Sometimes, you're going to fail. But that never stopped her -- she just dragged out her breathing machine to the field and played with the boys. She has since made 25 appearances for the club across competitions. Fellow speakers included Cynt Marshall, the first Black female CEO of an NBA team; Heather Booth, the 76-year-old civil rights activist who has led major social progress campaigns; Katie Porter, the Congresswoman; Mae C. Jemison, the first female Black astronaut -- and Carson Pickett. Accessibility It was the result of something called amniotic band syndrome, which happens when part of the birthing sac breaks off. She never wore any of them. Hayley Flynn was the first one called into a youth national team -- then Kylie got called in, then Annie. At halftime, Andonovski told U.S. Soccer general manager Kate Markgraf to call Pickett. NFL draft questions for teams in the top 10: Will the Colts trade up? So I walked into my roommate's room and I was like, can you come take a picture of me with my arm out? So I continued to work hard, and no matter what. Now she's comfortable being more than that, too. Obviously, it's going to [shape who you are] to other people, but you always have to be yourself and you always have to stick with what you love no matter what.". PEPPER PERSLEY: Yes. I just wanted to enjoy soccer, and enjoy my teammates, and enjoy the game. I appreciate you taking the time to answer, thank you. My mom played basketball in college. She was at a six day school, as-- in charge, and now she's leading the county office, and things like that. Updated on: August 2, 2019 / 3:10 PM PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. And I think sometimes in society, we think of adversity as, again, a negative challenge. No, it was this year. They did not do those final ultrasounds -- they wanted to be surprised. Who is the player of the year in every women's college basketball conference? But I heard that their training environment is really hard and they do focus on a lot of fitness, and luckily for me, I feel like I've always been able to be fine in fitness. Her chance for a second cap with the U.S. came on Oct. 7: Defender Emily Fox went down in a collision while the U.S. played England, sending her into concussion protocols. The following morning, it was Carson's turn to take the stage. The feeling of being different and the anxiety of not fitting in is something that I have been through. PEPPER PERSLEY: As I'm sit-- thank you for the question. So it's extremely important. I love it. She was born without a left hand and forearm. Aug 6, 2020. "But we worried, 'What if she couldn't stay above water?'" Riley was immediately fired the same day the allegations were published. So whatever they decided to do, and whatever our team decided to do, it was 100%, and we were going to do it and support them no matter what. Different people are my kind of people. "You know, you hear about Michael Jordan being competitive, and I've never met Michael Jordan, but as far as the people I have met, that family is by far the most competitive," Joseph says. The Courage are tied for first place atop the NWSL standings and Pickett has been a big reason why. "Sometimes I wanted to rip it down," she admits. I think that they are-- I know that they're the reason why I've had so much success today. "She jumped out of the pool, she was 6 years old, and we're over there just crying, bawling tears," Mike recalled. But you're really vulnerable when you put a picture up on Instagram and people comment things that aren't nice. So growing up, I didn't have many people to look up to. "They were amazing," says Carson. And I didn't know why he was texting me. "And then after that," says Mike, "it was full steam ahead." A version of that shoe is the Nike GT Academy FlyEase, available Pickett heard from dozens of interested college programs, but growing up in the Jacksonville area, she had been a regular at Florida State games and soccer camps She trains like a demon. One prosthetic was a claw. I don't mind running, especially as an outside back, I feel like there's a lot of running anyways, so sort of just feels like a normal game for me. For the 2021 NWSL season, Pickett's services were acquired by the North Carolina Courage. Whether you know people or not. And so that was really important for me just to kind of realize that everyone's journey is different. Pickett, who was acquired via trade with the Orlando Pride during the offseason after North Carolina faced a massive player exodus, has started all five games ay left back this season for the Courage. Who funds CPR? And I'm like, I'm not going to tell someone who has it way harder than me right now how to be positive. And I think that we need to continue to build women's soccer in America especially. