The Hands of Hope
Words / Lou Andrews
From zero, to hero, to zero, to hero...Hope Solo is a flawed human with a good heart who’s made mistakes. Perfect people please raise your hands...
When I’m looking for articles to write in REFRAME, I always like to find the little diamonds in the rough…and this one was just that. I was flicking through Netflix one day and stumbled across a documentary called ‘Hope Solo Vs. US Soccer’. Now, I had never heard of Hope Solo, which after watching this documentary, I would say is a crime against football! As the documentary played out, I realised that there was a lot we can learn from her life and how she manifested that into professional success. No matter what happened to her, she stood on life’s mountain looking down like a lion. She’s a true fighter. Hope was somehow able to use her knocks in life to fuel her juggernaut and crash through the world of football leaving behind one hell of an impact. There have been so many occasions in Hope’s life where she could have given up, but she just kept on going.
Hope Solo was the goalkeeper for the US Women’s National team for 15 years. Her awards cabinet is more vast than Elton John’s jewellery collection! She’s won two Olympic golds, the 2015 World Cup and prior to that two state championships. In the documentary she is softly spoken and comes across somewhat humble…then we flash to footage of her on the pitch and you realise that this girl is a beast of a player. She plays with such drive that it feels like losing was never an option in her mind and I’m sure that presence was felt many times by her opponents. She worked hard for what she achieved, despite all that went on in her home life.
Her awards cabinet is more vast than Elton John’s jewellery collection! She’s won two Olympic golds, the 2015 World Cup and prior to that two state championships.
Hope’s parents split up when she was a child and at the age of seven her father took her to Seattle for the weekend. That weekend went on longer than it should have…and ended with Hope’s father being arrested in front of her and taken away. Yes, you guessed it, he had kidnapped her! She didn’t see her father for a decade after that, which is so sad because you can really see the love between them in the images that we get shown. Despite what must have been a very difficult time for her, Hope excelled at football in high school and had over 200 offer letters for colleges! She was so well respected in the game that the parents and coaches used to help pay for lunches and travel when her mum couldn’t, just so she could continue playing. It seems there is Hope (Yes, yes, OK, a predictable play on words!) for our society yet! She had set her mind on going to Virginia. However, while playing football in a park in Seattle Hope saw her father. It turns out he was homeless and had been living in the woods. That spurred her decision to stay put and she signed for Washington.
She took him food and visited him often. The bond between them is key in this documentary. Every time Hope speaks about her dad her eyes light up and a smile appears like she’s replaying some of the happy moments in her life. She says she never judged him, and I think that’s a key trait to live by. She didn’t waste energy dwelling on what could have been or look for someone to blame. No, she got out there and took what she rightly deserved in life. Her dad followed her every stride like a proud parent. In 2007 she finally got picked to go to the World Cup in the starting line-up, but just prior to leaving she got a call to say that her dad had passed away. Again, that would floor most people, but not Hope. She went out there and played her soul out in honour of her dad. Her saves were impeccable, you would have thought her opponents were trying to kick a beach ball into a mouse hole she was that good!
She had set her mind on going to Virginia. However, while playing football in a park in Seattle Hope saw her father. It turns out he was homeless and had been living in the woods.
The US cruised through to the semi-final and then in a dramatic turn of events, Hope was dropped to play Briana Scurry. It’s been said that it was Scurry’s last tournament and as she was such a legend they took the decision to make the switch. It turned out to be the wrong decision...the US were knocked out of the tournament in a 4-0 loss! It was dubbed by the broadcasters as ‘the worst decision in US history’ and, undoubtedly, it was a bad one.
Hope Solo was subsequently interviewed and asked if she would have made those saves…and she said ‘yes’. A sudden tidal wave of negative press swept over the land. She had broken the bro-code. Her own teammates shunned her, to the extent that for the bronze medal match the team didn’t even want her at the game! And the icing on the top of a very badly baked cake...she wasn’t even allowed to travel home with her team, she was left in China. Having watched this documentary, it seems to me that Hope isn’t a vindictive sort of person…what she is, is honest! Unfortunately, that’s not seen as a positive trait in the world we live in. The broadcasters and the fans can be honest, but not the players! She was right in what she had said, and most people would have agreed with her, yet she still faced this persecution. And let’s not forget, she was playing that tournament in her dad’s honour. She has said that she fell into depression at that stage. However, that didn’t last long because in 2008 the new coach, Pia Sundhage, brought Hope back. Someone finally got that this is about winning games, it’s not a popularity contest…or at least it shouldn’t be.
