Soccerwomen by Gemma Clarke

Author:Gemma Clarke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2019-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

ABBY WAMBACH

FORWARD

Beneath the spotlight glare, the lectern stands empty on stage for a moment.

A hush descends on Radio City Music Hall as Abby Wambach approaches. Out there in the darkness, rows and rows of young women in caps and gowns are watching and waiting to hear her speak. This commencement ceremony marks the transition to adulthood for these young women, the Barnard College class of 2018, to be guided by the words of a soccer superstar, the leading international goalscorer of all time.

She wears a long gown, black and formal and buttoned up to the neck, where her shock of short blonde hair is buzzed, and it skims low at the laces of her glittery hi-tops. If ever there were an antidote to pomp and ceremony, it is Abby. Years ago, she stopped speaking to crowds with the methodical, bullet-pointed preparedness of a technically proficient athlete and began trusting herself. Of course, she’s prepared, just as she would be for a big game, but she isn’t about to tell these young women what she thinks they want to hear. Now when she speaks, it’s a rallying call, from the truest version of herself.

Gone are the days when it felt like her sporting prowess defined her, gone are the near-militarized regimens of professional soccer, the terrifying prospect of life in its absence, the depression and the substance abuse, the DUI and the wake-up call, the years of blotting out difficult feelings and big transitions and physical pain. Somehow, just a few years after she retired from being one of the greatest soccer players in the world, something even better has evolved. Abby now lives in a “beautiful space between being this working mother/parent, business woman, speaker, activist, book-writer, speech-giver sort of person.” She is authentic, passionate, powerful. All the assets she brought to her playing career parlayed into a new one, exemplifying the credo that there is, indeed, life after soccer.

She looks out from behind the lectern and grins.

“How’s it going?”

Out there in the darkness, the young women cheer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.