And bouncing off of that, everyone in the audience, I want to see a show of hands if you've gone to a women's sports game. So I continued to work hard, and no matter what. She transferred to the Orlando Pride in 2018 and then to the North Carolina Courage in 2021. 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. For the 2021 NWSL season, Pickett's services were acquired by the North Carolina Courage. The Steelers could bring in Wentz as Picketts backup on a one-year contract and take advantage of his experience as something of a mentor. But the first thing he felt was fear -- more specifically, the fear of what this would mean for his daughter. So I do appreciate all the behind the scenes work that everyone has done. Riley was immediately fired the same day the allegations were published. And I'm like I would be a hypocrite to tell people to put your arm out there and show that you're different than everyone. All right. Then there's the blur of the pandemic, the lost year, when her team didn't even play in the NWSL Challenge Cup, a tournament designed to replace the regular season for 2020. At the Makers Conference, seas of influential women walked through the halls. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. Carson didn't hesitate: "Of course." Swimming freestyle in the last leg of a relay, Carson entered the pool with her team trailing by more than a full length. It was the result of something called amniotic band syndrome, which happens when part of the birthing sac breaks off. "She's really comfortable in her skin, she's real confident in herself," said Crowley, a teammate both in club soccer last year and at Florida State this year. Join Facebook to connect with Carson Pickett and others you may know. And that's exciting. While she considers herself a pretty technical player, the 27 year old thrives on setting up teammates. I think that that's what's really cool about our team is that whenever someone speaks up, we always back them. They smiled so big when we walked in. appreciated. PEPPER PERSLEY: Yes. And I think waiting so long, being 28, it just-- yeah, I didn't think it was going to happen. #ThatsaW pic.twitter.com/wjlnubWfgc, The girls' dads, two of whom are former players themselves, said to the coaching director: tell you what -- put them all on the C team and we'll coach them ourselves for free. CARY, N.C. The North Carolina Courage has worked in a number of new players this season, but perhaps none have had quite the impact that Carson Pickett has. "We need you in Spain," Markgraf told Pickett. My parents never gave me sympathy for having one arm, but I realize other people do kind of give me sympathy that I don't need, just because they feel like I can't do something or that it's hard to do something. But it has been it has been an impressive start for you so far. 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. "She knows who she is and what she's trying to do here.". Yet even such sleepless anticipation proved insufficient preparation for the feeling that came when she pulled on her No. She talked about the little boy who came up to her after a game whose arm matched her own, the happiness in his eyes when he realized that her arm was like his, and how the picture the boy's mother snapped of the pair arm-bumping went viral. (Think "Friday Night Lights.") Can the Lions fix their defense? 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 want to put it on my Instagram. You love her no matter what," says Mike. Pickett made her international debut during a friendly against Colombia and played the full 90 minutes at left-back position. Whether you know people or not. Aug 6, 2020. So I want to know what it means to you. Wearing sweatshirts in the dead heat of summer to hide my arm I hope to encourage anyone who struggles with their limb difference to not be ashamed of who they are.. He's one of my best friends. Carson Pickett (born September 15, 1993) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for North Carolina Courage of the NWSL . Raised in Fleming Island on the northeastern coast of Florida near Jacksonville, Pickett attended St. Johns Country Day School and won 3 state championships with the soccer team. We won.' "They were amazing," says Carson. Updated on: August 2, 2019 / 3:10 PM So, although that was the only option. I might have to follow up with you about that. One was myo-electric, which includes a mechanism to read signals from the brain: when the brain would think about picking something up, it would activate the prosthetic arm. Seattle Reign FC selected Pickett in 2016 to represent them in the National Women's Soccer League. For seven years as a professional, she had consistently started, played well and proven herself in the NWSL. I was in my apartment in North Carolina. And I think people hide behind screens and things like that. The strangers reassured the Picketts that it was far from the end of the world, that their own daughter was as healthy, happy and independent as any other girl, right down to tying her own shoes, a minute detail that might seem part of an incomprehensibly distant future for most new parents, but which meant much more to the Picketts. Carson's team was behind by four or five feet when she took off, flying through water, closing the gap: her team won. The Courage still managed to win the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup -- Pickett was named to the Challenge Cup All-Tournament team. It's one small part of everyday life, but it's the distinction between unable and disabled that is easily blurred by even the most well-meaning observers. But not to be cliche, but you just got to keep going. The other was at a swim meet some years later. That's a lot of hands, but not everyone's. I remember walking from the circle, feeling bad. "It was a beautiful moment I will never forget," says Treasure. When Carson Facetimed her dad, he was bereft of his usual motivational phrases -- he just beamed at her. Yes. "It was so eye-opening to hear what other people do." Why do you personally think it's important to participate and continue showing support and protest during the anthem? And I remember someone in charge coming up to me and saying, maybe you can give them advice, or how they can be positive in this time. And as I get older, I feel like I am a perfectionist. Treasure is now director of secondary education for Clay County, Florida, and she stepped out of her office to take the call -- she gasped "Whaaat?!" A photo of soccer player Carson Pickett fist-bumping a little fan has gone viral on social media. The Courage are tied for first place atop the NWSL standings and Pickett has been a big reason why. Pickett was born without a left arm. A photo was recently snapped of the two arm-bumping after a recent game and it went viral. Pickett:So we have had a hard week of training, and we [did] have a couple days off, which is nice. So I think that that;s important. They've never thought of her that way. