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Byline: MICHAEL MINK
The defining moment in Mia Hamm's career came not on the soccer field, but across a desk.
On the other side of it was her University of North Carolina soccer coach, Anson Dorrance, who was also the coach of the U.S. women's team. He had a simple question for the sophomore: What were her goals for the upcoming season?
The competitive fire that had fueled Hamm's athletic pursuits from the time she was a girl competing with boys in everything from baseball to football showed itself.
"Much to my surprise, I blurted, "To be the best,' " Hamm said in "The Right Words at the Right Time," by Marlo Thomas.
From Dorrance, Hamm -- women's soccer's all-time scorer -- learned how to go about achieving her goal. "It's about commitment, plain and simple. But saying you want to be at the very top of your field and doing it are two different things," Hamm said.
"Saying it is exhilarating and a little bit scary because you are making a choice to stand out from the crowd; doing it is incredibly hard work. You can't ever live with "good enough.' Sometimes deciding to be the best feels great. Sometimes it's discouraging, and almost always it's exhausting. The bottom line is, if I don't go into it every day consistently committed, I won't get results."