How The USWNT Helped Build the Poet-Athlete Movement
Members of the team have served as SCORES spokespeople, organization ambassadors, and board members.
Few athletes have dominated their field as much as the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT). The team is the most successful in international women’s soccer, boasting four World Cup titles, five Olympic gold medals, and nine CONCACAF W Championship titles.
Their performance on the pitch and groundbreaking gender rights advocacy off the field have gained the USWNT fans around the world. But within the DC SCORES community, USWNT players are also admired as champions for poet-athletes.
Generations of youth in the DC SCORES program have benefited from the advocacy, fundraising, and expertise of USWNT players. Icons including Mia Hamm, Ali Krieger, Rose Lavelle, and Andi Sullivan have all hosted clinics for poet-athletes looking to improve their game. And more USWNT players have served DC SCORES and America SCORES as spokespeople, ambassadors, and board members. This story explores the contributions of four of them: Brandi Chastain, Briana Scurry, Joanna Lohman, and Ashley Hatch.
Brandi Chastain: An Early Poet-Athlete
In 1999, the USWNT galvanized the popularity of women’s soccer by winning the World Cup in a gripping penalty shoot-out final. The game drew an in-stadium crowd of 90,000, then the largest attendance for a women’s sporting event in history. That fall, after being vaulted to super stardom as the game-winning goal scorer, Brandi Chastain became an ambassador for America SCORES.
America SCORES was a new entity. In 1992, after receiving a grant from the 1994 Men’s World Cup legacy fund, SCORES’ soccer, poetry, and service model expanded to schools in Boston.
Chastain was a critical part of the network’s early success. Not only did she raise the profile of America SCORES as one of the United States’ most prominent athletes, she contributed deeply to the nonprofit’s mission. For instance, in 2001 while playing as a defender for the San Jose CyberRays, Chastain worked with local staff and funders to help launch an America SCORES affiliate in the Bay Area.
SCORES also had a profound effect on Chastain’s own playing career. Impressed by the America SCORES writing curriculum, Chastain began writing poetry to respond to the pressure of being an international athlete. “Growing up in a no you can’t, yes I can generation / Opening eyes, changing minds / It’s mine to take if I can just make / An impression, a difference,” read part of one poem she penned in a hotel room in China while on USWNT duty.
“I’m really grateful to America SCORES because they inspired that poem,” Chastain said. “They have inspired so many young people to get out of their comfort zones to use literacy and soccer as vehicles to enable something even greater to happen in their lives.”
Briana Scurry: A Voice for America SCORES
Briana Scurry is another icon of the legendary 99ers team who served as an America SCORES ambassador. The second-most internationally capped woman goalkeeper in history, Scurry became the first Black woman and first woman goalkeeper to be elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2017.
After a three-year recovery from a traumatic brain injury sustained while playing for the Washington Freedom, Scurry became a national spokesperson for the America SCORES network in 2014. In the role, she used her platform as one of the nation’s most beloved athletes to promote America SCORES programming, encourage girls’ participation in sports, and advocate for concussion awareness and safe play.
Now an investor in the Washington Spirit, Scurry is still a regular at matches at Audi Field where she roots for the team alongside DC SCORES poet-athletes, who have a dedicated Young Supporters Section in the stands.
“It just makes sense for me to be part of an organization like America SCORES,” said Scurry on her appointment. “It’s great to have an organization using the sport as a community tool, not just with other cultures, but to bring kids together in understanding.”
Joanna Lohman: A Homegrown Advocate
When the Washington Spirit was founded in 2012, poet-athletes gained an even closer proximity to some of the best women athletes in the world. One of the eight teams that launched the NWSL, the Spirit supported DC SCORES from its earliest days by securing player appearances at events and fundraising for the nonprofit.
One of the most prominent faces of DC SCORES and the Spirit’s early partnership was veteran midfielder and DMV native Joanna Lohman. A nine-time USWNT player, Lohman ultimately became a DC SCORES ambassador in 2019 ahead of the nonprofit’s 25th anniversary. “I am honored to represent an organization that does such valuable work in the community and empowers youth to succeed on the field, in the classroom, and in life,” said Lohman on her appointment.
Originally intended to feature year-round gameday and events appearances, Lohman’s ambassadorship for the 2019-2020 school year was adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When lockdown measures forced DC SCORES to revert to online programming, Lohman helped launch the SCORES At Home curriculum with her #AtHomePoetryChallenge, which inspired young people to express themselves through creative writing. She even wrote a poem of her own for the challenge!
Ashley Hatch: An Organizational Leader
Following in Lohmann’s footsteps as a Spirit player advocate for poet-athletes, Ashley Hatch joined the DC SCORES board in 2022, two years after the nonprofit and the Spirit formalized an Official Community Partnership.
Since then, the star striker and former USWNT forward and her husband, Jeff Van Buren, have personally raised tens of thousands of dollars for DC SCORES through adult soccer clinics, player clothing sales, and social media campaigns.
Hatch has also collected and donated more than 100 pairs of cleats to poet-athletes through her Boots From Pros initiative. Founded by Hatch and Van Buren, Boots From Pros collects gently used cleats from professional soccer players and redistributes them to youth players who need them.
Despite her busy training and match schedule, Hatch is a regular at DC SCORES events. From performing a poem at One Night One Goal, DC SCORES’ annual fundraiser gala at Audi Field, to cheering on poet-athletes at poetry events, Hatch believes showing up for youth is as important as her fundraising efforts.
“Being able to interact with young players who want to be us one day, to play professionally, those small moments are when I feel the proudest,” she said. “If girls don’t see other girls succeeding and playing at the highest level then how can they see themselves doing the same?”
