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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 19, 2019

Mia Hamm

Chaska, Minnesota

THE MODERATOR: We're very lucky to be joined by Mia Hamm, who will be featured later today at the KPMG Women's Leadership Summit as the 2019 KPMG Inspire Greatness Award winner.

Mia, tell us about what you'll be doing today as you go over to join us at the Women's Leadership Summit.

MIA HAMM: I'll be receiving the award, and then I'll be sitting down with Dan and doing a little fireside chat and talking about leadership and my life experiences, how I have grown and educated myself on different leadership styles, and also how I've been wanting to help the game of soccer and women's sports continue to grow and continue to get better.

Q. You join a great list of people who have won this award, people like Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Annika Sorenstam. And the award recognizes a visionary who has exemplified a personal commitment to empowering future generations of women. You did that certainly during your career with the U.S. Women's National Team, but you obviously go through adversity and through challenges to get anywhere you're going. What are some of the challenges you faced as you fought through to put women's soccer on the map?
MIA HAMM: One was support and funding for sure. It was, for us to continue to participate and compete at the highest level for the longest time, we were doing it on five to $10 a day when we were with the team. And a lot of these women were working one to two jobs just to try to compete and stay on the national team, and trying to figure out ways to help all of us make this kind of a career choice for us.

So asking the Federation to increase the amount of money they both invested in each individual player but to the program as a whole, because we felt that was the way to continue to make -- to help our sport grow and for our team to be successful. And you see that commitment continue with this current team.

Q. It's clear that your leadership was such a component of that team 20 years ago. How did you manage to be such an effective leader? Was it something that came naturally to you? Is that something that you learned as you were going?
MIA HAMM: I think we all have our own leadership style. Sometimes we just don't know what it is. And I think through trial and error you kind of search for that. I was very fortunate to have some incredible leaders on our national team. And through discussion and reading interviews that they did, I realized what my role and what my leadership style was.

And I think when I was younger, I would beat myself up because I wanted to be like them. But I wasn't like Julie or Carla. I had to embrace my own style and who I was.

And they really helped me kind of connect with that. And once I figured that out, the game became much more enjoyable. And I think I just gave myself a little bit of a break and my game was able to grow faster than it had been in the past.

Q. Your game grew but also your work off the field grew. You've done so much as a mom, as a sports ambassador, your work with your foundation, the LAFSC. How have you worked to find that work-life balance that our athletes on the LPGA Tour talk about all the time as well?
MIA HAMM: All these components -- my family, my work with the foundation -- I do camps with two former teammates -- Team First, with Kristine Lilly and Tisha Venturini -- opportunities like I'm here today, enabled me to grow and become a more well-rounded person, which I feel makes me a better mom.

It's hard to leave your kids, especially when they have so much going on in their lives. But I know the lessons and the growth that I'm having here and being with my teammates, because I learn from them every single day, will help me with the life challenges that my kids have and how I can better prepare them for life.

Q. You've been such an advocate for Title IX and women's equality throughout your career. We're at this major championship, which is committed to putting on a world-class event for women. In your mind, what more needs to be done to help continue to elevate female athletes?
MIA HAMM: I think we need to continue putting the resources, whether that's marketing, exposure, sponsorship dollars, creating more opportunities in development, exposure, all these things just make sense from a business standpoint. But also in the growth of our country and humanity in general, I think we can learn so much from each other.

And you see the tremendous talent that's out there, but also the inspiration that these LPGA players have for the young girls and young boys that are lining the ropes this week.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Mia?

Q. I want to ask how watching this year's team, how do you scout them? And secondarily to that, how hard is it going into a competition that's as prestigious as the World Cup or Olympics and you're expected to win almost every time out?
MIA HAMM: I'll start with the second question first. And I know some of the players on the current team and ever since day one, the U.S. Women's National Team mentality is we want teams to come after us. Like, I want everyone's best shot.

You don't train and sacrifice and leave your family hoping that your next opponent isn't 100 percent. Like we wanted everyone's best. And I know that's the way this current team feels.

In terms of scouting this team, they're immensely talented and fun to watch. I think one of the biggest growths that's happened in the game is the versatility of play and systems; that you just don't have a target No. 9 anymore; that that player can play outside. Like an Alex Morgan can play outside. She can play, we call it a false 9. So she can drop off and slash behind.

That the technical aspect has gotten so good that your outside backs -- Kelley O'Hara played up top in college. So she's got that attacking ability. And I think it really makes them hard to match up against with some of these other teams.

So I'm excited for tomorrow. I'll be watching, and we'll be headed over to France in about a week and hopefully cheering the U.S. on to the World Cup finals.

