CNN/SI - SI for Women - Chastain ready to play - Friday June 25, 1999 06:25 PM

Chat Reel: Brandi Chastain

U.S. soccer star looks forward to World Cup, Olympics

Posted: Friday June 25, 1999 06:25 PM

Chastain: 'I feel a great responsibility to kids across the world.' Andy Lyons/Allsport

U.S. Women's World Cup team member Brandi Chastain joined SI for Women, Indygirl.com and Girlgames.com for a chat with her fans. An edited transcript follows:

Brandi Chastain: Thanks very much and thanks for checking into the Brandi chat....

Question: how long do you practice everyday? I bet your are the best in the whole world, I wish I could be just like you.
Brandi Chastain: Myself and my teammates, we are on the field about two hours a day as well as the push-ups and sit-ups. It can be anywhere from two hours to four hours a day

Question: Have you ever gotten mad at a referee?
Brandi Chastain: Never....(laughing). I do my best to keep my cool with the referee cause they are only there to help the game and even though I can become emotional I have to not let the referee get to me and the game.

Question: What is it like to know that you are looked up to by many people?
Brandi Chastain: Well first of all I think in the beginning when we started getting more popular, it was a little strange cause we are just like everyone else. I feel a great responsibility to kids across the world because when I was growing up there was no women's national team or women's player to emulate and I found myself watching men's soccer a lot. My national team is one of the reasons it's getting more popular across the country and that's great to know.

Question: Are you proud that women's athletics have come this far?
Brandi Chastain: Absolutely! I am 30 and I know since I have been in college women's soccer specifically has grown, quadrupled in how many teams are now participating in NCAA competition, and that is because it shows that not only is women's soccer growing not only at the collegiate level but all levels. I am not the foundation like Billie Jean King, but I am proud to know that I am a member of that sorority and that we are growing it today.

Question: What kind of training program does the team follow? Any plyometrics? Sports supplements?
Brandi Chastain: I would say that most of the players on some level take vitamins because for women it's important. Like iron, that is a huge necessity for women. None myself other than that though. Regarding the training programs, our coaches schedule it on the field and then we have a weight coach that helps us with a hundred different exercises that we might use during the six month period of time that we are together.

Question: Who do you think will be your biggest competitor in the World Cup?
Brandi Chastain: there are a handful of teams that will vie for the championship spots come July 10th at the Rose Bowl. Those are China, Brazil, Norway, Germany, and I think if I were a betting person there would be some surprises cause there are some new teams that nobody knows about.

Question: Do you ever get made fun of by guys who think it should just be for men?
Brandi Chastain: I definitely have come across older European and South American men who believe soccer is a male sport. Once they watch they come to the understanding that it is a high level game so they are not above giving credit where credit is due even though it is women.

Question: Do you have any pre-game preps to help focus yourself?
Brandi Chastain: That goes a long with the superstition? I do enjoy good music before the stadium. I listen to my walkman and listen to dance music like Billie or N'Sync -- the bands who are playing before the games.

Question: When did you know that soccer was your game?
Brandi Chastain: I think the first time I put on my uniform and stepped on the field when I was 8, my mom had a hard time getting my uniform off of me. I slept in it for a week.

Question: How does it feel to be on the greatest team in the whole world?
Brandi Chastain: Very lucky. I think the greatest thing about being this team that I want everyone to know is that they are great people and they are my best friends and that is why ultimately we'll be successful.

Question: If you do win the World Cup then what would be your next goal in the sport?
Brandi Chastain: Well, every year presents new challenges for me as a soccer player...I see the next goal to win a gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. On a personal note, I am very interested in each time I go out in the field to improve some aspect of my game.

Question: What do you do in your free time when you are not practicing or playing soccer?
Brandi Chastain: I golf with my roomies Mia Hamm and Tisha Venturini and Julie Foudy. I also enjoy reading, shopping, of course, and snowboarding. That is in my off time. I love snowboarding and skateboarding.

Question: Brandi, I attended my first men's soccer game yesterday. (Mexico vs. Argentina). Rough crowd -- should I expect this at the Women Cup?
Brandi Chastain: Hopefully not....I think you will see a different sort of crowd at the women's matches this summer. As enthusiastic but not as rough -- lots of cheering and chanting without the conflict of men's games

Question: Do you feel that our back line is prepared to shut down world class strikers?
Brandi Chastain: We prepared all year to do just that and how better to prepare than to actually play against the best strikers in the world.

Brandi Chastain: Hey everyone thanks for hooking up and participating in tonight's chat. I am excited to know there are so many soccer fans out there.

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