Description

Madison Hammond is a professional soccer player for Angel City FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. Before playing professionally, Madison played four years at Wake Forest University. In 2020, while as a member of OL Reign (now known as Seattle Reign FC), Madison became the first Native American player to play in the NWSL. Off the field, Madison has been an advocate for women’s soccer and for Black and Native American communities. What makes this conversation exciting is that Madison wears my favorite jersey (99). Check this episode to see why 99 is my favorite jersey number. Some of it is not soccer-related!

Madison was raised by a family who emphasized hard work and resiliency. She, along with her older sister, were raised by their single mother who was a military veteran. Her uncle, Notah Begay III was among the first Native Americans to compete on the PGA Tour. Whether it was in sports or in education, Madison was raised to be the best. Madison graduated from Wake Forest with honors before making the decision to pursue a career playing professional soccer. After graduating from Wake Forest she declared for the 2020 NWSL College Draft but was not selected. She would later receive an invite from OL Reign to tryout for the team. After trying out, she signed her first professional contract with the team. Now that she has had multiple years of being a professional athlete, Madison has learned about resiliency and leadership and has applied these two skills when it comes to her advocacy work. Growing up in a small reservation in San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico, she was surrounded by people who looked like her. As she moved to Virginia later on, it was the opposite. Madison aims to use her platform to educate others about what it means to be Native American and Black. She also hopes to see more people who are Native American pursuing a career in professional sports.

In this conversation, you will learn:

• Interesting skills Madison has learned while playing soccer
• The relationship Madison has with her family and why that is important 
• How Madison stays true to herself as someone who is Native American
• What Madison wants to improve on when it comes to the relationship with her identity
• Madison’s views on the relationship between professional sports teams like Angel City and its fans
• How Madison wants to inspire people within the Native American community that they have a career in sports
• Madison’s characteristics of what makes a good friend 

If you want to follow “Oh My Curry Goodness,” subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more! 

If you want to follow Madison Hammond, be sure to follow her on Instagram @gohaamm as well as her soccer team Angel City FC @weareangelcity.