Deacon Sports Xtra: Hammond From Wake Forest to Nike Billboards
1/21/2022 12:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Madison Hammond is the first indeginious Native American to start in the NWSL and the first indeginious Native American athlete to be highlighted on the main Nike channel.
Madison Hammond's soccer journey has taken her from New Mexico to Virginia, and then from Wake Forest to Seattle, with her likeness emblazoned on billboards in both Los Angeles and Times Square.
A hectic and eventful two years since Hammond graduated from Wake Forest in 2019 has been capped off by becoming the first indigenous Native American to start in the NWSL and the first indigenous Native American athlete to be highlighted on the main Nike channel, where she was championed as a beacon during Native American Heritage Month.
"It's definitely been a long year, but to have it capped off with that Nike campaign was really incredible," Hammond said. "It still feels very surreal."
Her story began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she first got involved in soccer, though not women's soccer.
"I started playing soccer with boys at a young age," Hammond said. "To me, it was one of the more challenging things I did in my young years. I enjoyed the competition and the trash talk. It instilled a lot of fire in me."
Her mother, Carol Lincoln, is Navajo, San Felipe Pueblo, and served in the military, which means the family moved from New Mexico to the East Coast when Hammond was just 9-years old. They ended up settling in the Northern Virginia area.
"I wanted to play against boys," Hammond said. "We were approached about playing with girls, but I didn't want to, but I didn't realize that girl's soccer was such a big deal on the east coast. There was a lot of money, resources and time poured into it. That was something I wasn't experienced with in New Mexico."
Hammond eventually got involved, won a couple of state titles for club teams and started receiving college recruiting emails.
"Wait, really?" Hammond said her initial reaction was. "I've always focused on the work and what I'm doing in the present, as opposed to thinking about too many steps ahead. At the age of 13, I certainly hadn't thought about playing college soccer."
After the initial shock wore off, Hammond started the process of finding the right school for her college career.
"It was very important to me that I found a school that was a good balance of school and soccer," she said. "If soccer was taken away tomorrow, would you still be happy with where you're at? I pushed my commitment back a little bit further back than my peers. It was my junior year when I changed clubs where my dear friend Tony da Luz saw me play. I look back and I'm really proud of that decision, because if I'd rushed into something early I wouldn't have ended up at Wake Forest."
Her initial visit to Wake Forest was extremely unplanned. Already in Greensboro for a club soccer tournament, Hammond's mom convinced her to take a look around campus, so she called Wake Forest coach Tony da Luz to announce she'd be there in about 30 minutes.
"This girl is causing me stress," Hammond said da Luz was likely thinking.
"He was at one of his son's games," she said. "They dropped everything and gave me a tour of campus and it was a done deal after that. Wake is an absolutely beautiful campus and I fell in love just as soon as I stepped foot on it."
She committed to Wake Forest over two other finalists in the fall of her junior year in high school.
"When I was asked what I wanted in a college, I said a big school in an urban area and in a hustle and bustle place," Hammond said with a laugh. "So of course I ended up in a tiny school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a place I'd never heard of."
"When I got to Wake, I had no expectations. I was just set on working hard and trying to prove myself. I went into Wake Forest as an attacking midfielder. It was so fun. One of our upperclassmen got injured and we didn't have an outside back. Going into conference play of my freshman year, he told me he was going to play me at outside back. I had never played that position my entire life. I must have done something right, because I stayed there for four years."
Hammond played in 76 games for Wake Forest, serving as a team captain in her senior season, when she led the team in minutes played and earned 2nd Team All-ACC recognition.
"When you zoom out, everything looks rather seamless. But if you zoom in, you can spot the challenges, but I'm proud of those because they've helped me post college for sure.
"By my junior year I was a captain on the team, was on SAAC and was able to contribute to the school that was more impactful than just soccer. My first title is an athlete, but I want to be remembered for so much more than that in terms of advocacy, representation and things like that."
