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Motivation Quote by Mia Hamm

"Being a good teammate is when you try to sprint down a ball that everyone thinks is going out of bounds. But you go after it anyways and you get it"

About this Quote

Mia Hamm reduces the essence of teamwork to a moment most players and fans recognize: a ball skidding toward the sideline, everyone easing up, the play seemingly dead. The teammate she celebrates is the one who refuses the collective shrug, sprints anyway, and turns a lost cause into a chance. It is not simply hustle for hustle’s sake; it is a decision to challenge the boundaries of probability and habit, to make effort contagious.

That act has a strategic dimension. In soccer, rescuing a ball near the line can create a quick cross, force a corner, or simply preserve possession long enough to change the rhythm. It also has a psychological charge. When one player empties the tank for a slim possibility, it recalibrates what the group believes is possible. Standards shift. Teammates start to close down a little harder, make one more recovery run, trust that someone has their back. The culture becomes self-sustaining.

Hamm speaks from a career built on relentless work and accountability, from early USWNT teams that defined themselves by fitness, pressure, and collective will. Her message rejects the star system that measures value by goals and highlight reels. Being a good teammate lives in the unglamorous moments: the sprint no one expects, the cover run that prevents danger, the extra touch that keeps a play alive. It is leadership by example rather than by volume.

There is also a broader metaphor at work. Boundaries are not only painted lines; they are assumptions about what cannot be done, habits that dull urgency, hierarchies that separate talent from toil. Going after the ball anyway is a way of refusing those limits. It respects teammates by refusing to waste any chance, however marginal. Over time, those small wins compound. A team that treats long odds as invitations will find itself creating breaks rather than waiting for them. That is how a standard becomes a legacy.

Quote Details

TopicTeamwork
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Being a good teammate is when you try to sprint down a ball that everyone thinks is going out of bounds. But you go afte
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About the Author

Mia Hamm

Mia Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is a Athlete from USA.

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