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Christie Rampone the only active player from 1999 for U.S. women's soccer team

Twelve years on, the soccer part is as vigorous as during the intoxicating summer of 1999 for the U.S. women's team. The Americans enter the three-week 2011 Women's World Cup tournament, spread among nine cities in Germany through July 17, ranked No. 1 on Earth and no worse than championship co-favorites with Germany and Brazil.

But the team's most experienced player, Christie Rampone, clearly has seen better times for her sport in terms of spectator attention and general visibility.

"My experience, yeah, I started off, like, big-time," she said. "My first experience was those huge crowds, playing with that pioneering group that built the women's game."

She is the only active player left from '99, when crowds routinely in excess of 50,000 — and up to 90,000 for the final — filled stadiums across America and made household names of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain. That team spawned the so-called "pony-tailed hooligans" — waves of young female fans — and found its way onto the cover of Time, Newsweek and People.

Yet it did not unlock the secret of sustained fan interest. What appeared a paradigm shift in the marketability of women's team sports did not endure, even though this current team — captained by Rampone from her position on defense — has carried on the legacy of excellence established by the 99ers, losing only four of its last 73 games in 3 1/2 years.

What has kept Rampone around — through the birth of two children, gall bladder and knee surgery and a failed women's professional league, "is just the love of the game," she said. "I was just never ready to give it up." She turned 36 Friday and can't expect to see, in her fourth and last World Cup, the scale of the 1999 fuss again. (Her last international competition, she said, will be the 2012 London Olympics.)

Among the promising spinoffs from '99 was the Women's United Soccer Association, a fully professional league started in 2001, with Rampone — she was single then and known as Christie Pearce — one of the WUSA's "founding players" and a member of the Mitchel Athletic Complex (L.I.)-based New York Power. Unable to sustain sufficient corporate sponsorship or hold average attendance much above 6,500, the league folded after three years and the WPS — Women's Professional Soccer — took four years to organize and another two to begin playing games.

Now in its second year and barely a blip on the sports world's radar, WPS' record crowd to date — realized just last month in suburban Atlanta — was a mere 6,125.

Passing Hope holds golf tournament for the US National Amputee Soccer

Passing Hope holds golf tournament for the US National Amputee Soccer Team

Posted by admin on Jun 17, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment

Passing Hope  and all of its supporters had a wonderful afternoon on May 21st, as it held the 1st Annual US National Amputee Soccer Golf Tournament at Western Skies Golf Club in Gilbert, Arizona.  Under warm sunny skies, almost 40 golfers participated in the tournament that was a complete success all around.  We were honored to not

only have a wide range of skilled golfers, we also had several amputee golfers that came out to support the cause, including one that was awarded a amateur sponsorship from Dixon Golf.   Our dedicated sponsors helped in the success of this inaugural event:  These sponsors include:  Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, Select Medical Group, Healthsouth, Fikes Brace and Limb,

Big League Dreams, Dunkin Donuts, Dixon Golf, Uncle Bear’s BBQ, Carpenter Hazelwood, Print Focus, PGA Superstore, Prosthetic Orthotics Associates, & Crosswoods Indoor Golf Center.

This event raised almost $1500 to help fund the US National Team’s Training Camp and Practice in the Phoenix area in October, as well as their exhibition vs. the Mexican National Amputee Soccer Team.  This will be one of their first times back on the pitch as they prepare for the upcoming 2012 World Cup which is scheduled to be held in Japan.

Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics has committed to become the first major sponsor of the US National Amputee Soccer Team.  Passing Hope is looking for additional sponsors to help the team realize their dreams to compete again after a 7 year hiatus.  If you are interested in helping the team, please contact us at info@passinghope.org for more information.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our sponsors and golfers and look forward to our 2nd event in 2012.

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