Q. I was just wondering what advice you might give to some younger players out here, some top players who are trying to find their voice in terms of equality and maybe they have something to say but they don't have a team surrounding them. What advice would you give on how to do that?
MIA HAMM: You know, I think just knowing some of the former players -- Meg and Beth and Juli Inkster -- there's a tremendous resource for these young players in terms of players that used to play on tour and some of the older players that play on tour in terms of mentorship and being able to bounce ideas off of them.

I know the current crop, they compete against each other. But in the end, there's no better asset than asking one of your fellow competitors, like, how they handled year one through year four.

And I know when I played, it was both in conversation but just watching and listening and learning from them, because there are times, especially when things aren't going your way, it can be a really lonely feeling. And you think, oh, other players have never had to go through this. But I think you'd be surprised at some of the similarities that they have.

Q. Who has been the most inspirational leader who has touched your life on or off the soccer field? What's the best piece of leadership advice you've ever been given?
MIA HAMM: I look at -- I was very fortunate to have our captains in Julie Foudy and Carla Overbeck. An our coach Tony DiCicco, I look at them as one unit because they really supported each other, and I will say the most successful teams I've been a part of, the leadership empowered everyone. They understood the importance of making sure everyone felt valued. Like you are here because of this. I chose you because of X, Y and Z. And because in the end that's all all of us want, is to have a purpose and feel valued.

And when that comes from the top, you're willing to put whatever personal agenda you have or desire or the whispers in your ear from your young coach that says why aren't you starting over so and so, you're willing to put that all aside for what the team goal is.

And that comes from your leadership. When that's the message every single day that you're hearing, it's a really emotional and inspiring environment to be in.

Q. Do you have any desire to be the U.S. National Team coach?
MIA HAMM: No, thank you. (Laughter).

Q. And just a quick follow-up, you and your husband have a unique perspectives on sports. How do you guide your children entering sports?
MIA HAMM: Well, first of all, because we have competed at the highest level, we're pretty realistic with, one, our expectations, but, two, to be honest with you, we wake up every single day -- like, people ask us all the time, do you want your kids to play soccer or baseball?

I just don't want them to be jerks. Like that is my goal every day is I want them to be good kids, to respect other people. If they can kick a soccer ball, that would be wonderful. It would be a thrill. It would enable us to connect on a different level. But I just want them to be good human beings.

And as a parent, that's the most important role that I play, is making sure that they have values and memories. And if they can hit a curveball, amazing.

They do play lacrosse. One daughter plays a little bit of baseball and golf. And then our son is 7, so he kind of just does whatever his buddies are doing.

Q. How is your golf game?
MIA HAMM: I have clubs. (Laughter). And I haven't been able to play in a while. But it's a game that my husband and I love playing together. And obviously with our kids we can take them and it's a game we can play well into our later years. But I love it.

And just driving by the range today was -- their swings are so pure. It's effortless. Now I realize what I'm doing wrong, which is just my swing. I don't know, it's a really great game. I wish I had found it earlier. To be honest with you, golf helped me in my soccer, because I was such an emotional player.

The first time I ever played golf, I was just out of college. I spent 300 bucks on a pair of clubs, and I barely had $300. And I shanked my 7-iron and I kept swinging and I threw it into this thicket bush. I was standing there going, I need a 7-iron to play, but I don't want to go in there and get it.

So I had to swallow my pride. Went into the thicket. Came out. I was all scratched up, bloody, but I had my 7-iron and I just realized that golf is a sport that, like in soccer, if you get mad, that effort makes a difference.

But in golf, the harder you try, the more, like, frustrated you are, the worse you get. And so it allowed me to kind of step away, take a deep breath and really just kind of let go of all that anger and frustration and just focus on whatever shot was in front of me.

Q. Can you talk about the lack of diversity or the improvement on diversity in terms of leadership from coaching all the way up to the front office? We see it on the field but it's not as evident elsewhere.
MIA HAMM: I think in so many areas, because that's our landscape, and I just look from a female perspective, having more women in leadership positions that understand what young girls go through, I grew up watching sports where, especially team sports, unless it was the Olympics, all the team-sport athletes I watched were men.

And outside of the sport that we played, that's about the only connection we had. So I think it's important at every single level to make sure that that leadership reflects our society.

Q. It's talked about from a female standpoint, what about in terms of race?
MIA HAMM: Absolutely. I look at the game of soccer and one of the things that we have talked about is that this cannot be a sport that only attracts a certain type of player, a certain type of income level, a certain race, that the great thing about soccer, or futbol in the world, is that it's everyone's game. And we need to create more opportunities and let people of different colors feel that they're a part of it.

