I was 10 years old the last time the U.S. women’s soccer team won the World Cup in 1999— and I went nuts.
On Sunday, I had the same reaction.
A victory at the World Cup is still just as exciting 16 years later. Making it even sweeter was the way our ladies earned their 5-2 win over Japan.
Carli Lloyd became to this generation what Mia Hamm was to mine. Lloyd was in full-on beast mode, scoring three goals to become the only player to notch a hat trick in the World Cup Final. And she did it all within the first 16 minutes.
Lloyd’s goal from the halfway line was sheer perfection and something that soccer players the world over will no doubt try to duplicate.
To me, the best part of watching the U.S. women’s team win is what it does for soccer—and women’s sports in general. More often than not, soccer—let alone women’s soccer—is overshadowed by America’s big three: football, baseball and basketball. Even if soccer only claims the spotlight for a couple weeks every four years, it has such a huge impact.
As a 10-year-old hailing from a family of soccer fanatics, I was glued to the TV in the summer of 1999. After watching—and idolizing—the skills of Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Tiffeny Milbrett and others, I was determined to one day reach their level of greatness.
I laced up my cleats, strapped on my shin guards and was ready to become the best soccer player my small Illinois town had ever seen. Then I remembered I have two left feet and have scored a total of one goal my entire playing career. (I was much better at assisting than anything else.)
Those glaring facts aside, the 1999 team’s victory changed me. I knew that someway, somehow, I would have a career in sports. Clearly it wouldn’t be as an athlete, but I’d find a way to live out my passion for sports in a different capacity.
While I wasn’t on the field as a member of the U.S. women’s national team, I am here writing about it. I gave up my dream of playing long ago and it wasn’t too long after that I discovered I was better at stringing words together than I was at scoring goals. But I can still fuel my passion through writing.
Thank goodness I found journalism.
I have no doubts that what the U.S. women accomplished on July 5 has ignited the same passion inside young athletes across the country. I hope it has inspired kids to get out on the soccer pitch and chase their dreams.
And if soccer isn’t for them, I hope they’re inspired to find their niche. Take it from me, there are other ways to do what you love.
If nothing else, let the U.S. women team’s victory serve as proof that dreams are achievable. Of course not everyone’s dream is playing soccer in a stadium packed full of people with an announcer screaming “GOOOOAAAALLLLL,” at the top of his lungs like mine was, but just know that there are alternative ways to make dreams come true.
Whatever your aspirations are, don’t give up on them if you experience a setback. Just look at the U.S. women; they finished second to Japan in the 2011 World Cup. What a difference four years and a lot of hard work can make.
