Goalkeeper Hope Solo was suspended for 30 days from the U.S. National Women’s Team by U.S. Soccer for a training-camp incident that “resulted in a negative impact on U.S. Soccer and her teammates,” according to coach Jill Ellis, who did not provide further details. Solo, a winner of two Olympic gold medals, will miss matches Feb. 8 in France and Feb. 13 in England.
The suspension of the former University of Washington star and 2008 Seattle Sports Star of the Year winner, came two days after Solo’s husband, former Huskies and Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Manhattan Beach, CA. Solo was a passenger in the car but was not arrested or detained, although she came close, according to TMZ.
TMZ reported that Solo acted “belligerently” and pulled out her cellphone to record officers during the stop. TMZ also said that Stevens and Solo “were a major pain” and that officers were very close to arresting Solo for disorderly conduct.
A source close to women’s national team told ESPN that Solo’s suspension was the result of a combination of things, including the run-in with police. ESPN’s source also said national team officials were furious that they had to find out about the training-camp incident from a TMZ report and not directly from Solo.
“We feel at this time that it is best for her to step away from the team,” said Ellis. The national team is training in Carson, CA., in preparation for the Women’s World Cup, which starts in June.
Solo talked about her suspension on Twitter, saying, “I accept and respect the Federation’s decision. I apologize for disappointing my teammates, coaches and the Federation who have always supported me. I think it’s best for me to take a break, decompress from the stress of the last several months, and come back mentally and physically ready to positively contribute to the team.”
Earlier this month, Solo had a domestic violence charge against her dismissed. She was facing two misdemeanor counts stemming from with an altercation with her half-sister and a 17-year-old nephew at a party in June.
Solo pleaded not guilty in that case and continued to play for the national team until her court appearance.
Stevens, who has a long history of violating the law dating back to his days at Washington, is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court in March on the DUI charge.
6 Comments
reality teevee star lifetime achievement award.
Hope Solo seems determined to become this decade’s Tonya Harding, with all the poor choices, immaturity and lack of wisdom inherent in that life path.
Big deal. What’s a one-month suspension in February worth when the Women’s World Cup is in June? Instead of truly disciplining Hope, her coach is enabling her. Dumb move, but Hope’s shown what she’ll do to a coach who gets on her wrong side and Jill Ellis knows that USSA will side with their star miscreant no matter what. Hard to cheer an organization like this one, national team or not.
Otherwise, it’s another example of Hope being Hope. They even used the “Do you know who we are?” routine on the cop who pulled them over. I think Cameric’s parallel between Hope and Tonya Harding is pretty spot-on…they’re a lot alike in a lot of ways, except Tonya never had the USFSA letting her do whatever she wanted.
I can’t believe it’s just a month. At this point she’s a black eye on Team USA. Should have been for 3-6 months. Representing your country isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. One that Hope is taking for granted. At what point do you say enough is enough?
Chris Daniels of KING TV just said on Twitter that Stevens was driving the Team USA van with Solo as passenger at the time of his arrest Now I’m REALLY surprised she just got a 30 day suspension.
I wondered a long time ago if Hope/Jerramy/Tonya were BFF in real(ity) life? When it was announced that Hope was marrying Jerramy, I couldn’t figure out why she would marry that knucklehead, as it turns out they are truly soul mates. What are the Vegas odds that both of these idiots will be serving sentences in Monroe/Purdy within 10 years time?