Hope Solo

Hope Solo is an American Olympic gold medalist, a soccer player as a goalkeeper and a World Cup Champion.

Personal Life

Hope Amelia Solo was born on July 30th, 1981, in Richland, Washington to mother, Judy Lynn and father, Jeffrey Solo. Her father is a war veteran who was not always around her when she was a child and during her teen years. She was once kidnapped by her father but she was not aware of the situation as she and her brother were picked up by her father to see a baseball game but instead drove for hours and stayed in a hotel for several days. Hope thought it was a vacation and her father was arrested at a bank for alleged kidnapping.

Solo attended the University of Washington growing up but still maintained a close relationship with her Father but tragically died of a heart attack in June 2007. When she attended Richland High School as a teen, she played forward in a soccer club and scored 109 goals and led her team to three league titles, 1996- 1998 and a state championship during her senior year. She stands at a height of 5 ft 9 inches.

Career

Hope’s career began when she joined the University of Washington from 1999-2002 when she was positioned as the goalkeeper under the head coach, who was also a former national player. She became the top goalkeeper in Pac-10 history. After her college was over, she then began her club careers and was a part of the draft of 2003 WUSA by the Philadelphia Charge. She spent most of her time on the bench during these times.

Solo then moved to Sweden in 2004 to play for Goteborg FC which is the top club for soccer for women Sweden. She played in two games a week for around ten months. In 2005, she played in Olympique Lyonnais and she made several appearances for the French Club. In 2008, Hope was relocated to Saint Louis Athletica in WPS with new league slated to begin in April 2009. She was also named as the WPS goalkeeper of the year. She was also awarded the highest honor award in the United States called The US Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.

In May 2010, Hope joined the Atlanta Beat club along with her St. Louis teammates. She changed her jersey number from 1 to 78 as 1 had already been taken. In 2011, she then got a contract with magicJack, a soccer team.

During her time in magicJack, she made four appearances. Then in 2012, Solo signed with Seattle Sounders Women along with her teammates Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe. In 2012, she received a public warning as a banned substance called Canrenone was detected in her but later, proved to be clear as she had taken it unknowingly that it contained the substance and was let off with a warning. In March 2013, Solo did not play for around three months as she had a leg repair surgery. Her net worth in 2017 was estimated to be $2.5 million.

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