⚽“Dream in Gold”⚽

If you had the opportunity to meet the one person who inspires you most; what would you say?

What does it mean to be a Keeper? Being a Keeper comes with a lot of responsibility. You must be strong and quick on your feet. You need to be a good, motivational teammate as well as the last line of defense. You must also have strong mental strength. Hope Solo is all of this and more.

Hope Amelia Solo was born on July 30, 1981. She is one of the top goalkeepers of the world and is a two time gold medalist. She is someone I aspire to be. Watching her play gives me more drive and determination in my own game. I never thought the day would come when I would sit down one on one with Hope Solo but it did. Watching her on TV is nothing compared to being in front of soccer royalty. I was nervous, would I get tongue tied, would I even be able to get the words out, would she be genuine, would she be interested in what I had to say? All of these thoughts went through my mind and as we sat down together it was then that solidified my admiration for Hope Solo. Here she was in the midst of FIFA 2015 and she was taking the time to sit down and talk candidly with this 13 year old, she was sitting down with ME!

I started with the tough question first. “What hardships did you overcome to get where you are today?” Hope Solo started by acknowledging that she has overcome many challenges in her life (referencing her book SOLO – A Memoir of Hope which like a fanatic I had brought with me). She said it best when she said “we can’t give up when hard times come; overall it’s about overcoming’’. Isn’t that the truth?!

We then talked about game day routines. My game day routine involves watching videos of Hope Solo’s best saves, but what about her? Hope Solo enjoys normalcy, she talked about calming her nerves, and yes

even Hope Solo gets nervous before every game. She needs to have a normal day so that she can manage her nerves. She will go for a walk or even meet her mom for a cappuccino (maybe when I am old enough to drink coffee my mom and I can do this before my games, for now I will just listen my mom giving me “pointers” before every game, even though we know she has no clue about the sport, we let her think she does).

Hearing Hope talk about doing normal activities before a game and not being too intense beforehand helped me a lot. Nerves can get the best of anyone just as I have experienced during many games before, especially that day when I met Hope. It was so intense for me I will admit I needed to take a nap when I got home.

I wanted to know if she had ever doubted herself at any point in her life and how she got through it, being as high ranking as she is in the soccer world I can only imagine what she goes through. In 2011 Hope Solo underwent shoulder surgery. This occurred right before the world cup and she only had 9 months to get back into peak shape when in reality this type of recovery takes 18 months. While speaking about this you could almost see her relive that fear for a split second. She thought her “career was over”, but she pulled through each day by

putting one foot in front of the other and never taking her eyes off of her dreams and her goals.

To lighten the conversation a bit I asked Hope Solo what she does outside of soccer that keeps her motivated for soccer. She stated that she can give more of her energy and passion to soccer when she is balanced in other areas of her life. She even said that “sometimes you need to take your mind out of the game in order to be fresh, renewed and to play with a clear mind”. Hope enjoys spending time outdoors with her friends; she enjoys skiing, and also enjoys reading. Outside of soccer she is no different than you or me.

I then jumped into another tough question; I wanted to know how Hope deals with negativity in the media and what strategies she uses to get through it. When she started speaking you almost hear the pains of her past. She said that she wishes she could say that the words don’t bother her and that she has a thick skin but in reality she is only human. People’s words and assumptions can hurt. She’s heard the famous words of “don’t let it get to you”. But she does, however she only allows it to hurt for that moment and then she moves forward and continues to focus on her training and does not let anything get in the way of what she has dreamt of doing since she was a little girl. Hope said ultimately she would regret having someone who doesn’t even know her affect her dreams in life. She said it does hurt sometimes but as she mentioned before, she puts one foot in front of the other and doesn’t take her eye off the end result.

My final question to Hope was “Did you always want to be a soccer player and what would you be doing if soccer was not a part of your life?” This is where she really related to me – she wrote a paper when she was 12 years old (I am 13) about wanting to be a professional soccer

player, however there was no professional soccer for women until 1992. She dreamt really big and continued to pursue her dream; however she didn’t know at the time that she would be a goalkeeper. She loves goalkeeping and knows how incredible the position is, and the mentality that it takes. It’s a tough job but that’s what makes it so rewarding. Hope did say however that if she was not playing soccer she would be a doubles beach volleyball player because she is so good at diving. My interview with Hope Solo only took 6 minutes, she could have easily rushed through the interview and carried on her way but she didn’t, we spent the next little while talking about me, she genuinely wanted to know all about me.

My one on one with Hope Solo solidified what I always knew. Despite what life has dealt her she has come out on top, she continues to fight for what she believes in and does not let her past define who she is. She is a strong female role model who has conquered adversity. Behind the gloves she is no different than you or I; she is a person with drive, determination, passion and heart!

I am honoured to have had the opportunity to sit with Hope Solo – Keeper to Keeper. I am taking so much away from this. Life doesn’t come to you, you need to run after it, you need to work hard and keep chasing your dreams to make them a reality. It’s ok to fall but

you need to brush yourself off and keep on going and always be true to you!! I look forward to following Hope Solo’s many more years of success and accomplishments.

As I finish writing this USA has just won their first game of FIFA 2015 against Australia (3-1). “Dream in Gold” right Hope?!

So now tell me, if you had the opportunity to meet the one person who inspires you most, what would you say? Julianna Raposo Age 13 June 8, 2015