Breakaway

by Alex Morgan

  Give Yourself a Break

  I’ve talked a lot about how you should never stop working in order to reach your goals. But that doesn’t mean you have to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week forever. When you’ve reached a level of success, you can give yourself a break. I don’t mean you should slack off and let things fall apart in your absence, but if your presence isn’t needed for a period of time, let yourself rest. I knew my team would be okay without me—we had other forwards who were just as capable as I was and could fill my shoes while I was away. Sure enough, I didn’t stress out while I was sidelined, and things were just fine.

  CHAPTER 54

  * * *

  During my previous rehab—the one that lasted seven agonizing months—I had been too hasty. I’d been so frustrated by my lack of a good diagnosis and the mixed signals I was getting—You’re going off crutches! You’re going back on crutches!—that I’d probably tested my limits a little too much. In the beginning that had meant my sprain turned into a stress reaction, but at the end it just meant that I was getting frustrated by feeling “behind.”

  There is no “behind” when you’re setting goals. You are where you are. Feeling defeated just because you haven’t reached a milestone by an arbitrary date is silly, or at worst, destructive. Take your time and go easy on yourself. No one, least of all yourself, should rush you.

  That’s what I told myself as I sat on my couch and watched the national team progress in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament. I was going to be cautious and conservative. I was going to take it easy and set a realistic goal for myself, which was to go to Brazil for the International Tournament of Brasilia in December. I wouldn’t push myself or kick myself for not being at the qualifying tournament. Instead, I was just going to chill.

  And besides, I had a wedding to plan and a bachelorette party to attend!

  Servando and I were getting married in the winter, and I was so excited. I’d been preparing and planning for months, but it was all starting to become real. To me, a wedding isn’t just about the party or the dress. It’s about family and friends. I’ve been a bridesmaid a few times and have gone to many weddings, and seeing people in love, surrounded by all the people in their lives, is inspiring. That’s what I wanted for my wedding.

  But first I wanted to see the national team advance in the World Cup qualifying tournament. And as I rested, rehabbed, and dreamed of being a bride back in Houston, much to my delight, they did!

  The United States beat Haiti decisively in the last game in the group stage, then went on to the semi­finals against Mexico. Remember what happened against Mexico in the last CONCACAF tournament? That was not going to happen again.

  We were the favorites to win, but it was still a thrilling victory. Carli Lloyd scored two goals in the first half, then Christen Press scored in the second half, giving the United States a 3–0 victory.

  But what was even more exciting was seeing our cocaptain, Christie Rampone, celebrate her three hundredth international game. At thirty-nine years old, she was behind only Kristine Lilly in terms of the number of international appearances. I was so happy for her, and my respect for her made my heart swell. She’d bounced back to soccer after having two kids and battling Lyme disease, which can be almost crippling. She is an example of strength, determination, and beautiful leadership, and I am honored to call her my teammate.

  The final game of the World Cup qualifying tournament was set for October 26 against Costa Rica. With an appearance in the final, we were guaranteed to go to the World Cup, so while the end result didn’t matter, winning would be so sweet.

  We won 6–0 in a victory that was beautiful to watch. Abby scored a first-half hat trick, broke the World Cup qualifying goal record, and made a total of four goals in the game. Hope hadn’t let a single ball get by her the whole tournament, which made our goal record for the tournament 21–0. If anyone had doubted us, this really showed we were the best in the world.

  It was hard not being there, but my happiness for the team overrode any sadness I was feeling. And besides, I was getting better, which made me more confident by the day. My goal was to go to Brazil, and I knew I would get there. Then it was on to the World Cup. . . .

  Find Inspiration in Others

  Christie Rampone is thirty-nine years old and shows no sign of slowing down. She’s played in four World Cups and has won Olympic gold three times. She’s participated in more international games than any active soccer player in the world, and she’s second on the all-time list. She’s come back to soccer after having two kids and after fighting a devastating battle against Lyme disease, which left her so exhausted that she struggled to play. Christie is an inspiration to me, and I look to her as an example of strength, confidence, and leadership. Christie is more than just a mentor—she’s someone I can look to when I think, I need motivation. Find someone who provides this for you—you don’t have to know them, but just having them in the back of your mind will drive you as you work toward your goals.

  CHAPTER 55

  * * *

  Life is about so much more than the pursuit of your goals. I’m not downplaying going after your dreams, of course, but what I’m saying is that you should never stop thinking about the world around you.

  Soccer hasn’t been my only dream in life, and resting and rehabbing helped me think about what else is important to me. It’s made me want to help others even more. I’m a public person now—I have a fan base and people who want my thoughts about issues—and I want to give back now more than ever.

  I’ve been active in a lot of charities over the years. In 2011, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and I ran the Chicago Marathon on behalf of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, or the ASPCA. I love animals and have a little cat named Brooklyn whom I adore, so animal rights are very important to me.

