Mia Hamm

Mia Hamm is a hero to many people. She is a hero to many people because she never gives up and always tries her hardest. Mia has done lots of things for other people outside of playing soccer. She helps out in a foundation raising money for people in need.

Mia Hamm had a nice childhood. She was born March 17th, 1972, Selma, Alabama. Her parents' names are Stephanie and Bill Hamm. Mia is the fourth of six children. Her brother, Garrett Hamm, died when he was 28 because of a rare blood disease called Aplastic Anemia. Mia was interested in playing soccer at 1 year old. She saw kids on the street playing soccer and she wanted to play with them but her mom said she was too young. Then, four years later her mom asked Mia if she wanted to take ballet but Mia refused because she wanted to play soccer. Later on, Mia played soccer for Notre Dame High School and was noticed for her great soccer skills at 14 years old. She went to the University of North Carolina because the coach there was interested in Mia's skills. Mia was the youngest player on the U.S. national soccer team when they won the world cup. Mia was not always interested in soccer because she earned a degree in political science.

In 1997 her brother (Garrett) died from a rare blood disease called aplastic anemia when he was only 28 years old. Mia now has her own model of Nike shoes with Garrett's initials on the bottom of every pair. Mia has gone through obstacles in her life. Mia's obstacles are when her brother died and it was hard for her because they had a good connection because they liked the same TV shows and always got along very well. They both also liked the same sports and always played soccer together. As you can see Mia and her brother had a good connection.

Mia was given many awards throughout playing soccer. Those awards include,: The NCAA championship two years in a row. They won the world cup her first time on the U.S. team. Mia and her team set records in points, goals and assists. She also won the National Player of the Year Award twice and the U.S. soccer Athlete of the Year Award. She also won the Olympic gold medal and helped the U.S. win the Women's World Cup.

Mia's quality trait is dedication.  She is a dedicated person because she helps out in a charity called the Marrow foundation. She tries to teach others about bone Marrow transplants. Another quality trait of Mia's is her focus.  Mia is a focused person because from a very young age she wanted to play soccer. She is very focused because she stuck with the same sport all her life. She was very successful in life because she ended up winning a lot of games. The last quality trait Mia has is that she is a believer. Mia is a believer because when the Men's soccer team was getting higher pay and the Women's team, she thought it was not fair. So she believed that the pay they were getting was the same and it changed. As you can see Mia always tries her hardest.

An important lesson I might learn from the way this person lived is that when she started soccer she never stuck with any other sport, but soccer. She always was very focused and nothing ever got in her way to make her stop playing soccer. Mia never gave up no matter what got in her way.

Things she has said. "This is something we all felt strongly in. This is something we all believed in… some of us might be finished next year, the year after that, so this contract will outlive us". –Mia Hamm: A P, 2/2/00

"She wanted the responsibility. She wanted the ball. That's the quality of a player and person Mia is. As a coach you can't measure how important it is for your star player to be such a leader and a character person." –Tony Dicicco, AP, 6/21/99

Fun things about Mia Hamm. Mia Hamm. Some Facts about Mia are that her favorite show is Seinfeld. Her favorite food is Italian. Her favorite season is spring. Her favorite candies are snickers and Milky Ways. Her favorite thing to watch on TV is college basketball (beside soccer). Her favorite numbers are 5 and nine. Her favorite number is nine because it is her soccer number and No one else wears her number in the women's soccer league. Number nine is one of my favorite numbers too. It was also my soccer number once.