Hope Solo selling personal USWNT memorabilia to fund new soccer initiatives

Hope Solo never wanted to build a shrine to her career.

For years, jerseys, trophies and medals from one of the greatest goalkeeping careers in soccer history were displayed in a room inside her 6,500-square-foot Seattle home. When she and her husband moved to their current home on a 65 acre farm in North Carolina, the trophy room disappeared. Life moved on. Children arrived. And with them came a different perspective. 

“My memories and achievements of the past live beyond any physical object,” Solo told The Athletic. “These personal possessions represent that sacred past of mine, but I believe it’s very important to live in the present right now.”

That philosophy ultimately led the two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion to consign 45 items through Lelands Auctions. The collection includes her autographed jersey and shorts from the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final (starting bid: $3,000) when the U.S. defeated Japan 5-2 to capture their third of four titles and her championship ring from that tournament (starting bid: $15,000), Golden Glove awards from the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship and 2016 Olympic Qualifying (starting bid: $1,000 each), signed team memorabilia and other artifacts spanning nearly two decades with the U.S. women’s national team. The auction will run from July 26 to Aug. 15. 

Solo says she’s not driven by nostalgia or estate planning. It is an investment in what she hopes will become the next chapter of her soccer legacy. 

Rather than preserving her accomplishments behind glass, Solo is selling these items to help fund Solo FC, the team she founded for The Soccer Tournament (TST), the seven-on-seven competition that offers $1 million prize money to men’s and women’s champions. Some part of the sale will also be donated to She Belongs, a soccer-centered leadership and community building nonprofit for young women, specifically refugees and underserved women.

“She realized that the market is high and the World Cup being popular in the last few months, that was the driving force,” Jordan Gilroy, Lelands’ director of acquisitions told The Athletic. “(Athletes) realize they could do a lot of real life things with this money for them to give the stuff up that they’ve had for 10, 15 years, they have the memories and now it’s time for other people to have the memories. If they could use the money towards real life things, then it’s a win-win.”

The idea took shape over several months after Solo connected with Lelands during an autograph signing earlier this year. What began as a casual conversation evolved through a series of phone calls and Zoom meetings before both sides agreed it was time for the collection to leave storage and find new homes.

The reassurance she needed came from someone who had known her throughout much of her soccer journey: longtime goalkeeper coach Amy Griffin.

When Solo told Griffin she was planning to auction her memorabilia, she expected surprise. Instead, the response was immediate.

“She said to me, ‘Hope, people have always meant more to you than things,'” Solo recalled. “She’s absolutely right.”

The comment brought an unexpected sense of clarity.

“I could take a deep breath and just let it all go,” Solo said. “And feel good about it.”

For Solo, the sale allows supporters to become stewards of pieces that helped define one of the greatest careers in women’s soccer, while helping finance a project she believes can create opportunities for overlooked players around the world through Solo FC.

“I want people to know that it supports me in my present journey in building something that’s bigger than a team,” Solo said. “It represents passion, family, giving back to the sport I love and really building that next opportunity for the next generation of soccer players on a global level.”

Letting go of dozens of treasured items forced Solo to confront an unexpectedly emotional question: what do you keep after one of the most decorated careers in women’s soccer history?

For much of her career, Solo’s relationship with her own legacy has been complicated.

The 44-year-old remains one of the most accomplished goalkeepers the sport has produced. She earned 202 caps for the United States, recorded 102 shutouts, won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012, helped the U.S. win the 2015 Women’s World Cup, won the tournament’s Golden Glove in both 2011 and 2015, and the Bronze Ball in 2015, awarded to the tournament’s third-best player — an accolade almost never bestowed upon a goalkeeper. She’s not letting that one go. 

“There are not very many goalkeepers who ever get to be one of the top three players of the tournament,” Solo said. “Getting a Bronze Ball, knowing you were recognized as one of the three best players at the World Cup, was really, really special to me.”

Her career was also marked by public controversies, coaching disputes and an abrupt international ending following the 2016 Olympics when the U.S. lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks.

Sorting through the physical evidence of that career became unexpectedly therapeutic.

“To go through all of it with my kids was a healing process,” she explained. 

“My kids helped me go through the jerseys, it was so funny to see which ones they loved. I knew it. I had no doubt that when they saw the 100 on the back of a jersey, my son would be like, ‘I want that one.’ It was my 100 shutout jersey and my 100-cap jersey.”

That jersey stayed. So did her Olympic gold medals and some awards that carried stories too personal to part with. Among them is her Golden Glove from the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany, where she was named the tournament’s best goalkeeper despite the United States falling to Japan in a dramatic penalty shootout.

That trophy symbolizes far more than individual excellence to Solo. It represents redemption.

“After everything that happened in 2007 (when she was benched for the semifinal) … I climbed my way back,” she recalled. “It was the joy of my life in that (2011) tournament. It was so sad, but I could still cheer on Japan. I got my first Golden Glove. My family was there. Germany was just very special to me.”

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

US Women’s national team, International Football, NWSL, Sports Business, Women’s Soccer, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Memorabilia & Collectibles