  I also work to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I didn’t know Servando’s mom when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, but I’ve watched her struggle with the fear that it may come back. Thankfully, she was given a clean bill of health five years after her initial diagnosis and continues to have cancer-free checkups. But breast cancer affects more women than any other kind of cancer, and raising money and awareness is key to finding a cure.

  I work a lot with kids, too. Aside from doing soccer clinics and talking about injury prevention, I love to speak with girls about goal setting, teamwork, and having good role models. That was so important to me as a girl, and I’d love other girls to feel as inspired as I felt when I first began following women’s soccer. I’ve done inner-city soccer programs, spoken to thousands of young women (and men!) around the country, and attended elementary and high schools.

  I was thrust into the spotlight when I was in my early twenties, which is pretty early. There’s a lot of pressure associated with that. I know how much I looked up to Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm when I was a kid, so I strive to be that kind of role model to girls now. What I say on Twitter, the photos I show on Instagram, and my quotes in the press influence others, so I always try to be upbeat and inspirational. I want young people to feel positive about themselves and life, so I try to be the same. I also want my fans to embrace their identities. If you’re a chess club star, own it! If you’re a strong, athletic woman like me, don’t be afraid to show it. I never want people to try to change who they are.

  I write a book series called The Kicks about a group of middle-school-aged girls who play on a California soccer team. The books focus on teamwork, having good role models, and overcoming obstacles, and they’re inspirational and fun at the same time. I have so much fun writing these books, and I love hearing from fans about them. Each book draws on my own experiences playing soccer growing up, and my hope has been that each teaches something. Through the stories and the characters, my goal has been to empower young girls.

  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that because you�
��re young you don’t matter or that your opinion and ideas don’t count. You are the future. That’s why learning how to set goals now is so important—it’s a tool you’ll need for the rest of your life. You’ll modify them, scrap some of them, and build upon others, but your goals will help you grow into the person you want to be. When I work with young people, I want them to know that they are important, and I want them to strive to be better people. If I can give back something to them, maybe they’ll give back too.

  Charity can be big or small, but make it a part of your life. Even if you have no money to give, as I’ve said before, give your time. And be an example to others. When your light shines brightly, it illuminates the world around you.

  Remember That You Matter

  You might go to a huge high school and feel like a number rather than a person, or you might not have any close friends, making you feel like an outcast. But you matter. Your ideas, goals, and feelings are important, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you feel lonely now, things will change, I promise. Middle school and high school can be very tough, but it will get easier. Just continue to find inspiration in the things you love, and never give up hope. I promise that everyone has felt all alone, but it doesn’t last forever.

  CHAPTER 56

  * * *

  I rested, I did physical therapy, and sure enough, my left ankle healed just like I knew it would. And when the roster for December’s International Tournament of Brasilia was announced, I was on it along with twenty-three of my teammates. I’d made my post-injury goal!

  No one on the team had played in Brazil except for Christie Rampone, who’d played there in 1997. Jill spoke for all of us when she said, “It’s a chance to travel to a new environment and play international matches in unfamiliar territory, which is always valuable when getting ready for a World Cup. It’s a unique opportunity to go to a fantastic soccer country, have a great cultural experience, and play four competitive games to end the year on a high note.”

  We’d be playing in a World Cup stadium—the second-most-expensive stadium in the world, after Wembley in London—and it was spectacular. We’d play one of our four games against our old foe China, one against Argentina, another against Brazil, and the last against a team to be determined. We hadn’t played Argentina since 1998.

  We knew tournament play would be challenging and fun, but in many ways, this was a warm-up for the World Cup, which was already causing us to be on pins and needles. The World Cup draw, which determined the game schedule, was going to be on December 5, the day before I was flying to Brazil. During the draw, the names of the top-seeded teams are placed in one pot, with the rest of the competing nations divided into three other pots on the basis of their continental governing body.

  Have you ever watched the lottery, where someone pulls balls out of a spinning globe? That’s sort of what happens in the World Cup draw. Four officials pull out balls at random, which determines the placement of the six groups for the group stage of the World Cup. It’s a real show—there’s dancing and a mascot and lots of lights. It’s over-the-top, but a lot of fun.

  We drew an incredibly challenging group. So tough that it was immediately dubbed the Group of Death. Group D contained us, Sweden (Pia’s team!), Australia (the #10 team in the world), and Nigeria (always the best team in Africa). On June 6, we’d be heading into action, and we knew every day and every game till then were going to be warm-ups for what lay ahead.

  I landed in Brazil with my thoughts centered on the World Cup draw. If anything, the fact that our opponents would be so tough was motivating. As I’ve said before, I thrive on pressure, and there’s nothing I like more than good competition.

