around the world. Mia had five other siblings. She considered her hero to be her brother, Garrett. They spent a lot of time together, building a close relationship. He died in 1997 due to a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia. This was a tragic loss for her. She is known for her great achievements, mostly relating to soccer. Mia was asked to join the U.S. national team at the age of fifteen. She was the youngest girl to win the World Cup, and the gold medal in the 1986 Olympics. All throughout  her life, she was able to stay strong and always worked hard toward achieving her goal.  Mia Hamm is known as a hero due to her inspiring dedication and the way she cared about others.

(http://assets.makers.com/Mia%20Hamm%20Olympics.png ())

Mia's dedication and act of caring has lead her to be now known as one of the most influential and inspiring women soccer players. Mia's dedication was seen through her amazing skill, technique, and speed on the field. Off the field, she spent her time fundraising money for her foundation to help people in need of bone marrow transplants.  Throughout Mia's career, she was able to become a role model to athletes around the U.S.,increasing the amount of girls that played soccer. Many people began to look up to her as she became known as the best female athlete. Mia spent time with girls who were inspired by her and would love to one day be as talented.  She shared her story with other girls, and even to this day her story is passed down, as she continues to be an inspiration. Being caring and dedicated is found in many heroes who also inspired the life of many as Mia Hamm said, " The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when nobody else is looking."("Mia Hamm.").

Works Cited

Latimer, Clay. "Mia Hamm." Mia Hamm (2001): 4. Biography Reference Center. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

"Mia Hamm." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 10 February 2015.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/miahamm204535.html

"Mia Hamm." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Biography in

Context. Web. 30 Jan. 2015.

"Vince Lombardi." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 10 February 2015.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincelomba125250.html

Mia Hamm was dedicated throughout her whole life to always do the best she possibly could. At the start of her career, Anson Dorrance, the coach for the University of North Carolina, saw Mia and instantly knew she had the potential become a great soccer player."Barely 5 foot 5 and 125 pounds, Hamm was quick, an excellent passer, and a devastating shooter. She also earned a reputation as an excellent dribbler and header and could score with either foot. Aggressive and determined, Hamm had an uncanny knack for penetrating defenses. "Mia has this amazing ability to go right through defenders, as if by molecular displacement," said Dorrance."("Mia Hamm." Notable ). Mia made sure she worked on improving to become a great soccer played. Throughout all her years of dedication she was able to have all her skills and touches close to perfect. Dorrance noticed all the work she put into making herself the great player she was. After joining the U.S. National team in 1987 at the age of 15, she was able to make a great impact on women's soccer:"In late 1999, Mia and her teammates threatened to stop playing for the U.S. national team. The women demanded pay equity with the players on the U.S. men's team. The players on the men's team earned more money than the players on the women's team.They felt that all U.S. soccer players should receive the same pay." (Latimer).Mia and her teammates showed great dedication, when fighting for equal pay, for men and women. They knew it was unfair that men were paid more than women. They fought until the federation agreed to the players demands in 2000. It's known as the most important achievement in women's soccer. Her inspiring dedication led Mia to become one of the most influential women's soccer players to this day.

(http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/05/football ())

After retiring in 2004, Mia spent her time caring about the people around her, and finding ways to help them in any way she could. Due to her hero, Garrett passing away Mia focused on giving back to people who had similar diseases."Hamm joined the board of the Marrow Foundation and raised $50,000 for his bone marrow transplant with a charity soccer match. After his death, she established the Mia Hamm Foundation to raise money for bone-marrow research and to set up clinics and camps for young girls in soccer and other sports."("Mia Hamm." Notable). She worked with the bone Marrow Foundation to raise money. She cared about others and was willing to work hard to be able to help others in need. Mia spent her time with kids playing soccer to be able to raise money for the foundation. Since she was such a great inspiration to soccer players, many took the chance to be able to play with her, fundraising a great amount of money. Not only did she help her own fundraiser she also continued to inspire many people by joining: "the Washington Freedom and appeared frequently at civic events to promote the new league and the Freedom team. Overcoming her quiet demeanor, Hamm often spoke of the need to support the league. DiCicco, who was the league's commissioner, referred to Hamm as "our Michael Jordan" in an article by Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated for Women."("Mia Hamm." Notable) .Mia spent her time promoting a new league caring for the foundation to expand as she wished it would. Like Mia Hamm, many people also look up to Micheal Jordan. She was  compared to him, being that they both spent a lot of their time working to help inspire others and have affected the life of many athletes. She worked with the Freedom Foundation to create a new league. Not only was Mia considered dedicated to her work but also were her acts of caring, that caused her to be such a great inspiration.