My Favorite Sport Is Soccer: Essay

The biography of an athlete is the description of the athlete's life which could include background, education, work, relationship, and sometimes death. In other words, the athlete's biography highlights different aspects of the athlete's life, childhood, relationship, career, and family.

I have loved soccer since my early years. Because of this reason, I would like to choose an athlete who has made an impact in the world of soccer, particularly female athletes and the athlete that is of interest to me is Brandi Denise Chastain (an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster). Brandi Chastain was born July 21, 1968, in San Jose, California, and also grew up in San Jose. Lark and Roger Chastain are Brandi's Chastain parents and Chad Chastain is Brandi's brother. At the age of eight, she started playing soccer (with her younger brother and other boys). At that time she played for the boy's soccer team because there was no girls' soccer team available for her to play on at Davis Junior High School. Chastain attended Archbishop Mitty High School and helped lead the team to three consecutive state championships. After high school, in 1986 she attended the University of California, Berkeley where she played for the Golden Bears and scored 15 goals as a forward and was honored by Soccer America. She missed two college seasons (1987-88) after she underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery on both knees, and later transferred to Santa Clara University in 1989, where she played for the Santa Clara Broncos and won awards. She helped lead the Broncos to two consecutive Final Four NCAA College Cup appearances (for the first time ever) in 1989 and 1990. She graduated from Santa Clara with a degree in television and communications. She achieved a lot and also won many awards during her years of playing soccer, some of the honors and awards are as follows; Soccer America Freshman of the Year Honors, Named First-Team NSCAA All-Far West, Named First-Team NSCAA All-American, Scores first five international goals in the same game, against Mexico, Plays on World Cup-winning U.S. women's soccer team, Plays on the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's soccer team at the Olympics, Scores winning goal against China in the 1999 Women's World Cup final, Named to the 1999 Women's World Cup All-Star Team, Named one of People magazine's Most Intriguing People of 1999, Named one of Street & Smith's Most Powerful People in Sports for 1999. Plays on silver-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, Plays on first-ever U.S. gold-medal-winning team at the Goodwill Game. Brandi met Jerry Smith, her coach. And later she started dating Jerry Smith, who taught her how important defense was, after then she started playing defense instead of forward. Jerry and Brandi got married. Brandi Chastain has a son named Jaden Chastain Smith and a stepson whose name is Cameron Smith. Brandi Chastain is also an assistant coach for the women's soccer team at her alma mater, Santa Clara University. Her husband, Jerry Smith, is the head coach.

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I learned to love sports (soccer and martial art) from my dad and also learned to love gymnastics from my mother. At nine I started soccer with my siblings, but most times they told me I play like a girl, and that most girls in the world of soccer aren't too great compared to the men, they said I don't run fast enough to catch the ball. So I needed to change the idea of me and female athletes not being good at playing soccer by finding inspiration and watching female athletes play soccer and also to tell them that we have female athletes doing great in the world of soccer. I chose Brandi Chastian, first I am a lover of soccer, and also because she has inspired me and let me know that females can do great things too in soccer. Her achievements in the world of soccer are a reflection of hard work and dedication and an inspiration to the young in the world of sport. Chastain and her teammates were working hard to bring the sport greater recognition. With dedication, teamwork, and commitment, they were able to win the World Cup. The world cup victory propelled women's soccer into the national spotlight. They made female soccer to be recognized by the public. As a result of the victory, investors were also convinced that the women's soccer league would sell in the United States. I love the courage within Brandi Chastian displayed during the penalty kick. Chastain is never one to avoid being in the spotlight. Despite the pressure of playing a penalty kick Chastain cherish the opportunity unlike some players who dislike the intense pressure of playing a penalty kick, this is an inspiration and motivation for other athletes to take on the courage despite fear and pressure.

Brandi had appeared in the German magazine gear. She had also been on David Letterman's talk show as a guest putting female athletes in the limelight. As well as being a role model to other women athletes who have overcome stereotypes, she is pretty confident in her own self. She uses the opportunity to display her strength and creativity as a tool to empower women who want to engage in soccer. She shows you that it is not only guys that can do well in the game of soccer, female athletes too can. Chastain being a soccer player with different honors and awards has created a positive change in the world of sports particularly for women. She created a new form of femininity by changing the perception and paradox that exist within female sports. She changed the stereotype for me. Now each generation of girls and women in sports is challenging stereotypes that hold them back and navigating contradictory messages about what they can do, be or feel. I'm really happy to see this sport growing over to the women's division and I hope it will grow even more. Also Outside playing on the field, as a display of leadership and determination to give back to society Chastain actively supports different initiatives and causes geared towards encouraging and inspiring young female athletes. She co-founded the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI), a nonprofit that engages female athletes in service in the communities that need the most support.

First of all Brandi Chastain's sports bra created history in the world of women in sports. Sports bras had a direct effect on the evolution of women`s professional sports over the years. In 1999, soccer player Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty kick in the Women`s World Cup which brought a new dawn and a grand era for women's sport. This was the most important game in American women`s sports history, first because of her athletic achievement, and also because of the celebration that would follow. In a moment of pure pride and ecstasy, Chastain whipped off her jersey and fell to her knees. Chastain and her victory were forever encapsulated in photographs of this epic moment. The sports bra created a controversy about equality between men and female sport because it is not a common tradition within the game of soccer for a lady to celebrate a goal by whipping off her shirt. This little demonstration displayed by Brandi shows the lack of gender equality within professional sports, it also brought inequality to light so that it could be addressed. As a result of this women`s sports and their place in society were made the highlight of conversation in the early 2000s. Women`s sports had a star, Brandi Chastain. Chastain`s black Nike sports bra, humble and practical yet a new symbol of power and success, was flying off the shelves of stores around the nation. The sports bra industry saw an increase in annual sales following the United States' victory in the women`s World Cup. The impact of the sports bra is really important at this moment. It generated a greater interest in athletics in women, which was demonstrated by the high purchase of sports bras and also caused controversy to make people question gender equality within sports. Chastain, achievements and awards, and most especially her world cup final goal had a direct effect on women in sport. It opened people's eyes to women's football. Unlike before, women's soccer was not anonymous anymore. Since Chastian started playing the ball there has been a significant increase in the number of girls participating in the sport. Brandi Chastain into stardom and is hailed as a breakthrough not only for women's soccer but women's sports in general.