  The overall reaction of the team was happiness. Our midfielder Lauren Cheney said, “We were laughing in a good way” and added, “It is a ‘bring-it-on’ attitude, one hundred percent. Everyone says that we got the hardest group draw, and it probably is. But for us that’s just another obstacle, and we love pressure. We’re very excited and we’re ready to play.”

  So as we headed into Brazil, we were thinking about June, ready to play our hardest and completely fired up. Soccer is a joy, especially when you love your teammates, and nothing could be closer to the truth for me. My team is my family, and we’re all in this together, ready to do whatever we can to reach our goals.

  And right now we all have the same goal: win the 2015 World Cup.

  Enjoy Challenges

  Embrace the pressure in your life. It’s there to motivate you, not to bring you down! Of course, if you’re feeling so stressed that it’s interfering with your work, you need to stop, breathe, and refocus. But a challenge shouldn’t be considered an obstacle—if anything, it’s a fun hill to climb! It will get your heart pumping and make you stronger. That’s how we’re viewing “the Group of Death” right now. We’re so fired up that we can’t wait to play!

  CHAPTER 57

  * * *

  If you believe in something deep down in your heart, you have to speak up. Your opinion matters, and it may help enact change. When something in the world just isn’t right, it takes a motivated group of people to protest it, and that’s where you come in. Don’t just stand by and let things roll over you—you can make a difference.

  The 2015 World Cup is going to be played entirely on artificial turf. I’m among forty-plus international players who have filed a lawsuit against FIFA, protesting this decision based on gender discrimination. The men’s World Cup is played on grass, a surface that is far friendlier to your body.

  I’ve been hurt so many times, and I know that serious injuries happen more often when you’re playing on turf. Your cleats get stuck in the ground more easily, which can cause falls. Turf’s harder than grass, so this can lead to torn ligaments, broken bones, layers of skin peeling off your arms and legs, and concussions. Abby refuses to do diving headers on turf, so it diminishes the quality of her play. I’m much sorer after I play on turf, and it takes longer to recover. With an extra round in this year’s Cup, recovery is crucial—and you just don’t have that after a turf game.

  It was 159 degrees on the turf one day during a game I played in the summer, and I was so horrified I took a photo of a thermometer on the turf and tweeted it. It can get hot up in Canada, too, so we’re at risk of actually being burned while playing. How is that healthy?

  But worst of all, some think that playing on turf may lead to cancer. You remember my freshman-year roommate, Jorden LaFontaine-Kussmann, who developed lymphoma? She believes her cancer was linked to playing on artificial turf. Turf is made up of small particles that are actually chunks of tires. When you fall on turf, thousands of these particles go into the air, so you’re breathing tires into your lungs. If you have a cut, the chemicals in the tires go right into your bloodstream, or if you scrape yourself, the turf particles stick to your skin, and your skin grows over them. A University of Washington coach named Amy Griffin has compiled a list of thirty-eight soccer players in the United States—thirty-four of them goalkeepers—who have contracted cancer, most of them blood-based cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. If you think of how many times a goalkeeper falls to the ground—dozens of times a day—you can imagine what kind of exposure to toxic chemicals they’re experiencing.

  While there hasn’t been a comprehensive study that links turf to cancer, I think it’s only a matter of time. The issue is very new, but there’s been a lot of press coverage about it, so I feel sure the research will back us. I just hope no one dies from cancer before that.

  The men’s World Cup didn’t allow turf, and they built multimillion dollar stadiums (totaling more than three billion dollars) specifically for the tournament, with all-grass fields. If the men can have that, why not us? The fight isn’t over, and I’ll keep battling to get awareness out about this issue. I’ve tweeted about it, spoken to the press, and thrown my name into a lawsuit that speaks volumes about the fight for gender equality in sports. This
isn’t just about turf. It’s about female athletes receiving the same treatment as male athletes. I believe FIFA has long favored men’s soccer over women’s, and they need to change their outlook. They need to accept women as footballers too—we shouldn’t be given any less attention. We’ve worked just as hard as the men to get to where we are, and we want to be treated as equals.

  Speak Up

  Don’t be afraid to speak up. The most influential people in the world—from Martin Luther King Jr. to Gandhi to Susan B. Anthony—fought against popular opinion to make change in the world. If they hadn’t stood up for what they believed was right, they would have never conquered their goals of making the world a better place. You can do the same in big and small ways. If you think your school isn’t taking its recycling program seriously enough, start a petition. If you believe someone’s being bullied in your school, defend them and talk to a guidance counselor. Be strong and bold and fight for what’s right!

  With Jenny (left), Jeri (right), and Dad on Halloween. I was fifteen months old. Dad took my sisters out trick or treating, and Mom and I stayed home to hand out candy. I dressed up as a bear that year, but I didn’t have my costume on yet.

  Four years old playing T-ball with the A’s, my coed Diamond Bar team. I was probably grinning ear to ear because Dad was my coach.

  Where it all began! My first AYSO soccer team when I was five.