In her senior season, Hammond was also the designated penalty kicker for the team, and her 87th minute penalty kick gave the Deacs a 1-0 lead at home over then No.1 Virginia. But the Hoos tied it up in the final minute and the game went to a double-overtime 1-1 draw.
"If anyone asks me what adrenaline feels like, I'd point to that moment," she said about drilling the penalty kick. "It was exhilarating and fun. It was just hype. That's the moment I really love at Wake Forest. But in general, I remember both the funny and terrible training sessions. Those moments with friends are what really sticks with me from Wake."
Hammond wanted to play professional soccer and had explored some options in Spain that didn't quite work out. She wasn't drafted in the NWSL, but the Reign picked up her rights early in 2020.
"That seemed like a huge opportunity," she said. "I flew out to Seattle in March of 2020 and we had a few workouts and then a global pandemic hit. Everything was shut down, and anyone not on a contract was sent home. We had maybe three training sessions. Went home and trained as best as possible, playing pick up and hunting places to lift. Nothing was open."
She was thrilled to be invited to participate with the team in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, which took place in July.
"The NWSL was the first league to come back during the pandemic, and to be a part of that was pretty unreal," Hammond said. "Went to Montana trying to earn a contract. By the end of the month, I'd worked hard enough and done well enough to earn a contract. I've been playing professionally now for a year-and-a-half."
She didn't play during the Challenge Cup in Utah, but learned a lot that helped her solidify her role with the Reign. She was one of six players vying for two spots on the 2021 roster. She earned a spot and became the first Native American to play in an NWSL game on Sept. 26, 2021 and the first Native American to start an NWSL game on Oct. 10, 2021.
"That day was just pure happiness," she said. "It felt just unreal. I soaked up that moment and was so happy. It was crazy, especially looking back at it all happening at the start of the pandemic.
"I'm just me, so I'm just going to keep my head down and keep working hard."
Later came the Nike billboards and promo spot.
"I'm on a billboard and that's really cool," Hammond said. "It's just been such a long journey and it's just been a year. That itself was a lot to take in. Once the billboards were up, it all felt really shook. Just to see how proud I've made people is something I can't even describe."
"As indigenous people, we're not always accurately portrayed. To be on a gigantic billboard across from Staples Center shouldn't feel weird. It should feel normal, but it was so powerful to see it in person."
A hectic and eventful two years since Hammond graduated from Wake Forest in 2019 has been capped off by becoming the first indigenous Native American to start in the NWSL and the first indigenous Native American athlete to be highlighted on the main Nike channel, where she was championed as a beacon during Native American Heritage Month.
"It's definitely been a long year, but to have it capped off with that Nike campaign was really incredible," Hammond said. "It still feels very surreal."
Her story began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she first got involved in soccer, though not women's soccer.
"I started playing soccer with boys at a young age," Hammond said. "To me, it was one of the more challenging things I did in my young years. I enjoyed the competition and the trash talk. It instilled a lot of fire in me."
Her mother, Carol Lincoln, is Navajo, San Felipe Pueblo, and served in the military, which means the family moved from New Mexico to the East Coast when Hammond was just 9-years old. They ended up settling in the Northern Virginia area.
"I wanted to play against boys," Hammond said. "We were approached about playing with girls, but I didn't want to, but I didn't realize that girl's soccer was such a big deal on the east coast. There was a lot of money, resources and time poured into it. That was something I wasn't experienced with in New Mexico."
Hammond eventually got involved, won a couple of state titles for club teams and started receiving college recruiting emails.
"Wait, really?" Hammond said her initial reaction was. "I've always focused on the work and what I'm doing in the present, as opposed to thinking about too many steps ahead. At the age of 13, I certainly hadn't thought about playing college soccer."
After the initial shock wore off, Hammond started the process of finding the right school for her college career.
"It was very important to me that I found a school that was a good balance of school and soccer," she said. "If soccer was taken away tomorrow, would you still be happy with where you're at? I pushed my commitment back a little bit further back than my peers. It was my junior year when I changed clubs where my dear friend Tony da Luz saw me play. I look back and I'm really proud of that decision, because if I'd rushed into something early I wouldn't have ended up at Wake Forest."