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, Top Dems push Fox News to stop promoting "propaganda" about 2020 election, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70%, cap monthly costs at $35, Pandemic-era food benefits end for millions of Americans as costs rise, Boy born without a hand meets soccer player just like him, Joseph Tidd with soccer player Carson Pickett, Jimmy Carter has a long history with Habitat for Humanity, Bakery owner uses business to help others, Bakery owner has "open door hiring policy" to help others. appreciated. And I think we're getting there. USWNT defender Carson Pickett speaks at the 2022 MAKERS Conference and opens up about showing her limb difference on social media. Can you leave tomorrow?" The training environment, if there's a game on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, no matter what, you're training just as hard nearly every day. So, Lynn did speak up and say "I think it'd be really cool to go do that and kneel by them" and so that's what we did and I think it was a really, really touching moment. PEPPER PERSLEY: Yeah. Her mind whirled: Why could he possibly be texting me? Image: Instagram/@uswnt/@tiddbit_outta_hand. "I shipped my car off and got on the plane and I was very, very nervous," says Carson. It didn't last. But I also think it was just a bonding moment when I realized that I was going to be able to experience soccer in life with my dad. Over the next 10 years, doctors would make her three more prosthetics. But I'm not going to show it on social media. I figured he wasn't going to call me to tell me I wasn't going to get called in because that's what happened many years. The nurse unwrapped the blanket and showed her to the new dad -- Carson was missing her left hand and left forearm. "Professional sports are cutthroat," she says. That includes sports, which she proved at an early age she could do just as easily as others and better than most. Carson played every minute and attacked up the left wing. ", By Tuesday night, they were sitting in Rio Tinto Stadium for Carson's debut. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. It's a big deal. I think that just says a lot about this club, they're bringing in top quality to be able to train, non-starters and starters. I can show it on the soccer field, but I'm less vulnerable on the soccer field because I have a team around me. I want them to be able to feel comfortable telling us as teammates and us as friends. But for years, there was no talking about her arm. CARY, NC In an article written in Clay Today in January 2022, former St. Johns Country Day School soccer star Carson Pickett, now a professional player for the North Carolina Courage with a bucket load of soccer championship days; a Gatorade Girls Soccer best of Florida player at St. Johns Country Day School and an NCAA title at FSU, She's got three assists and has played well defensively. She could also attack -- she still loves to go forward and can send in a deadly-accurate ball. I've never seen anyone train like her, and I think that's why she's so confident in the games. Pickett declined to comment for this story on what it was like to have the coach who championed her fired for such dismaying allegations, but she does clarify that it wasn't just Riley who had believed in her and empowered her with the Courage -- the team did, too. The family posted a video of the encounter on their Instagram account, and its adorable. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much But not to be cliche, but you just got to keep going. You know, I think that it's not worrying about you what did and didn't happen in the game, it's about moving forward and how it can be better to the next game. Mason Rudolph is a free agent and isnt overly excited When they texted her after games, their lingo was never quite right: "Nice job kicking a goal!" CARSON PICKETT: Love that. "I wasn't ashamed of it -- but I wasn't super excited about it either. It's amazing. Then at the start of 2022, the Courage saw a mass exodus of stars with Jessica McDonald, Sam Mewis, and Lynn Williams all leaving. While I know that I am confident and comfortable with showing my arm, I know there are so many people in the world who arent, she wrote on Instagram in April, which is Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month. The national team was looking like the kind of promise you make to yourself when you're a kid that you're unable to fulfill when you're an adult. From the beginning, she played all the sports. "It was a relief not to talk about soccer," says Picket, to have a night being reminded of just how wide the world is. And the message I want to leave you all with is just not to forget about the next generation. Her freshman year, when the team made it to the College Cup, she was excited when she was chosen as one of the players to talk to reporters. And so I was like, yes. The duo as a partner is much liked by the people and even people are questioning their relationship as they are seen together all the time. The boys would slide tackle girls, girls would slide tackle boys, and that was the way they all wanted it. CARSON PICKETT: I think this is a little bit difficult for me sometimes because a little background story, I was asked to go to-- in Orlando when I played there, we went to the Children's Hospital a lot. We like to eat. Who are your role models? She was chosen to play for the Florida State University team the same year. So in that sizzle reel, we saw a video when you had an incredible impact on a little boy with a limb difference just like you. "They called your name out and you went and stood with your team," says Carson. Asked to describe her teammate, Kirsten Crowley offered the word "bubbly" before anything else. teachers in their mid-20s, making $19,000 a year. