Soccer mom Joy Fawcett takes center stage

The ultimate soccer mom reached the pinnacle of her sport Sunday.

“In my life, I’ve had two dreams: To play soccer at the highest level and to be a mother,” former United States Women’s National Team standout defender Joy Fawcett said midway through her induction speech at the National Soccer Hall of Fame. “In short, U.S. Soccer enabled me to live both of my dreams, and for that, I’m thankful.”

The Soccer Hall enshrined Fawcett over the weekend in a  ceremony that also honored Jeff Agoos who played for the U.S. Men’s National Team.  Longtime New York Times soccer writer Alex Yannis who was presented with the Colin Jose Media Award.

Fawcett drew the loudest cheers of the day at the end of a nearly 13 minute speech that touched on the importance of family and closed the 2009 Induction Ceremony.

“My first dream was to be a mom and the No. 1 priority for me was my kids,” Fawcett said following the ceremony, which was attended by all three of her children _ Katey (age 15), Carli (12) and Madi (8). “To be able to play soccer and try and balance both, it was hard, definitely. I wanted to make it as easy as possible on them and easy on my teammates. I didn’t want them to have any hardship with their careers. So it was hard to balance, but it was something so worthwhile because I loved both. I was so thrilled I could do both.”

Fawcett said U.S. Soccer allowed her children to grow up around the Women’s National Team, which gained fame by winning the first FIFA World Cup, in 1991. None of her children were around then, but all three had been born by the time she ended her 18-year run with the Americans in 2004.

“Throughout her career, Joy always told me if the game of soccer ever had a negative effect on her family, she would walk away in a heartbeat,” said former teammate Shannon MacMillan, who introduced Fawcett on Sunday. “I know you can always hear people say that, but Joy truly meant that. She said she’d walk away to save her family.”

Instead, Fawcett helped the U.S. to another World Cup title (1999) and two Olympic gold medals (1996, 2004). On Sunday, she became the eighth player from the “91ers” to earn induction into the Hall, joining Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Carla Overbeck, Michelle Akers, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, Carin Jennings and April Heinrichs.

Pioneer, world champion, mother, leader, role model, Fawcett did it all during her historic career. She may have been elected into the Hall a few years after her contemporaries, but no female player has been more deserving.

Fawcett by the Numbers:
3     Olympic Games participated in
3     Daughters had during career
4     FIFA Women’s World Cups participated in
6     Yearly high in goals, scored in 1993
9     Consecutive years in which she started every match in which she played (1989-1998)
14   Jersey number worn for many years
16   Olympic matches played
17   Years in which she played a WNT match
22   Assists in her career
23   FIFA Women’s World Cup matches played
27   Goals in career
234 Starts in WNT career
239 Appearances during her WNT career

Congrats to Fawcett on a well deserved award.

Tenth anniversary of USA’s 1999 Women’s World Cup title not much of a party

It was billed as a party to celebrate the WNT’s accomplishments ten years ago, when the United States defeated China in a penalty kick shootout at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The game, played in front of a crowd of 90,185, remains the best-attended women’s sporting event in history and raised the profile of women’s soccer globally for years to come.

The first-place Los Angeles Sol recognized Mia Hamm and Joy Fawcett, two members of the U.S. Team that captured the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Championship, on Sunday, June 21, at The Home Depot Center when they played FC Gold Pride (Bay Area).

Hamm and Fawcett were honored in a subdued halftime ceremony.  Two Gold Pride players were also members of the 1999 U.S. team, Brandi Chastain and Tiffeny Milbrett, but only Milbrett showed up to play.

There were colorful signs in the stands and plenty of fans ready to relive the glory days of the 1999 championship but the opportunity came and went without the party ever taking off.

All seven Women’s Professional Soccer franchises will feature a 10th Anniversary Tribute Day at one of their home games this summer.  In addition to Hamm and  Fawcett, Lorrie Fair, Tiffany Roberts, Tisha Venturini, Danielle Fotopolous and others on the gold-medal winning side will be recognized at venues throughout the league.

Hope some of those celebrations are more fun than the one at the Home Depot Center.  Fortunately the Sol won Sunday’s game with a couple of dramatic goals in the first half so the day still ended on a positive note.

With the victory, the Sol remains comfortably atop the WPS standings with an 8-1-4 record (28 points), while FC Gold Pride falls to 3-6-3 (12 pts.).  Sol goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc made three saves to register her WPS-leading ninth shutout, while midfielder Camile Abily notched her league-best seventh goal of the season.