What happened to Mia Hamm, the woman who revolutionized US soccer?

Mia Hamm may no longer be a household name for today's generation of soccer fans, but for over a decade, she was an icon in women's sports, recognized worldwide as one of the greatest female soccer players of all time.

Her rise from humble beginnings to international stardom helped not only reshape soccer's place in America's sporting landscape, but also influence thousands of young female athletes around the world. But since retiring in 2004 she's kept a fairly low-key media profile. Let's take a look back at her incredible career and where we find her now.

Born on March 17, 1972, in Selma, Alabama, Hamm grew up on U.S. military bases around the world, which exposed her to a variety of cultures and sports. Hamm's passion for soccer began in Florence, Italy, where she would watch Serie A games on TV. By the time she was five, she had joined her first soccer team, according to ESPN. 

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Hamm's competitive nature was apparent early on, with her younger years spent dominating on boys' teams due to a lack of organized opportunities for girls at the time. Moving back to the US to settle in Wichita Falls, Texas, the family would adopt two boys. – a newborn named Martin, and Garrett, who was 8.

Mia's older brother Garrett became something of a ‘secret weapon’ for the young player, Mia's mother told ESPN in 2004, saying the Garrett helped nurture her passion for sports by taking her to games and letting her play on teams with him.

By the time she was 14, Hasmm had become such a standout player in the youth competitions that she attracted the attention of Anson Dorrance, who was the US national team coach from 1986 to 1994. Dorrance would attend a game in Louisiana to watch the young talent play in his first year of coaching.

"I didn't ask who she was; I wanted to let her emerge," Dorrance told ESPN. "This skinny brunette accelerated to the ball like she'd been shot out of a cannon. I'd never seen athleticism like that. I ran around screaming, 'Is that Mia Hamm?'"

In 1987, Hamm made history by becoming the youngest player ever to compete in the US national side at the time, at just 15 years old.

After graduating from high school a year early, Hamm enrolled in the University of North Carolina (UNC), which would be a defining period in her career. There, she helped lead the Tar Heels to four NCAA championships and won accolades that would set the foundation for her future as one of the sport's greats, as documented by the NCAA's web archives.  

Hamm's natural ability as a center forward – a mix of speed, intelligence, and technical skill – drew attention early on. By the time she graduated in 1994, she had already established herself as a star not only at the collegiate level but on the international stage as well.

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Hamm's career reached new heights as she became a central figure in the US women's national soccer team throughout the 1990s. Her leadership and skills on the field helped the team achieve global dominance, including two FIFA Women's World Cup victories in 1991 and 1999, and two Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.

 The 1999 World Cup, hosted in the US, was a watershed moment, cementing her as a cultural icon, when she and her teammates packed stadiums and brought unprecedented attention to women's soccer. Over 40 million people tuned in in the US alone to watch their team win their penalty shootout against China, according to CNN. 

The event would change not only soccer's status in the US, but Hamm's as well. Suddenly she was a global name, with endorsement deals from Nike, Gatorade, Pepsi and Chevrolet coming in to take her salary from $50,000 to $1m almost overnight, as The New York Post reported at the time.   

But it wasn't just Hamm's soccer skills that made her a global icon. She was a humble, driven athlete who brought a quiet intensity to the field. Her winning attitude is perhaps best summed up with her now famous quote: "The vision of a champion is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when nobody else is looking."

Despite her successes, Hamm faced personal challenges during her rise to fame. One of the more personal and difficult experiences came in 1997, when her brother Garrett passed away after a long battle with a rare bone marrow disease.

This loss had a profound impact on Hamm, driving her to create the Mia Hamm Foundation, dedicated to raising funds for families in need of a bone marrow or cord blood transplant, as well as creating opportunities for young women through sports.

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Hamm retired from professional soccer in 2004 after an incredible 17-year career. She officially hung up her boots following the Athens Olympics, where she helped lead the U.S. Women's National Team to a gold medal, her second Olympic title. 

She is still widely regarded as one of the greatest female soccer players of all time and stepped away from the game with two FIFA World Cup titles (1991, 1999) and two Olympic golds (1996, 2004) and 158 goals in the 276 games she played for the U.S. Women's National Team between 1987 and 2004, as documented by the US National Soccer Hall of Fame, which she was inducted into in 2007. 

Since retiring, Hamm has remained deeply involved in the soccer world. She co-owns two professional teams: Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer and Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League, which she became a co-owner alongside the likes of Eva Longoria and Natalie Portman in 2020, as reported by the LA Times.

She also serves as a global ambassador for FC Barcelona and is on the board of directors for AS Roma.

In addition to her professional endeavors, Hamm is a dedicated mother to twin daughters – Ava and Grace – alongside her husband, former MLB star Nomar Garciaparra. Hamm's decision to retire was motivated by a desire to focus on her family and other pursuits, including her charity work with the Mia Hamm Foundation, which remains a big part of her day-to-day.

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