By Sam Clark ’19 PC: google
Brandi Chastain is a retired American soccer player, two-time world cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the USWNT from 1988–2004 and scored 30 goals in her 192 international games. Her most notable goal came in the World Cup penalty shootout against China in the 1999 FIFA World Cup Final.
Her illustrious career earned her many distinctions and awards. Chastain was named to the USWNT best starting eleven in 2013 and inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in March 2017. Following this, she was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. She now coaches a youth soccer team and Bellarmine’s varsity soccer team.
Coach Brandi Chastain tries to pass on all the wisdom and knowledge that she has collected throughout her illustrious career to her players. “The number one thing that I have learned is that competing is a positive aspect and necessary aspect of becoming a champion,” she said. To pass this knowledge on she “tries to instill that competitive spirit every day in training. Whether that’s competing against yourself or competing against the opponent across from you, I tell my players to work your hardest every day.”
Despite having a plethora of options, Coach Chastain truly enjoys her time coaching at Bellarmine. She revealed where her love for Bellarmine comes from. “The camaraderie that the players have with one another and the spirit in which they come to the field and really want to represent Bellarmine, I think that inspires me.” Adding on to this, Coach Chastain explained the mindset she has when working with the varsity soccer team. “I come to my job at Bellarmine with a parental lens and I just enjoy watching all the players together. I enjoy when my players find success and the happiness that it brings them. Just watching how it brings all the players even closer together,” she said.
Not only does she teach her players soccer lessons, but also she instills life lessons that will help her players be successful as they move past their soccer careers. “I think soccer is a wonderful teaching instrument for regular life. Soccer really mimics everyday things. You have to be resilient. I think that’s probably one thing that if my player’s take away, I will be satisfied about. You hope that in life you find friends and brothers like you do here at Bellarmine, but there is going to be times that you have to be independent and find your own confidence and pick yourself up when it doesn’t go well,” she said.
Coach Brandi Chastain’s knowledge and passion for the game has inspired all her players and helped propel Bellarmine to its first ever soccer CCS open division championship title.
