Brandi Chastain
Encyclopedia
Brandi Denise Chastain is a professional American
soccer defender
and midfielder
who plays for the team California Storm
of Women's Premier Soccer League
and is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team
.
Chastain has played for San Jose CyberRays
of the WUSA
and FC Gold Pride
of Women's Professional Soccer
. She is best known for her game-winning penalty shootout kick
against China
in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final and her bra-baring celebration afterwards.
in San Jose, California
, helping take the team to three section championships. In 1986 Chastain was awarded the Soccer America Freshmen Player Of The Year award at the University of California-Berkeley. Soon after, she underwent reconstructive surgery on both knees which caused her to miss much of the 1987 and 1988 seasons. She transferred to Santa Clara University
before the start of the 1989 season, leading them to two Final Four NCAA
appearances, 1989 and 1990, before she graduated in 1991.
Chastain first represented her country on June 1, 1988, against Japan
. She scored her first (through fifth) international goals on April 18, 1991 when she came off the bench as a forward to score five consecutive goals in a 12–0 United States win in a CONCACAF
FIFA Women's World Cup
qualifier against Mexico
. Team USA went on to win the World Cup, staged in China
.
After that first World Cup, she played club soccer for one season in Japan
in 1993, earning team MVP honors and was the only foreigner to be selected as one of the league's top 11 players.
As a defender
, she made the U.S. National team again in 1996 and participated in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, helping the Americans win the gold medal by playing every minute of every U.S. game, despite a third serious knee injury suffered in the semifinal against Norway
. Of her 192 career caps
, she played 89 primarily at defender during which she occasionally played midfielder.
On July 10, 1999 at the Women's World Cup at the Rose Bowl
in Pasadena, California
, after scoring the fifth kick in the penalty shootout
to give the United States the win over China
in the final game, Chastain celebrated by spontaneously whipping off her jersey and falling to her knees in a sports bra
, her fists clenched. This image was featured on the covers of Time
, Newsweek
, and Sports Illustrated
.
Chastain's take on the incident was "Momentary insanity, nothing more, nothing less. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I thought, ‘This is the greatest moment of my life on the soccer field.’"
in the Women's United Soccer Association
from its formation in 2001 until its suspension in 2003. She played on the US women's national team
until her last game on 6 December 2004.
She appeared on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! on February 9, 2001, and won with $1. Her charity received $15,000. Host Alex Trebek
alluded to the incident when he said, "I hope you win again."
She appeared in the HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team
.
Chastain's book about women's competitive sports is titled It’s Not About the Bra. (ISBN 978-0060765996)
She posed nude except for soccer cleats and a strategically placed soccer ball in the men's magazine Gear
. Her appearance in the magazine created a controversy and the issue was brought up as a question at the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1999.
Chastain has been a color commentator
on soccer telecasts on two networks. She broadcast for NBC Sports
during the 2008 Summer Olympics
. Her work with ABC
/ESPN
has included Major League Soccer
matches and being part of a rotation of studio commentators for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Chastain was the Official spokesperson for Pfizer
's (legacy Wyeth
) multivitamin
product Centrum
Ultra.
. She lives in San Jose, California
, where her husband, Jerry Smith, is the women's soccer coach at Santa Clara University
. The couple's first child, son Jaden Chastain Smith, was born on June 8, 2006. Chastain also has a stepson, Cameron, who was seven at the time she married Jerry Smith.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soccer defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
and midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
who plays for the team California Storm
California Storm
California Storm is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 1995 as the Sacramento Storm, dropping the city name in favor of California the following season. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States. The team plays in the...
of Women's Premier Soccer League
Women's Premier Soccer League
The Women's Premier Soccer League is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the W-League and below Women's Professional Soccer....
and is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...
.
Chastain has played for San Jose CyberRays
San Jose CyberRays
San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National Team star Brandi Chastain, WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year...
of the WUSA
Women's United Soccer Association
The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to the WUSA, was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States...
and FC Gold Pride
FC Gold Pride
FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in Santa Clara, California which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-level women's soccer team in the San Francisco Bay Area...
of Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion...
