University of Richmond From the SelectedWorks of Scott .T Allison 2019 Alex Morgan: The eH ro Who Changed the Soccer World Emily R Wigg, University of Richmond Available at: https://works.bepress.com/scott_allison/104/ 20 Alex Morgan: The Hero Who Changed the Soccer World emily r. wigg The sky had a warm glow as the sun was setting on a hot August day in 2013. The crowd was cheering, players were in high spirits, and optimism was soar- ing. It was about eight minutes into the start of the game when the whistle blew for a foul on Portland and a second whistle blew for a player down. At first it was not clear who was injured or how the injury occurred. But within seconds it was clear to all that the player down was Alex Morgan. Commentators could be heard discussing whether it was a knee or ankle injury, and then the replay showed it was a knee injury. In soccer there is always risk in attempting to steal a ball by reaching out with the left knee. Instead of contacting the ball, a player can get tripped by the opposing player causing the left knee to bend back and twist in one fluid motion. For Alex Morgan, the knowledge of what it meant to hear the sound of tearing in the knee was almost more painful than the injury 292 itself. Where once there was cheering, there was now silence, followed by the applause as she was carried off the field on a stretcher. For some this might be the end, but not for a superstar like Alex Morgan. For her, this incident would become a small, short roadblock to overcome. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the many ways that Alex Morgan is a hero. Moreover, I will outline the ways that Morgan became a hero, focusing on the details of her heroic journey. In discussing her heroism, I will describe her heroic traits and how she developed them. My conclusion will focus on her inspirational qualities and on her powerful role as a mentor to family, team- mates, fans, and followers. DEfining a hERO Who is Alex Morgan? Why is her journey exciting? What makes her so special? Why is she my hero? In today’s culture and atmosphere, it is easy to forget what makes a hero. According to Allison, Goethals, and Kramer (2017), there are many different subtypes of heroes: impulsive, reflective, episodic, everyday, per- sonal, cultural, proper, dark, transformed, untransformed, emergent, sustained, civil, martial, brave, and caring. According to Allison et al., social scientists have taken both subjective and objective approaches when defining a hero. The objec- tive approach assumes that a hero will complete a noble action that serves the greater good and is beyond ordinary. Heroes must also make a significant sacri- fice and be willing to take risks. The subjective approach to defining heroism is based on people’s perceptions of the hero. Allison and Goethals (2011) adopted a subjective approach by measuring traits that people see in a hero such as: intelligent, strong, reliable, selfless, resilient, charismatic, caring, and inspiring. Summing up all of these ideas, objective and subjective, Franco, Blau, and Zimbardo (2011) define hero- ism simply as, “the willingness to sacrifice or take risks on behalf of others in defense of a moral cause” (p. 13). When taking this definition into account, I believe Alex Morgan fits this description almost perfectly. In her career as a soccer player, Alex Morgan has achieved great feats and has been viewed as one of the greatest women soccer players in the world. Her greatness stems not only 293 for her abilities and talent on the field but also for her humility and strength of character. Who, then, is Alex Morgan? hEROic PROfESSiOnal accOmPliShmEntS Alex Morgan was born on July 2, 1989, and by the age of 14 she was well on her way to making a name for herself in the soccer world. In high school, Alex Morgan was a three-time all-league pick NSCAA All-American. From high school she continued her soccer career in college where she led the Golden Bears of the University of California to the NCAA Tournament all four years she was enrolled. In 2008, at the age of 19, she became a member of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team and assisted in leading them to win the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup International by scoring the winning goal in the final match against North Korea. The goal was actually named the Best Goal of the Tournament as well as the second-best Goal of the Year by FIFA. By 2009, at the age of 20, she became the youngest member of the U.S. Women’s National Football Team. In 2011, at age 22, Alex Morgan was the youngest player on the team, played in the 2011 FIFA World Cup International, and was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer Championship International. In 2012, at age 23, Alex Morgan had success in the U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team where she won her first Olympic Gold Medal by assisting her team in winning 2-1 against Japan. The 2012 Olympic Soccer game between the U.S and Japan was the largest soccer crowd in the Olympic history. Alex Morgan as a Hero When you examine Alex Morgan’s accomplishments and consider the injuries and hurdles she has overcome, it is easy to think of her as almost superhu- man. The Merriam-Webster definition of superhuman is “being above human; exceeding normal human power, size or capability.” One must acknowledge that Alex Morgan is more of a hero than superhuman as she possesses more hero traits than superhuman traits of speed, strength, endurance. Heroism incorporates the superhuman traits of speed, strength, and endurance, but it goes a step further to include courage, humanity, justice, and moderation. From 294 the large list of traits that Allison et al. (2017) and Kinsella, Ritchie, and Igou (2017) believe are descriptions of a hero, Alex Morgan possesses many of them. Morgan’s traits include resilience, intelligence, selflessness, inspiring, bravery, courageous, determination, and compassion. They all combine to describe how Morgan has developed a nearly impeccable character. How an individual ele- vates her character and maximizes her life transcends her to the level of hero. Character Strengths and Virtues Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, in 2004 wrote the book Character Strengths and Virtues in an attempt to create a classification and measurement scale of positive traits in an “empirical and scientific” manner. In their writings, they describe six virtues that categorically represent 24 character strengths. Alex Morgan not only possesses many of the character traits from all six virtues but also has many traits from the Great Eight list of hero traits discovered by Allison and Goethals (2011). Six Virtues and Heroic Character Traits of Alex Morgan Wisdom and knowledge created out of love of learning, perspective, creativity, and curiosity have carried Alex Morgan through her life’s journey. Courage born from bravery, persistence, honesty, and zest for life have helped to elevate Alex Morgan in the soccer world. Humility with love, kindness, and social intel- ligence have helped to make Alex Morgan a success off the field as well as an individual to be admired and respected for her on-the-field accomplishments (Worthington & Allison, 2018). Transcendence with hope, gratitude, humor, and spirituality have helped Alex Morgan face and overcome difficult challenges not only in her professional career but also in her personal life. Justice through teamwork, fairness, and leadership have made Alex Morgan a leader on and off the field. Last but not least, moderation with forgiveness, modesty, and self- control demonstrate Alex Morgan’s ability to take life in stride, learn from mis- takes, and move forward as a better person. Alex Morgan Living the Virtues After graduating from Diamond Bar High School, Alex Morgan graduated a semester early from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree 295 political economy. Morgan has published a middle school book series entitled The Kicks, which has become a live-action comedy series on Amazon Prime. Morgan’s book publisher stated that she “wanted her books to inspire young girls and celebrate her love of soccer.” In describing the underlying purpose behind the book series, Morgan said, “Kids should take on the responsibility of a teammate and know that being on a team really builds character. It's about the experiences and having it help them later in life, not becoming a profes- sional soccer player" (Morgan, 2015). The love Alex Morgan has for her fans, especially girls, is inspiring and increases the respect others have of her. Alex Morgan shows respect toward her team- mates both on and off the field. When asked about her relationship with the team, Alex Morgan says, “We spend more time with each other than we do with our families so in a way, we’re sisters, and with sisters you all respect each other” (Morgan, 2015). The loving respect that Alex Morgan has for her teammates is displayed in the manner in which she treats them, respects them, and competes with them. Alex Morgan plays as hard as she can and to the best of her ability, and yet she pushes herself for more because she knows that her teammates would do the same for her as well. Morgan inspires young girls and boys through multiple endorsement deals from clothing wear, food, electronics, banks, tires, insur- ance and health organizations, as well as being a brand ambassador for GNC, a health product company.