Former USWNT Star Hope Solo Arrested in North Carolina
Hope Solo, a former soccer star who won two gold medals with the United States Women's National Team, was arrested in North Carolina for driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, according to TMZ Sports. Solo, 40, was taken into custody in a Walmart parking lot off Parkway Villiage Circle in Winston-Salem, North Carolina before being taken to the Forsyth County jail for processing. Police told TMZ Sports that Solo was arrested for impaired driving (DWI), resisting arrest and misdemeanor child abuse as two children were in the car.
Solo has had trouble with the law before. She was previously booked for domestic violence and also was accused of berating a police officer in 2014. Solo was also busted for getting into a physical altercation with her teenage nephew. She is married to former NFL player Jerramy Stevens and the couple have two children together.
Solo was a goalkeeper for the USWNT from 2000 to 2016 and helped the team win Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2016. She also was a member of the team when they won the World Cup in 2015. Solo also played for multiple teams in the Women's United Soccer Association, Women's Professional Soccer and National Women's Soccer League. In an interview with the BBC Players podcast last year, Solo revealed she was bullied in her first years with the USWNT.
"You run into a bad girl club. Most of the players come from wealthy white families. That's the culture of the women's national team. It is a very privileged white culture. People weren't nice to us. They weren't welcoming, they didn't invite you to sit at the table. It was difficult to grow up in the national team in the social aspect," Solo said, per AS. "I remember Carli Lloyd and I always said 'We have to change this culture.' She and I were very welcoming, we were not bullies. We were very nice to the girls who came."
Solo went on to say that she's not sure how much things have changed. "We always wanted to change that culture, but ultimately I'm not sure we succeeded," she said. "It is a much more open and welcome environment now. It is an easier transition but I also don't think it helps build character in a lot of these younger athletes. They do have the road paved for them a lot of the time. I have a lot of older coaches, close friends of mine in division one soccer, a lot of them don't know how to coach the younger generations anymore."