Inspiring Words: Brandi Chastain
Super soccer mom Brandi Chastain talks about balancing her roles as a mom and an athlete.
Parent & Child: Your game-winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women’s World Cup is etched in sports history. What does that moment mean to you 10 years later?
Brandi Chastain: Initially, it was about feeling powerful and overjoyed and celebrating. That moment gave a little vitality to women’s soccer. It gave validity, as well—I see it in the women I’m playing with now that are 20 years younger than I am.
P&C: What made you decide, at age 40, to join the new Women’s Professional Soccer league that launched this year?
Chastain: I never really got to finish my career the way I foresaw it [she was left off the roster of the 2005 U.S. national team], and there was this empty space, this void that I just couldn’t fill with anything else no matter how much I loved something.
P&C: How has having a child changed things for you?
Chastain: What’s great about having Jaden [3 in June] is that there’s this incredible balance between the really important things and the things I used to think were important but are really almost insignificant. I’m more at ease than I have ever been, even though being a mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
P&C: Where do you get your advice on parenting?
Chastain: My husband, Jerry. He’s a great logical thinker. I usually make decisions with my heart, so he’s really helped me see the big picture. And my parents. They set a great example for me.
P&C: Has Jaden seen you play?
Chastain: Yeah. But I’m not so sure he likes it. I mean, he likes soccer, but he doesn’t like me not to be with him. When I say, “OK, Mommy’s going to go play soccer,” he says, “No, Mommy. You stay with me!”
Nick Friedman is the editor-in-chief of Scholastic Parent & Child.