. She is best known for her game-winning penalty shootout kick
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
against China
China women's national football team
The China women's national football team represents the People's Republic of China in international women's football.- Records :China had held the record of going for 442 minutes without conceding a World Cup goal, until it was broken by Germany on September 26, 2007, when Germany beat Norway 3-0...
in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final and her bra-baring celebration afterwards.
Early playing career
She attended Archbishop Mitty High SchoolArchbishop Mitty High School
Archbishop Mitty High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, USA. The school is named for the late Archbishop John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the first diocesan Catholic high school in the Santa Clara Valley...
in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, helping take the team to three section championships. In 1986 Chastain was awarded the Soccer America Freshmen Player Of The Year award at the University of California-Berkeley. Soon after, she underwent reconstructive surgery on both knees which caused her to miss much of the 1987 and 1988 seasons. She transferred to Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
before the start of the 1989 season, leading them to two Final Four NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
appearances, 1989 and 1990, before she graduated in 1991.
Chastain first represented her country on June 1, 1988, against Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She scored her first (through fifth) international goals on April 18, 1991 when she came off the bench as a forward to score five consecutive goals in a 12–0 United States win in a CONCACAF
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
FIFA Women's World Cup
FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the...
qualifier against Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Team USA went on to win the World Cup, staged in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
After that first World Cup, she played club soccer for one season in Japan
L. League
The L. League is the top flight of women's association football in Japan. It is the women's equivalent of the J. League, but not professional. However, some individual players are professional.The league conssists of two divisions: division 1 has the nickname and division 2...
in 1993, earning team MVP honors and was the only foreigner to be selected as one of the league's top 11 players.
As a defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
, she made the U.S. National team again in 1996 and participated in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, helping the Americans win the gold medal by playing every minute of every U.S. game, despite a third serious knee injury suffered in the semifinal against Norway
Norway women's national football team
The Norway women's national football team represents Norway in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Norway, are former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams...
. Of her 192 career caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
, she played 89 primarily at defender during which she occasionally played midfielder.
Sports bra episode
Rose Bowl (stadium)
The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, after scoring the fifth kick in the penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
to give the United States the win over China
China women's national football team
The China women's national football team represents the People's Republic of China in international women's football.- Records :China had held the record of going for 442 minutes without conceding a World Cup goal, until it was broken by Germany on September 26, 2007, when Germany beat Norway 3-0...
in the final game, Chastain celebrated by spontaneously whipping off her jersey and falling to her knees in a sports bra
Sports bra
A sports bra is a bra that provides additional support to female breasts during physical exercise. Sturdier than typical bras, they minimize breast movement, alleviate discomfort, and reduce potential damage to chest ligaments. Many women wear sports bras to reduce pain, and physical discomfort...
, her fists clenched. This image was featured on the covers of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, and Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
.
Chastain's take on the incident was "Momentary insanity, nothing more, nothing less. I wasn’t thinking about anything. I thought, ‘This is the greatest moment of my life on the soccer field.’"
Professional career
Chastain played on the San Jose CyberRaysSan Jose CyberRays
San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National Team star Brandi Chastain, WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year...
in the Women's United Soccer Association
Women's United Soccer Association
The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to the WUSA, was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States...
from its formation in 2001 until its suspension in 2003. She played on the US women's national team
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...
until her last game on 6 December 2004.
She appeared on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! on February 9, 2001, and won with $1. Her charity received $15,000. Host Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek
George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
alluded to the incident when he said, "I hope you win again."
She appeared in the HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team
Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team
Dare to Dream is a 2005 sports documentary about the United States women's national soccer team. It describes the pivotal roles of Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, and Joy Fawcett in the development of the team. These athletes also give interviews for the film...
.
