ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Mia Hamm got her first glimpse of soccer stardom at age 14 when she planted herself in front of the TV during the 1986 World Cup. She was instantly bedazzled by Diego Maradona.
"I remember there was this drag-and-pull turn he did, and it was just unbelievable," she said. "I videotaped it, kept rewinding it and trying to do it."
Hamm quickly mastered the move, albeit "obviously not as smoothly as he did," and watched in wonder as Maradona led Argentina to the World Cup title. The entire spectacle, she said, turned into an "oh my gosh" realization of how much she wanted to excel at the rest-of-the-world's favorite pastime.
At 15, Hamm debuted as the youngest-ever player on the fledgling U.S. women's national soccer team. A dozen years later, she'd broken the all-time international scoring record -- for men and women -- and led the Americans to their second World Cup triumph, becoming soccer's most acclaimed female player.
On Sunday, Hamm and longtime teammate Julie Foudy will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y.
The duo are entering soccer's shrine intent on helping the women's game spread its roots.
"I'll be able to say thank you to a lot of really special people in my life," said Hamm, 35, who is bringing along her 5-month-old twin daughters, Grace and Ava.
"The game has given me so much," echoed Foudy, 36, who has high hopes for a new women's professional league. "Anything I can do to help leave it in a better place, I'll do. ... It's awesome that we had that effect on not just this country but the entire world."
Along with Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain and Joy Fawcett, Hamm and Foudy were the "Fab Five" nucleus of the U.S. team that captured the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991 and the 1999 tournament made memorable by Chastain's shirt-twirling celebration. They also won gold in the 1996 and 2004 Olympics.
"To be part of the first ever Women's World Cup team in 1991 was very special, but to see the crowds and the atmosphere that was there in '99 was something we had only dreamed about," Hamm said.
Foudy's favorite moment in her career -- she was co-captain in the 1990s and captain from 2000 to 2004 -- was the last hurrah for the "'91ers" at the 2004 Olympics "because it so defined the journey of our team."
Heading once more into overtime in the thrilling final against Brazil, "I just remember gathering the group together and feeling, like, this is what I love about this team," she said. "It doesn't matter how beat up we are, I just knew we were going to pull it off. It was always this incredibly collective effort."
With her speed and goal-scoring flair, Hamm usually drew the biggest spotlight. But, above all, she was an inspirational competitor who drove her team to success.
