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
I don't just want to focus on soccer, soccer, soccer.
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'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.
Athletes are extremists. When they're training, it's laser focus.
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.
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.
I had made a vow to never stay in my home state to play, I wanted to go as far East Coast as possible, more or less to get away from my family life. I ended up staying in my home state and fell in love with it. I ended up having a beautiful relationship with my family over time and it was the best decision I've ever made.
I'm just going to embrace every experience.
I never felt the same passion for the game in the States and there were a lot of headaches, a lot of obstacles to overcome - it didn't just run itself for the love of the game because soccer is not the No. 1 sport as it is in Europe.
Every athlete acquires routines as a way to help control nerves.
My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise.
One thing I've learned in life is that I can speak for myself, that I can fight my own battles. I don't like anyone telling me how I'm supposed to feel or think or what I'm supposed to say.
I played in Europe and it was a great experience, not just because of my team-mates and the coaches we had, but from the fans and the city itself - I played in Gothenburg and I played in Lyon and soccer was everywhere.
My father was never around. But I glorified my father, and I was always daddy's little girl. He was my first soccer coach.