Q. As someone who both played your sport at the highest level and is a parent raising your children not to be jerks, what goes through your mind when you see some of the youth sports behavior? There was just recently a baseball game, a brawl where the parents were actually throwing punches and it revolved around a 13-year-old umpire.
MIA HAMM: I just don't get it. Like, I mean, I love watching my kids compete. And I want them to be successful. But I have never gotten that amped up watching them play ever.

I think the other comment I would make is -- to that parent, is when your kid behaves a certain way, do not be surprised. It should not surprise you that their behavior is a reflection from people that they want to be like.

And there are times I probably scream at my daughter's game, but most of my conversations with our kids is about effort. It's not about -- it's about being a good teammate. It's not about, like, why didn't you score or how did you miss that pass; it's just effort. That's it. Because that's what they can control every single day and that's how they show that they're invested in their team. But with regards to the video you're talking about, I mean, I don't understand it.

Q. In youth sports, the end justifies the means and every parent wants their kid to be the next Mia Hamm or Nomar Garciaparra, and I wonder how we've gotten to that point.
MIA HAMM: This is a discussion that could go on for hours. I think people want their kids to be successful. I think it starts from a really good place, but then a lot of youth sports have become very expensive. And I think that financial commitment carries a lot more emotion and kind of responsibility than some of us realize, I think.

But in the end I think we have to look at sports as not so much of where your kid ends up but how does it impact their lives and how does it help them grow, because I've seen so many kids that walk away from sport at age 12 because they can't handle that car ride home anymore because the interrogation, almost this sense of ownership that parents or coaches feel over these players, that they're just not allowed to fail.

And that's what especially our younger lives is for, is experience is failure. And we just gotta -- I mean, just give them a break. Yeah, it's a crazy time.

Q. When you close your eyes and go back to 1999, what's the snapshot that pops out? Outside looking in, we would assume it's Brandi's role?
MIA HAMM: A lot less wrinkles, a lot less wrinkles. There's so many amazing memories from '99 -- the final. We were laughing about it the other day when we were all together, because the most important games of our lives and we didn't get to warm up on the field.

We were in tennis shoes underneath the Rose Bowl on concrete. Everyone's, like, don't hurt yourself, don't hurt yourself. But I just remember there was this sense of calm in the locker room and the entire time we just talked about embracing the moment and being present.

I think because it wasn't just about us. It was about the entire tournament, the growth of women's sports, the growth of our game, and to be so caught up in just one aspect of it you'd regret for the rest of your life.

So I just remember that everything was pretty clear. We walked out. We looked for our families. We knew where they were. And once the whistle blows, it's all about just enjoying everything you've worked for, just expressing that joy out on the field. And I do remember how hot it was. Yes, it was very hot.

Q. You said that your daughter's playing golf. I was wondering if you could talk to any, like, specific value that you see in raising a young woman who is playing golf or just in general playing an individual sport?
MIA HAMM: It's really interesting. My daughter who plays golf just has really good hand/eye coordination. And she doesn't like to run. So soccer was out when she expressed that to me.

But I think what she loves about it is she feels free when she's out there. I mean, she's our artist. She's kind of a free spirit anyway. And she just loves kind of taking her own time and teeing the ball up. And just watching her play and seeing her hit balls and the joy that she has, like when she really makes good contact, she turns around, she's, like, did you see that?

She just seems like someone, mentally, that she just knows who she is. And so I think that's really a good fit for her with golf is, whether she plays competitively or not or in high school, I think she just loves the fact that she can just be herself out there and that's okay.

Q. How important is it for members of the Men's National Team to stand up for fair treatment for the women's team and for PGA TOUR players to stand up for fair treatment of LPGA players?
MIA HAMM: I think it's important to, whether it's Men's National Team or PGA players -- we've talked about this. If it's just women talking about gender equality, it's a women's issue. This is a societal issue.

So we need the support of men. And you look throughout history that you've had it, whether it be Title IX. Our women's national team, our representative John Lengel was extremely important for us, and I know he was in constant conversation with the Men's National Team Players Association attorney; that they shared ideas, they shared information.

And that was important for us to be successful in kind of our fight is having that support. And we feel it -- like when we were there, we felt it from the Men's National Team. Our interactions with them was incredibly popular.

Our fight and this current team's fight is never with the men's team. It's about the discrepancy in terms of how the Federation views each program. And that's what we're shining light on.

And so we've never felt that -- and the intent was never to disparage the Men's National Team. And they never -- like the conversations I had with players when I was playing is they never felt that.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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