Mia Hamm

For my My Hero essay, I have chosen Mia Hamm. Mia Hamm is the fourth of sixth children, born into a military family. Her father was really into sports while her mother was the complete opposite. At a very young age, Mia’s mother wanted her to do ballet and other girly things but Mia refused to continue, just after 2 lessons. After Mia quit ballet, her father got her more and more interested in soccer. She and her father were extremely interested in the way the athletic players brought the ball up and down the field. She started playing soccer when she was 5 years old. I chose Mia Hamm to be my hero because I play soccer and I am inspired by a woman soccer player who can accomplish so many titles and be so successful. Some qualities Mia has that I think makes her a hero are that she is athletic, honorable, smart and hard working. These qualities relate to Mia, I think, because she needs to be athletic and hard working to be an athlete, practicing and winning games. She is honorable because she has so many honors and qualities that make her a good athlete in soccer. She is smart because she attended a good school and worked hard which helped her reach her goal to become a professional soccer player.

In my opinion, I think that Mia Hamm is a hero because she is so hardworking and determined. She is a great sport and extremely persistent. She inspires me to work hard at soccer and try to improve my skills. Mia’s hero was her brother Garrett. Garrett was the soccer player that Mia wanted to be and her dad pushed her towards her goals. One of the challenges that Mia faced was that she played a lot of boy’s sports like football, baseball and other sports. There weren’t any other girls on the teams and she didn’t really have any friends, but her dad helped her and supported her.

Mia Hamm made a difference in the world by being the youngest player on the women’s US National soccer team. Hamm contributed to society when her brother acquired a rare and serious blood disease, called aplastic anemia. She joined the board of the Marrow Foundation and helped raise $50,000 for his bone marrow transplant with a charity soccer match. After Garrett’s death, she organized a foundation called the Mia Hamm Foundation that helps raise money for bone marrow research and sets up clinics and summer sports camps for young girls.

All in all, I think that Mia Hamm is a hardworking, selfless, athletic and a smart soccer player. The way that she was able to push through many obstacles and become the youngest player on the women’s National soccer team really inspires me to do my best in all my sports, not just soccer. I was also inspired because she created a whole foundation to help people with deadly bone marrow diseases and blood diseases, which helps the world in a lot of ways. It shows that I can do whatever I set my mind to. I will always be inspired by Mia and what she does and I am glad that I was able to do my My Hero story on her.

1) "Mia Hamm." Notable Sports Figures. Ed. Dana R. Barnes. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 28 Sept. 2010.

2) “Mia Hamm”. Womensoccer.com. Women's Soccer World ©copyright 1995-2008 September 28th, 2010 .

3) Jan Meyer. Women in Sports. Home Page. © Copyright 1996-2004 September 28th 2010 http://www.makeithappen.com/wis/bios/hammm.html

4) http://www.slammers.org/images/Mia.jpg

5) http://www.quotegarden.com/soccer.html