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Suddenly, Treasure and Mike were scrambling and hastily booking travel online. Individual training is definitely tough, and there's just no way you can get to game fitness, in my opinion. Baby Carson figured out a way to hold her bottle, figured out a way to crawl on her own -- to the point that, when doctors at the Shriners Hospital tried to equip 6-month-old Carson with a prosthesis, she would crawl just a small distance, stop, pull off the prosthetic appendage and throw it across the floor before continuing on her way. All right, so I know for a long time, you held back, but recently you decided to show your arm on Instagram. The photo has once again gone viral on various social media platforms. Of the 70-odd kids trying out, they were clearly in the top 16. And then all of a sudden, it appeared in my lap. And so I think disability, I think that we have sometimes made it a negative word, and add a negative connotation to it. Do you talk to them about it directly? Carson's team was behind by four or five feet when she took off, flying through water, closing the gap: her team won. What people see, because they can't miss it, is a happy, bubbly person, the kind of person genuinely excited by a nice hotel on the road. She played with footballing giants -- Megan Rapinoe, Kim Little, Jess Fishlock. "She knows who she is and what she's trying to do here.". But while everybody else was asked about the game, all they wanted to hear from Carson is what it's like to play with only one arm. She sat across from Pepper Persley, a 11-year-old sports journalist who has also interviewed the likes of Michelle Obama and Chadwick Boseman. And I want to put it on my Instagram. They got her into Shriners Hospital: she was the youngest patient to ever receive a prosthetic limb. And I'm 28-- I was 28 at the time. Her friend Joseph Chiafair remembers a game when Carson got whistled for a hand ball. And maybe that day informs everything: he did not want Carson to feel sorry for herself or to feel limited. A goal from Kelley OHara in the 77th minute, shortly after play was delayed due to a lightning strike near the venue, sealed the US victory in its final match before World Cup qualifying begins. "We didn't know if she'd sink to the bottom of the pool when she jumped in.". Next season, she was traded to the North Carolina Courage where she started and made an immediate impact. I just think it's getting back to like the fundamentals, it's not like as dramatic as everyone thinks it is. She was named the Gatorade Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the state of Florida in 2012. When, in reality, I can probably do things just as easily as other people.". She fits us really well. This form was rewarded with a call up to the national squad. So for her do to that, to break ice with everybody at the same time, was awesome. With no roots in South Carolina, having moved there for work, they had no family with them in the hospital to lean on for support. Eight-year-old Carson had the fourth leg, and they were nervous for her. says Mike. Because that's what athletes like to do. But as I get older, I have a little more grace for myself. When Carson Facetimed her dad, he was bereft of his usual motivational phrases -- he just beamed at her. So just keep going. 16 Pickett jerseys to cheer When she was a kid, not making a team had made her feel small and not good enough. Her parents remember that first race -- a freestyle relay. There are moments every parent lives for the moment your child feels the same, even though he's different. There's not many basketball players with one hand. Pickett made her international debut on Tuesday in Sandy, Utah. But that's not how she feels now. The guys watched from the stands as Carson, talking to the referee, gestured angrily to her left arm, like, I have no hand -- what are you talking about? "Whoever didn't make it would cry the whole way home," says Mike. Were they talking about Carson? At the end of the tryout, the coaches called out who made each team. She swam, too. People might look, they might even ask questions, but she is used to explaining. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Treasure and Mike were sitting in a coffee shop in Denver on Sunday, the day after the game, when Carson called them with some news: "Mom and Dad, I think I might be starting the next game." "That was pretty emotional," says Mike. And thank you, Carson, for sharing your amazing story. I was on the 'C' team. The Picketts brought Carson everywhere -- to their Friday midnight bowling league with the Red Lobster waiters, to the sideline of the basketball court and the football field. The world needs more of that.". Mireya Villarreal is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles. And I think having conversations about it and continuing to be, in my opinion, the best team in the world, as far as the national team goes. So just thanking all those people along the way, I think it's really important to acknowledge everyone who comes before you no matter what profession you're in because someone has paved the way for you. The photo was proof that the smallest moments can have a huge impact. Pickett has also played for the United States under-17 and under-23 national teams. The day I sit down with her at the Waldorf Astoria, she is a featured speaker at the prestigious Makers Conference, a leadership event that brings together hundreds of the most powerful women in the world: she is on a stage sharing her experience with a wide audience. I think that as a society, we might change some words into thinking things that maybe they're not actually what they mean. So any way that I can, I would just love to support all of our teammates, all the girls in this league, because I do feel like we're one big family no matter what happens. 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