Her initial visit to Wake Forest was extremely unplanned. Already in Greensboro for a club soccer tournament, Hammond's mom convinced her to take a look around campus, so she called Wake Forest coach Tony da Luz to announce she'd be there in about 30 minutes.
"This girl is causing me stress," Hammond said da Luz was likely thinking.
"He was at one of his son's games," she said. "They dropped everything and gave me a tour of campus and it was a done deal after that. Wake is an absolutely beautiful campus and I fell in love just as soon as I stepped foot on it."
She committed to Wake Forest over two other finalists in the fall of her junior year in high school.
"When I was asked what I wanted in a college, I said a big school in an urban area and in a hustle and bustle place," Hammond said with a laugh. "So of course I ended up in a tiny school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a place I'd never heard of."
"When I got to Wake, I had no expectations. I was just set on working hard and trying to prove myself. I went into Wake Forest as an attacking midfielder. It was so fun. One of our upperclassmen got injured and we didn't have an outside back. Going into conference play of my freshman year, he told me he was going to play me at outside back. I had never played that position my entire life. I must have done something right, because I stayed there for four years."
Hammond played in 76 games for Wake Forest, serving as a team captain in her senior season, when she led the team in minutes played and earned 2nd Team All-ACC recognition.
"When you zoom out, everything looks rather seamless. But if you zoom in, you can spot the challenges, but I'm proud of those because they've helped me post college for sure.
"By my junior year I was a captain on the team, was on SAAC and was able to contribute to the school that was more impactful than just soccer. My first title is an athlete, but I want to be remembered for so much more than that in terms of advocacy, representation and things like that."
In her senior season, Hammond was also the designated penalty kicker for the team, and her 87th minute penalty kick gave the Deacs a 1-0 lead at home over then No.1 Virginia. But the Hoos tied it up in the final minute and the game went to a double-overtime 1-1 draw.
"If anyone asks me what adrenaline feels like, I'd point to that moment," she said about drilling the penalty kick. "It was exhilarating and fun. It was just hype. That's the moment I really love at Wake Forest. But in general, I remember both the funny and terrible training sessions. Those moments with friends are what really sticks with me from Wake."
Hammond wanted to play professional soccer and had explored some options in Spain that didn't quite work out. She wasn't drafted in the NWSL, but the Reign picked up her rights early in 2020.
"That seemed like a huge opportunity," she said. "I flew out to Seattle in March of 2020 and we had a few workouts and then a global pandemic hit. Everything was shut down, and anyone not on a contract was sent home. We had maybe three training sessions. Went home and trained as best as possible, playing pick up and hunting places to lift. Nothing was open."
She was thrilled to be invited to participate with the team in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, which took place in July.
"The NWSL was the first league to come back during the pandemic, and to be a part of that was pretty unreal," Hammond said. "Went to Montana trying to earn a contract. By the end of the month, I'd worked hard enough and done well enough to earn a contract. I've been playing professionally now for a year-and-a-half."
She didn't play during the Challenge Cup in Utah, but learned a lot that helped her solidify her role with the Reign. She was one of six players vying for two spots on the 2021 roster. She earned a spot and became the first Native American to play in an NWSL game on Sept. 26, 2021 and the first Native American to start an NWSL game on Oct. 10, 2021.
"That day was just pure happiness," she said. "It felt just unreal. I soaked up that moment and was so happy. It was crazy, especially looking back at it all happening at the start of the pandemic.
"I'm just me, so I'm just going to keep my head down and keep working hard."
Later came the Nike billboards and promo spot.
"I'm on a billboard and that's really cool," Hammond said. "It's just been such a long journey and it's just been a year. That itself was a lot to take in. Once the billboards were up, it all felt really shook. Just to see how proud I've made people is something I can't even describe."
"As indigenous people, we're not always accurately portrayed. To be on a gigantic billboard across from Staples Center shouldn't feel weird. It should feel normal, but it was so powerful to see it in person."
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