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Tag: Mia Hamm

  • Mia Hamm Appointed To Board Of Directors Of Italian Football Club Roma

    Footballer Mia Hamm was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Italian club Roma, along with former National Hockey League player Cam Neely and former Disney board member Stanley Gold. Hamm was nominated by Roma shareholders on Monday, October 27, increasing American presence on the team’s board. Roma is also owned by Boston-born James Palotta, who took over the team two years ago.

    Hamm, Neely and Gold will be replacing outgoing members Thomas DiBenedetto, Claudio Fenucci and Joe Tacopina. Hamm will be placed in charge of the Roma academies.

    Hamm is a celebrated soccer player who led the US women’s soccer team to two World Cup titles, including the first women’s title in 1991. She was also named women’s FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002, in the first years the awards were given.

    — World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) October 28, 2014

    Considered one of the most decorated female soccer players of all time, Hamm was recently the first woman to be inaugurated into the World Football Hall of Fame in Pachuca, Mexico. Throughout a career spanning 17 years, the 42-year-old athlete earned 275 caps and 158 goals for the US women’s national team.

    Hamm’s co-director on the board for Roma, Neely, is also an accomplished athlete, beginning his career in 1983 when he was 9th pick in the overall draft for the NHL. His career spanned 13 years, during which he played for the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. Neely was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005 and went on to serve as Vice President of the Boston Bruins before becoming President of the team in 2010. Under his leadership, the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011.

    Board members on Roma serve three-year terms, as will Hamm, Neely and Gold. Upon leaving the board of Roma recently, Tacopina moved on to become President of second-division club Bologna, where Fenucci will be joining him.

  • Abby Wambach, US Soccer Superstar, Gets Hitched

    Forward for the US Women’s national soccer team and the Western New York Flash in the National Women’s Soccer League, Abby Wambach, married her longtime girlfriend in a private ceremony in Hawaii this past weekend, as first reported by TMZ.

    Wambach and now wife, Sarah Huffman, have had a longstanding professional and personal relationship as teammates. The couple first played together with the Washington Freedom in the Women’s Professional Soccer league in 2009. Both then went on to play with magicJack, and now Wambach and Huffman are both members of the Elma, NY based Western New York Flash.

    Wambach has gained international recognition since she led the US women’s national team to Olympic gold in 2012. She has become known for her headers during matches, even becoming the center of an ESPN “Storied” documentary entitled Abby Head On.

    The couple’s ceremony in Hawaii was attended by a select few, including US soccer teammates, Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux. Activities included physical activities such as hiking, cliff-diving, and a boat ride.

    Earlier this year, Wambach was named the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Award, becoming the first US player to win the award since Mia Hamm. Alex Morgan, Wambach’s national teammate, placed second in voting.

    This June, Wambach became the highest scoring international soccer player ever, scoring her 160th goal in a friendly against South Korea. With 4 goals in one game, Wambach surpassed Hamm for the record. Even more impressive, Wambach reached 158 goals in 68 fewer matches than it took Hamm.

    The sports world has yet to catch up with contemporary culture in its views toward homosexual athletes, as evidence by the fact that Jason Collins has yet to be signed by an NBA team after revealing his sexuality (and the fact that the story was such a big deal). Yet, it’s nice to see such a success story coming from the world of women’s soccer. Hopefully men’s athletics can use the marriage of Wambach and Huffman, current teammates, as a model as to how same-sex relationships should be handled in professional sports – just like any other relationship.

    Image via YouTube