Olympic soccer star Sophia Smith‘s parents, Mollie and Kenny Smith, were once college athletes but specialized in sports other than soccer. Smith’s dad played basketball at the University of Wyoming, while her mom was a volleyball player, per NBC.
The USWNT player has been one of the stars of the 2024 Olympics, but the striker’s stardom began long before Paris.
In 2022, Smith became the first Black woman to win U.S. Soccer’s Female Player of the Year award, according to Goal.com. Smith noted that the current USWNT stars are hoping their success can encourage people of color to follow their own soccer dreams.
“I think it’s definitely something we and others are aware of,” Smith told Goal.com’s Ryan Tolmich in February 2024. “I think it’s a major shift in what this team has always been and I think it’s a really good thing because I think representation does matter.
“For all the young, women and men and kids and girls and boys of color who have a dream and who want to, whether it’s to be on this team or whatever their dream is, I think it’s important for them to see people who look like them doing that.”
Heading into the Olympic final versus Brazil, Smith has 3 goals and 2 assists, with the star being involved in nearly half of Team USA’s scoring plays. Sophia has relied on her parents advice throughout her young career.
“Something my parents always told me was no matter what, you can’t let someone else control your confidence,” Smith told NBC Sports Bay Area during a June 4, feature titled, “USWNT’s Sophia Smith on ‘controlling confidence’ ahead of 2024 Olympics.” “When you control that, other factors at least don’t affect how you feel about yourself,” she said.
Sophia Smith Wants to Help More Black Women Have Opportunities in Soccer
GettySophia Smith (right) and her fellow USWNT stars want to see more representation in soccer.
Smith admitted that it was challenging growing up and not seeing many ethnicities and races represented on the soccer pitch. The USWNT star grew up in Windsor, Colorado, wondering why more people of color were not playing soccer in her area.
“I grew up in a pretty predominantly white area,” Smith told Goal.com. “So where I went to school, the teams that I played on growing up were predominantly white. I was usually one of very few Black players and that was kind of the case throughout my childhood.
“Even when I changed clubs and was driving down to Denver, it was still the case. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to that, but I would notice it. It would make me wonder ‘Why?’ Like, where were all the Black girls? Where were the young Black girls who wanted to play soccer?”
Sophia Smith Has 2 Siblings
Smith also has two older sisters: Gabrielle and Savannah, according to her bio on the Olympics website. The USWNT star owes some of her success to her sisters who helped her with the ability not to be intimidated, according to her dad.
“She has two older sisters — they are four and five years older than her,” Kenny Smith told CPR News’ Rachel Estabrook in July 2023. “They were very competitive kids in sports as well. When Sophia would go to their games, she would actually watch quite a bit, and I think she would learn a lot of things from her sisters.
“And then just playing in the backyard, they would compete at everything: who could jump the highest on the trampoline, who could make the most baskets, or things like that.”
Sophia Smith’s Mom, Mollie Smith: ‘She Just Wants to Talk About Anything Besides Soccer’
Sophia Smith has played a major role in the resurgence of the USWNT under new manager Emma Hayes. Yet, playing soccer, both professionally and for the national team, is demanding and comes with a price.
Smith won a national championship at Stanford during her college career. When Smith is not wearing the United States crest, she is playing for the Portland Thorns FC in the NWSL. Her mom says she has seen the toll soccer has sometimes taken on her daughter.
“At times you do see a little bit of the mental toll,” Mollie Smith told CPR News. “What’s kind of changed over the years, that I’ve noticed, is that we don’t talk about soccer.
“When she was in high school, she would lead us to talk about it and talk about it. But now she just wants to talk about anything besides soccer. I think that’s her way of mentally trying to separate her family life from her professional one.”
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Sophia Smith’s Parents, Mollie & Kenny, Cheer on USWNT Star Making History