Pia herself is such an interesting character in this documentary. You can tell she’s really upfront and I really admire that. She went against what everyone else thought, because it was the right thing to do. Hope was back and boy did she shine. The 2008 Olympics were aptly back in China…and they won. In the aftermath of that Hope became a major celebrity, even getting a deal with Nike. Isn’t society a fickle fanclub!
Finally, all seemed well in camp hope, however, that wasn’t to last. In 2014 Hope was involved in a domestic dispute with her sister and 17-year-old nephew. It resulted in her arrest, but luckily the case was thrown out. At that point she was preparing for 2015 world cup. Now again, this would likely have floored most people, sinking into the depths of the murky waters, but not Hope. In the throes of turmoil, she rose to the top like a phoenix from the flames. The US won that world cup final 4-0! You’ve heard that saying right…’when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade’? Well, Hope Solo makes limoncello!
Shortly after this, Hope was applying for a home loan and needed her contract – and that’s when she found out that she didn’t have one! After chasing and chasing she was basically told to shut up and play. This digging broke through the ground and unearthed the massive inequalities between what the men’s soccer team were paid and what the women’s team were paid – this despite the woman winning all of the tournaments! The woman’s soccer team had netted four times the revenue of their male counterparts. Hope sought legal aid against the federation.
This...unearthed the massive inequalities between what the men’s soccer team were paid and what the women’s team were paid – this despite the woman winning all of the tournaments!
Fast forward to the 2016 Olympics and the US were playing Sweden led by a new coach…Pia Sundhage! Now listen, that woman is clever, she knew how she was going to win that game. They played defensive…and in Pia’s own words they played ‘boring’ to win the game. The US were out and, once again, and Hope put her cup-winning foot in her mouth by saying they ‘played a bunch of cowards’. Now this, in normal circumstances, would have led to a suspension and a slap on the wrist, but not for Hope. They ended her contract! It’s ridiculous and let’s face it she wasn’t fired because of that; she was fired because she was taking on the federation at the time! It was an easy out. Once again, Hope was cast out into the darkness, wounded and alone. But this injured animal wasn’t about to lie down and lick her wounds, no. She threw all her energy into the fight for equal pay. She began to create a real voice for it and people were starting to listen…so much so that the other players filed their own suit. In 2022 a settlement was reached for 24 million dollars…yes 24 million! Hope wasn’t happy with this though because, as she says, they weren’t in it for a settlement they were in it to change the landscape. And I admire her for that because in essence, she’s right. You can’t build the house if you don’t lay the right foundations first and Hope was paving the way for what would have been a real change worldwide.
Sadly, in March 2022 Hope was arrested for driving under the influence with her two kids in the car. In her own words she ‘finally gave people a real reason to hate her’. She retreated from the limelight. This saddens me, because you can see the raw disappointment and sadness in her face when she talks about it. And all I can see is a real hero that has been so run into the ground by the vultures that surrounded her, that she spiralled into alcoholism and lost control briefly. And of course, the good people of the world were there to toss some proverbial soil on her coffin. Ironic that those same people would have been cheering her on when she won all those trophies. We need to get better at that as a society. Better at not trampling people into the ground when they hit a nail in the road. We have all had troubled times, haven’t we?
Thankfully, we are left on a high note though as in 2023 she was inducted into the hall of fame and quite rightly so.
What I got from Hope Solo is that there are real diamonds out there buried in the rough and if only we give them the care that they deserve, they can shine bright. Hope has taught me that there is, well, hope! When life’s storms hit, we don’t need to let it sink us. There is fight inside us all to sail into the sunset. I couldn’t find much about what Hope is doing in 2024, but I pray that she uses her strength to teach others – what should be done and what shouldn’t be done. There is true power in understanding and she’s the woman for the job. The US could use that strength on their team. In essence, in life…there is always hope.
Lou x