Chastain's book about women's competitive sports is titled It’s Not About the Bra. (ISBN 978-0060765996)
She posed nude except for soccer cleats and a strategically placed soccer ball in the men's magazine Gear
Gear (magazine)
Gear was an English language lad's mag published by Bob Guccione, Jr. in the United Kingdom devoted chiefly to revealing pictorials of popular singers, B-movie actresses, and models, along with articles on gadgets, cars, fashion, guy tales of sex, and sports.Gear debuted in September 1998, with...
. Her appearance in the magazine created a controversy and the issue was brought up as a question at the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1999.
Chastain has been a color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
on soccer telecasts on two networks. She broadcast for NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
during the 2008 Summer Olympics
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and several other cities in the People's Republic of China from 6 August to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams and men's U-23 teams to participate...
. Her work with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
/ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
has included Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
matches and being part of a rotation of studio commentators for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Chastain was the Official spokesperson for Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
's (legacy Wyeth
Wyeth
Wyeth, formerly one of the companies owned by American Home Products Corporation , was a pharmaceutical company. The company was based in Madison, New Jersey, USA...
) multivitamin
Multivitamin
A multivitamin is a preparation intended to supplement a human diet with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, and injectable formulations...
product Centrum
Centrum
Centrum means center in Latin.Centrum may refer to:* The central portion of a vertebra*Centrum , a Washington state performing arts organization* Centrum , metro station in Warsaw, Poland...
Ultra.
Club career
| Team | Season | League | Domestic League |
Domestic Playoffs |
Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Apps | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Apps | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists | |||
| Shiroki F.C. Serena | 1993 | L. League L. League The L. League is the top flight of women's association football in Japan. It is the women's equivalent of the J. League, but not professional. However, some individual players are professional.The league conssists of two divisions: division 1 has the nickname and division 2... |
|||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||
| Bay Area CyberRays San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National Team star Brandi Chastain, WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year... |
2001 | WUSA Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association, often abbreviated to the WUSA, was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the United States... |
|||||||||||||||
| San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National Team star Brandi Chastain, WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year... |
2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||
| FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in Santa Clara, California which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-level women's soccer team in the San Francisco Bay Area... |
2009 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States... |
WPS Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer is the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded 6 teams for the 2011 season, with continued plans for future expansion... |
10 | 5 | 450 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 5 | 450 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 10 | 5 | 450 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 5 | 450 | 0 | 0 | ||
| California Storm California Storm California Storm is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 1995 as the Sacramento Storm, dropping the city name in favor of California the following season. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States. The team plays in the... |
2010 | WPSL Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and is on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the W-League and below Women's Professional Soccer.... |
5 | – | – | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | 3 | 5 |
| Career Total | – | 15 | 5 | 450 | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | 5 | 450 | 3 | 5 | |
International career
| Nation | Year | International Appearances | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Starts | Minutes | Goals | Assists | ||
| United States United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world... |
1988 | 2 | 0 | 87 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | 13 | 4 | 546 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 23 | 23 | 1,961 | 2 | 7 | |
| 1997 | 15 | 15 | 1,319 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 24 | 22 | 1,891 | 5 | 4 | |
| 1999 | 27 | 21 | 2,035 | 5 | 5 | |
| 2000 | 34 | 32 | 2,520 | 4 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 250 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 15 | 14 | 1,061 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 14 | 13 | 1,080 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 20 | 13 | 1,149 | 0 | 2 | |
| Career Total | 12 | 192 | 160 | 13,983 | 30 | 26 |
Personal life
Chastain graduated from Archbishop Mitty High SchoolArchbishop Mitty High School
Archbishop Mitty High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, USA. The school is named for the late Archbishop John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the first diocesan Catholic high school in the Santa Clara Valley...
. She lives in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, where her husband, Jerry Smith, is the women's soccer coach at Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
. The couple's first child, son Jaden Chastain Smith, was born on June 8, 2006. Chastain also has a stepson, Cameron, who was seven at the time she married Jerry Smith.