Brandi Chastain unleashed a global debate about women's sports when she stripped off her shirt to celebrate her tournament-winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women's World Cup. Now she provides a competitor's guide to playing fair and reaching goals, and addresses problems that face parents of competitive athletes.

Preface: They Call Me Hollywood

xiii

Introduction: Playing for Keeps

xix

On the Ball and Off the Field

1

(10)

One Good Service Deserves Another

11

(11)

Tackling Sportsmanship

22

(9)

Play Hard, Play Fair

31

(8)

Champions Are Made, Not Born

39

(18)

For the Love of the Game

57

(10)

There's No ``I'' in T-E-A-M

67

(11)

Perspiration plus Inspiration

78

(14)

Leadership Material

92

(13)

Making the Cut

105

(14)

Train Hard, Win Easy

119

(16)

The 110-Percent Solution

135

(12)

Building the Perfect Coach

147

(16)

You Kick Like a Girl! (If You're Lucky)

163

(12)

Put On Your Game Face

175

(14)

Epilogue: The Me I Want to Be

189

(6)

Appendix: Giving Back

195

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It's Not About the Bra
Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back Into Competitive Sports

Chapter One

On The Ball And Off The Field

For me, everything in life seems to translate into soccer,and vice versa. It's no wonder. It's my livelihood afterall, and I'm also a huge fan. My teammates are my closestfriends; my husband coaches collegiate soccer; mystepson is an avid player. When I'm not playing or training, you can findme practicing with my stepson's team, attending games, or watching professional matches on TV. Whether I'm on the field or off, that little roundball with the hexagonal patches is almost always on my mind. EverythingI do seems to touch soccer in one way or another.

This goes back to when my grandmother died from cancer whenI was ten years old. My mother was an only child, and part of the way myfamily dealt with the pain of my grandmother's absence was to bondthrough soccer. My grandfather, who had previously attended games onlyoccasionally, now came to watch me faithfully at all of them, and keptcoming until he passed away in 1996, before the first Olympics to hostwomen's soccer. I always felt the family bond when I played.

Having my family in attendance relaxed me, and I often performedbetter as both a player and a person when they were around. Icherished our time together, and I have always felt great comfort when myfamily is there to watch me play. That family sports bond is what I try tobring to my relationships with teammates. It's a strong part of the way Iapproach both the game and my life.

When I step onto the field, my competitiveness gets ratcheted up,and the "warrior" mentality takes hold. Even in practice, all of us on theU.S. National Team are intense about the game. And, when we play, weplay to win, leaving it all on the field. But winning cannot come at any andall costs.

Over time, I've come to understand that the player you are on thefield mirrors who you are off it. I may go after an opponent in the heat ofcompetition, or even a teammate in practice, but I always try to extend ahand, to help that person back up and encourage her. It's a valuable lesson:The things we do in the course of competition often transcend the momentand reflect who we are. And when they don't, they ought to. That'snot something I've always recognized.

But I can guarantee that if you get to know people like my teammatesJulie Foudy, Mia Hamm, and Kristine Lilly, you will appreciate theconnection between what great competitors they are on the field and theremarkable individuals they are when they step off it. Changing out of ouruniforms doesn't change the way we deal with challenges -- at least itshouldn't.

When people see our team, they usually see only our success (unlesswe lose). Even our fans don't usually imagine the hurdles we haveovercome to get where we are -- as players and as people. For example,during my sophomore year in high school, my team was in a tense semifinal game against the defending champions. I ran onto a long ball sent overthe top, and was on a breakaway headed for goal. The opposing goalkeepersaw me coming, but instead of going for the ball, she clotheslinedme. She stuck her arm out right across my neck, and I flipped up in the airand landed headfirst. It was pretty ugly. I was the victim of a bad play, andI would always know what that felt like.

Obviously, my opponent stepped over the line. Her reckless, desperateattempt to prevent a goal -- which resulted in a penalty kick for ourteam -- could have seriously injured me. Almost every player I know has, atsome point or another in her career, employed fouling tactics. Some foulsare harmless, like when a defender gets beat and just latches onto your jersey,knowing she'll be called for the foul and maybe carded. Others aremore vicious, like a cleats-up tackle from behind or, in this case, a clothes-line that belongs more in a professional wrestling ring than on a soccerfield.

The bottom line is, no one's a winner with these kinds of blatantand dangerous fouls. I can understand a jersey grab or shoulder charge,but any time there's a chance of serious bodily harm, that crosses the line.Dangerous fouls ruin the spirit of the game and teach young players thewrong lessons. Ironically, in the end, what the offending player had hopedto prevent often still comes to pass. In the case of that playoff game, ourteam scored on the penalty, even though I was still too wiped out from beingcut down to take the kick myself.

But I have a confession to make. I've not just been on the receivingend: Early on in my career I was the instigator of some dirty play. It embarrassesme to this day to admit that, during my collegiate career at SantaClara University, I delivered what to this day may be my worst foul. Thatwas a pivotal moment that taught me a lifelong lesson about playingwithin the rules -- whether I'm on or off the field.

I was having one of those games where, as hard as I tried, my effortsweren't translating into much success on the scoreboard. We weredominating, and should have been winning, but we weren't. And my frustrationwas growing by the minute; every miss-touch and mistake fed myanger. At one point, an opponent took the ball from me, and, like a driverstuck in big-city traffic, I simply went over the edge. In a fit of "sportsrage," I didn't care if I went through her to get it back. I chased her downand tackled her from behind, sliding and hitting her midcalf with two feet.I got the ball but fouled her badly in the process ...

It's Not About the Bra
Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back Into Competitive Sports. Copyright © by Brandi Chastain. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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