Female+Us+Team+Standouts+4

media type="youtube" key="woRRxR0UBKI&hl=en" height="355" width="425" Sheryl Swoopes WNBA __play of the day!!!!__ [Women's National Basketball Association]

Female USA Athletes & Standouts- Mary Grace and Julie Ann

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics:

USA Female Athletes and Stand-outs-

Olympic Softball Team Member:

Monica Abbott, Salinas, Calif. (University of Tennessee ‘07) – Abbott, the youngest member of the team, is a two-time member of the National Team. She has also competed as a member of the 2004 World University Team and 2003 Junior Team. Abbott led the pitching staff in 2007 with a 6-0 record for a 0.00 ERA. In 26.2 innings pitched, she issued no walks and no earned runs.

Olympic Soccer Team Member:

Mia Hamm: • First-ever three-time U.S. Soccer athlete of the year male or female (1994-1996) • Member of the Gold Medal winning U.S. Women's National Team at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games • Sprained her ankle against Sweden in the first round of the Olympic Games, but fought through the injury to lead the U.S. To victories over Norway (semifinal) and China (final) • Named U.S. Soccer's Female Athlete of the Year for three consecutive years from 1994-96, • becoming the first player honored three times • Generally considered the best all-around woman soccer player in the world • Led the team in scoring in 1996 with 19 goals and 18 assists • MVP of the Women's World Cup in Sweden in 1995 where she scored three goals on long range free-kicks including the equalizer against Norway in the championship game • Played several minutes at goalkeeper against Denmark in the World Cup in Sweden when regular `keeper Briana Scurry was ejected and the U.S. Had to use all its substitutes • Tied with Michelle Akers as the second-leading goal scorer at the 1994 CONCACAF qualifying tournament with six goals, including a four-goal and two-assist performance in the USA's 11-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago • Voted by fans the MVP of the 1994 Chiquita Cup • The youngest member of the 1991 women's world championship team, at the age of 19, she started five of six games and scored a pair of goals for the USA in China in 1991 • The youngest woman ever to play with the U.S. National Team at the age of 15 • Played in three Olympic Festivals, winning gold medals in 1989 with the South and 1990 with the North and a silver in 1987 with the South.

Olympic Tennis Player:

Serena Williams: • Serena and her famous sister, Venus Williams, started playing tennis at a young age, while growing up in the rough community of Compton, California. • Their father wanted them to excel at the sport, creating an escape from the inner-city. And the sisters did just that. • Throughout her childhood, Serena’s name was at the top of the amateur ranks lists and by the time she was 14, she'd already turned pro!

Olympic Basketball Team Member:

Sheryl Swoopes: • Born in Brownfield, Texas, Swoopes was raised by her mother Louise Swoopes, and played basketball with her three older brothers. She began competing at age seven, in a local children's league called Little Dribblers.[2] Coached under Dickie Faught and Kathey Granger, Swoopes was a member and junior on the 1988 Texas State Championship team.[3] • 1993 Swoopes won the NCAA women's basketball championship with the Texas Tech Lady Raiders during her senior season. Her jersey was retired by the school the following year, making her one of only three Lady Raiders to be honored in this way. The others are Carolyn Thompson and Krista Kirkland, Swoopes' teammate from the 1994 championship team. [4] • Swoopes also set several school records at Texas Tech. She scored 955 points in the 1992-93 season, which is an all-time scoring record for a single season (as of 2006). Swoopes' 24.9 points-per-game average for her career is the best in school history; she also boasts three triple-doubles and twenty-three double-doubles, fourteen of which came during her senior year.[ • Swoopes is the first women's basketball player to have a Nike shoe named after her: the "Air Swoopes". • woopes was recruited for the Houston Comets of the WNBA during the 1997 inaugural season. She came back from giving birth to her son, to play the last third of the WNBA inaugural season and lead the Comets in the 1997 WNBA Championship. As a member of the Houston Comets, she has accumulated over 2,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, 300 career assists and 200 career steals. Her extraordinary scoring and defensive ability have made her the first three-time WNBA MVP (2000, 2002, 2005) and the first three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2000, 2002, 2003). Swoopes is a four-time WNBA champion (1997–2000).
 * Position: Forward
 * Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
 * College: Texas Tech 1993
 * Team(s): Houston Comets, Seattle Storm (WNBA), Dallas Fury/Lubbock Hawks (NWBL)

• Swoopes is the second player in WNBA history to win both the regular season MVP award and the All-Star Game MVP award in the same season. The first player to accomplish this was Lisa Leslie. Swoopes is also the first player in WNBA history to record a playoff triple-double.

• Swoopes gained national prominence when she won the gold medal with the USA Basketball Women's National Team (WNT) at the 1996 Olympic Games and became a focal point of the fledgling WNBA. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000, 2004).

• On March 3, 2008 Swoopes signed with the Seattle Storm ending her eleven year career with the Houston Comets.

Sources: 1. USA Softball 2008 Women’s National Team Roster; http://admin.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=3414&p=3314







Citation for Sheryl Swoopes: http://www.usabasketball.com/;2008, USA Basketball, Inc. Voicethread Storyboard