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All about Mia Soccer star talks about WUSA
She's one of the nation's most recognizable athletes. U.S. soccer star Mia Hamm joined the Sports Tonight gang to discuss the WUSA, the new women's professional soccer league. Kara Henderson: Why is now the time for a women's professional soccer league? Mia Hamm: I think it is just a tremendous time. I think the success of the '99 World Cup team and visibility of the players, not only the U.S. players but the international players as well. Just the attention we've gotten has made it a tremendous time. Henderson: Why is this league going to be viable? Hamm: I think it will be viable for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, we can honestly say this is the best women's professional league in the world. We do that with the talent we have here in the United States and we complement that with the international players -- the best international players from Germany, China, Norway and Sweden. The other thing is we are really focusing on is having that connection with the communities. To make sure that the fans understand that is their team and they should come out and support and be proud of their team. Henderson: Do you feel some of the weight of carrying this league on your shoulders? Hamm: No, I just look at it as a great opportunity. From a national team, we've been spread out and we need to be the vanguards in this effort. I want to see this league succeed. I want to be sitting around 20, 30 years from now and reminiscing about being in the 30th anniversary of the WUSA.
Hamm: Well, it's gonna be strange, just from the standpoint that we'll be wearing different uniforms. But the majority of the time, we are competing against each other. You can only play Norway and China some many times in the year. Brandi [Chastain] and I are no strangers to each other, especially in an intense training environment, and now she will be playing for the Bay Area team and I will be donning the jersey for the Washington Freedom. Henderson: How do you rank your accomplishments? Hamm: Every accomplishment is different and has a different and special memory for me. But this is something that is going to reach a lot more people than we realize. Those young girls sitting in the stands, it wasn't too long ago that we were them. We want to do this for them and make sure that 20, 30 years from now, they have this opportunity, too.
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