Hope Solo
Hope Solo
Hope Amelia Solois an American soccer goalkeeper, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a World Cup gold medalist. She has been goalkeeping for the United States women's national soccer team since 2000. After playing at the collegiate level for the University of Washington, she played professionally for the Philadelphia Charge in the Women's United Soccer Association. When the WUSA folded after her first season, she traveled to Europe to play for the top division leagues in Sweden and France. From...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth30 July 1981
CityRichland, WA
CountryUnited States of America
People didn't put pressure on me. I just played for the love of the game.
[My mother] was the strength of our family, and I didn't realize that until I got a little bit older.
I have given my life to the game and to the sport.
I know that I'm breaking down barriers. And I know that in the end I'm doing a great thing.
I always just had a dream to spend more time with my father. But at the end of the day, my mom was the one who kept me in soccer,who kept me doing my homework, who provided me with meals on a daily basis.
She [my mother] struggled, abusing alcohol for quite some time, and so we just kind of drifted apart. I went to college. But I dedicate the book to her because she is the true champion of the family. She kept our family together. She provided us with a roof over our head. She always worked.
It's a complicated thing, knowing how much pain my father caused in my life and the lives of others whom I love, yet still holding love for him in my heart. No matter what he did, he was my father. He helped create the person I am.
In front of the world, all of a sudden I'm a great athlete and I'm put into an environment with 25 other women and I'm expected to go to team meals, team functions.
Athletes are extremists. When they're training, it's laser focus.
I've been through a lot of things in my personal and family life. That turned me into a fighter. I always strive to be the best I possibly can.
I think people who don't have conflict in their lives are just trying to please people and not really living life to the fullest.
I don't just want to focus on soccer, soccer, soccer.
Everybody should be affected by their own realities in their own lives, their own struggles in their own lives. It makes us who we are, and we all know that.
It was hard. I came to grips with a lot of difficulties that I've overcome. Each challenge kind of makes you who you are. It wasn't always a good thing. I have my own struggles in my life because of the things I was forced to overcome.