Brandi Chastain's love of home and the game

By Nick Pinkerton

U.S. women's soccer icon and Santa Clara alumna Brandi Chastain returns to Buck Shaw Stadium, this time as a member of the Women's Professional Soccer's FC Gold Pride. Chastain led the 1989 Santa Clara women's soccer program to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance. The San Jose, Calif. native capped off her two-year Santa Clara career with 32 goals, 8 assists and 72 points.

Chastain spoke with The Santa Clara about coming back with the FC Gold Pride, the famed 1999 World Cup penalty kick and how her experience at Santa Clara has helped her develop into the person she is today.

The Santa Clara: Describe the process of coming back to professional soccer. What was it like to get back in shape?

Brandi Chastain: I think more difficult [than] the fact that I had been out of soccer at the professional level [was] that I had had a baby. I think getting back onto the field on a regular basis was the hardest thing. I told [head coach] Albertin Montoya the first three days were absolute torture, physically and psychologically. I was just a wreck. Once I got through that week, the seventh day was like a revelation. Then it was all fun after that.

TSC: What's it like playing in your hometown and at Santa Clara?

BC: I have great memories, very, very fond memories, of playing at Santa Clara. I just had this great ambition that I wanted this to happen again here. I said to one of my teammates as we walked onto the field the first afternoon [that] this is my absolute favorite place to play in the world, and I've been to stadiums all across the world.

TSC: Is there one particular Santa Clara memory that stands out in your mind?

BC: One was a [playoff] game against [University of California Santa Barbara]. I remember scoring a goal and running over to the side and the crowd just going crazy. But then also I remember my grandfather sitting in the first row, and just the look on his face and how proud he was, and not having him or my parents around anymore, those are really important memories for me.

Then the second one was against Cal, which is where I transferred from. The first year I came as a junior, I had just had ACL surgery so I didn't get to play in that first game against Cal at Cal. When [Cal] came here, I remember scoring a goal that â?¦ I don't know if I've ever had a goal that was significant personally and as difficult as it was. I think I took the ball at midfield and just decided "I'm gonna go to the goal and score." When your will takes over and you're out of your head, and it just goes right, it was just awesome.

TSC: What did you take from your experiences at Santa Clara when you moved on to the professional realm and played internationally?

BC: Maybe I didn't learn them so much at Santa Clara as they were just really reinforced by example. I was a television [communication] major here and I remember one night clearly. Something went wrong and the [program] editor was frozen, and I remember thinking, "What the heck am I going to do?" and I called [Father Soukup] and he said, "Okay, I'll be there in five minutes." That's twenty-something years ago. For me to remember that is indicative of the kind of people I met every day at Santa Clara, and so I think carrying that forward as a professional you have an unwritten obligation or responsibility to whomever it is that you come into contact with through your job or sport.

TSC: What was going through your head the moment before you scored the game-winning goal [during the 1999 World Cup Final?]

BC: A scenario that had happened about three months previously. We played China in Portugal for the final of the tournament, and during the course of the game we had a penalty kick [which I took]. When I received the ball from the referee and I went to put it down and I stood up, the goalkeeper was standing right in front of me. It was kind of like two boxers in the middle of the ring [trying to] psyche each other out. She gave me a wink and a smile and I was just like "What on Earth! What is happening?" So when I stepped back to take [the shot], I hit it well, but it hit the crossbar and went out. We ended up losing the game 2-1. So you fast forward to July and as I'm going to the ball, all I'm repeating in my head is, "Don't look at the goalkeeper." If you ever have a chance you watch it, you'll notice that I never look up, and then once I put the ball down, it was nothing.

TSC: Did [the excitement] take time to all hit you at once?

BC: I remember the whistle, I remember slowly coming up and taking the kick, and it seemed like forever before the ball got there. Once it hit the net--and behind the net you could see everybody kind of raise their arms-- then it was just like â?¦ the shirt, and the thing, and then the team was there and the noise ... Everything was really in fast speed right after it happened.

TSC: After your professional career comes to an end, how would you like to be involved with soccer?

BC: That's too far down the road. I mean I'm so young right now...You know, I guess I've thought about what it is that I could do in soccer. I see myself being a coach here at Santa Clara. I've worked for NFL films. I've done sideline reporting for ESPN. All of those things are great, but there's nothing that compares to being on the field, and I hope that when I'm done with my career in ten years or something like that, I'll feel that way about coaching. I really feel that it's dangerous to look too far ahead of time because you might miss something now.

TSC: How do you balance being a professional athlete with being a mom?

BC: They kind of help me bounce things back and forth. When I get overwhelmed or I feel like I'm getting pressure from maybe being on the soccer field, I go home and Jaden couldn't care less if I kicked the ball in the goal or kicked it into my own goal. Being a parent is the most difficult thing I've ever done and will probably ever do in my life because you just don't leave things to chance. Soccer is almost a release from the real world, but I think what I love about being a parent when I go to the field is that those same things are true on the soccer field.

TSC: You've had a lot of influence on kids who want to play soccer and pursue their dreams. What is your approach to being a role model?

BC: I think each and every one of us are, whether we like it or not. We all have some kind of a responsibility to someone somewhere, and mine just happens to be a little bigger, not because I asked for it, just because the [soccer] community is bigger. I have to say that for so long, as a soccer player, a soccer fan, a soccer advocate, I felt like a politician. And after '99 â?¦ when we won the World Cup again, it became easier to be that ambassador that I always wanted to be.

Soccer's been a great vehicle for me to get out other messages. I started a nonprofit here in the Bay Area [for] girls third through fifth grade. I've started something called Brandi's World online, where young girls can come and share their dreams and maybe connect with people who will help facilitate them finding ways to make those things happen. Hopefully, that turns into a bigger project than it already is.

TSC: What insight would you offer Santa Clara athletes in terms of pursuing their dreams?

BC: I think my words of advice would hold true for an athlete as [they would for] a non-athlete. Find that thing you're passionate about, and sometimes it takes a little longer. Don't stop looking for what it is that makes you happy, and when you find that thing that makes you happy, do it. And you do it with all your heart, and you do it honestly, and you share it with as many people as possible. And don't be afraid to take risks. Maybe you'll never get to where it is you want to go because you're too afraid or paralyzed by "what if" so don't be afraid.

TSC: Is there anything else you would like to add?

BC: Don't take the four years that you have here [at Santa Clara] for granted. You don't ever want to look back and go, "I really should have tried that," or, "I should have gotten involved with something," because you don't get that time back. I want every student and every athlete at Santa Clara to walk away with their diploma saying how they really fully experienced everything that Santa Clara had to offer and the same for me as a player with Gold Pride. That's heavy, man!

Sports Reporter Gabe Taylor and former Sports Editor Cecile Nguyen contributed to this article. Contact Nick Pinkerton at npinkerton@scu.edu.