July 26, 2017 at 1:57 p.m.
Former USWNT stars hold camp in Northwoods
Former USWNT stars hold camp in Northwoods
Former United States Women's National Team standouts Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly - two of 15 women to score 100 international goals - hosted a camp at UW-Stevens Point Saturday and Sunday as part of their Team First Soccer Academy.
Hamm and Lilly, usually joined by former teammate Tisha Venturini Hoch as part of their academy, teamed up with UW-Stevens Point women's head coach Dawn Crow, who was a teammate of all three women at the University of North Carolina and the USWNT.
"Dawn Crow was a teammate of ours and she asked us to come up," Hamm said. "She loves being here, being the head women's soccer coach and she just wanted to share that relationship and our passion for the game with these young players. Any opportunity to help a teammate and support what they're trying to build in this community is important to us because our relationships and what we experienced there transfer and continue on once we're out of school."
Three Lakeland Union High School students - freshmen Jacqueline Sigler, Adrianna Detrick and Megan Farrell - attended the camp to gain some knowledge from Hamm and Lilly.
Admittedly, some of them didn't know who Hamm and Lilly were before a YouTube search, particularly since Hamm retired from competition in 2004.
"I actually looked up YouTube videos of Mia Hamm," Farrell said. "She was really good in the videos. It was nice to see her play in real life."
Hamm, considered in many circles to be the greatest women's player of all time, finished her career with more goals than any female in international competition at the time, 158.
Lilly spent 13 years playing for the USWNT, scoring 130 international goals and becoming the first woman and third player overall to appear in five FIFA World Cups.
The two women also helped the United States to win two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals.
After retirement, Hamm, Lilly and Hoch wanted to find a way to stay connected and they came up with Team First Academy.
"We were done playing and we trying to figure out, selfishly, a way where we could see each other because we played for the national team and we saw each other every month or months on end," Lilly said. "So selfishly, we wanted to see each other and we wanted to show our love for the game. The best way we could do that is travel around together and teach the game."
Of course, the main reason all three Lakeland girls attended the camp was due to the presence of former national team players.
"Me and Megan (sic) were looking at a lot of other camps to go to together," Detrick said. "Once our coach told us about this camp and we knew there were going to be former U.S. players there, we automatically chose this one over any others."
Oftentimes when a former star athlete runs a camp, they are more of a face or figurehead. The player is there to make a speech or sign autographs but isn't an integral part of teaching the players.
At the Team First Camp, both players were active in teaching skills and demonstrating them as well.
"That's such an important part of what we do in this camp. We're not here to show up and sign some autographs and go have coffee for the rest of the afternoon," Hamm said. "We're, as you can see, on the field, a part of every part of this curriculum, every session and they have a chance - at least as much as we can - every single player, hearing from us individually and knowing that this is the same stuff we did and the game is the same game once you get inside the lines."
Hamm and Lilly were both part of the 1999 World Cup championship team, after which Brandi Chastain famously ripped off her jersey after scoring the game-winning goal in penalty kicks. The play has become one of the most iconic images in sports history, and maybe the most iconic in women's athletics.
During her career, Hamm became one of the biggest female stars in sports and one of the first female athletes to be marketed as such. Now, in part due to players like Hamm and Lilly, young players have many female athletes to look up to.
The camp featured predominantly young girls, which is proof of how much the game has grown over the years.
"We grew up with no female role models in soccer. It was all male and males dominated every sport," Lilly said. "I was the only girl on a boys' team. When I look out here and I see 20 dudes out here I'm like, 'that's awesome.' But that shows both sides' respect. Guys see that can girls can play, girls can see that guys can play and basically it's a great atmosphere. We welcome both sexes. We love the game, we want this game to grow, it doesn't matter if you're male or female, we just want it to grow."
Nick Sabato may be reached at nick@lakelandtimes or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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