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right, that was a very powerful message. "She watched so much game film," says Mike. Next season, she was traded to the North Carolina Courage where she started and made an immediate impact. Let's dive right in. 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Pickett, who was born without a left forearm and is an advocate for limb difference awareness, sat down for a chat with CBS Sports ahead of the match to discuss All right. And I think that when my picture went viral, when I was giving an arm tap to the little boy Joseph, I made the mistake of looking at comments on there. And it's super important to show out and show up for girls and women who are living their dreams playing sports. What she can be a part of always interests her more than what anyone else assumes she cannot. And so I think it was a little bit of a battle early on of which sport I was going to play. So I know disability means maybe something that hinders you, and you don't have the strength and things like that to do what you want to do. "Pinoe was why I was okay out there. The program was a place where she felt comfortable, with coaches and players she knew. Of the 70-odd kids trying out, they were clearly in the top 16. And I'm 28-- I was 28 at the time. She was at a six day school, as-- in charge, and now she's leading the county office, and things like that. Beyond the soccer field, Pickett would like to make connections in Tallahassee that allow her to do for others what a family of strangers did for her parents on that confusing day nearly two decades ago: reassure them that a disability isn't automatically insurmountable. / CBS News. Do you ignore it? Which is a message that I'm sure all of us here can agree with. She received the most recent version around the time she turned 18. She was born without a left hand and forearm. Headers were a weakness, so she and her dad invented a ball-heading contraption -- they screwed eye hooks into one of those floating basketball hoops designed for a pool, and tied balls from both sides of the apparatus: Carson headed one ball and then the other, over and over. 2023 Cable News Network. So I want to start with--. 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. They've pushed me, they've cried with me, they've probably cried behind closed doors. Alba, it turns out, played soccer. Baffled, she asked her how she had done it, and Carson demonstrated the one-handed technique that to her was no big deal. "You need to be you. "And I've learned that. So being 28 years old, not once besides if it was a soccer picture did I want to show my arm, and nice clothes, and nice events, and things like that. 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Pickett and the child named Joshep Tidd were born without a But moving forward, we're not [just] looking towards the Reign necessarily, we're just worrying about how we can become better as a team, each and every day.". They did not do those final ultrasounds -- they wanted to be surprised. Pickett made her international debut on Tuesday in Sandy, Utah. But none of them were moving quite like she was. 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. ", In her caption on the Instagram post, she wrote: "I want to be an advocate for others like me, and for the longest time I didn't use my platform well enough. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. Sometimes, you're going to succeed. People might look, they might even ask questions, but she is used to explaining. Against Spain, the U.S. lost 2-0. At the end of the tryout, the coaches called out who made each team. She could also attack -- she still loves to go forward and can send in a deadly-accurate ball. It was like, ok, she's really cool. With COVID having such an impact, would you say that maybe there is still a lag or transitional period for players getting back to a comfortable competitive standard? So what led you to make that decision? Accessibility One year her dad stuck a giant yellow piece of paper in the center of her mirror that read: "You're either getting by or you're getting better." I feel like at any moment, anyone on this team can be a starter. I'm so excited to be here at this amazing conference with so many amazing women. Pickett: Yeah, I mean COVID was tough for everyone. The P.E. They just aren't for her. So the last question I want to ask you is about Title IX, which I'm sure is important to everyone in this room. On Tuesday morning, they flew to Utah -- "That's what you do as a parent," says Treasure. And yet even in familiar surroundings, college itself was a new environment. And thank you, Carson, for sharing your amazing story. Because that's what athletes like to do. Her parents remember that first race -- a freestyle relay. I just wanted to enjoy soccer, and enjoy my teammates, and enjoy the game. And I think that we all can learn from that and have grace for ourselves. I loved making their day. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. In tennis she regularly made it to the finals. Soccer player Carson Pickett made history on Tuesday when she became the first athlete with a limb difference to compete for the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT). From strangers in the airport who wished her well upon spotting her Seminoles gear to the plush hotel in Minnesota, the sights and sounds of a road trip had only amplified a caffeine-like rush that left her wide awake to ponder what the game would bring, how fast it would feel, how long she had waited for it. "Everything she's ever done, she's taken it on and she works at it and figured things out," her dad said. Her best guy friends, who are not soccer players, came to watch her play, although soccer was more or less a mystery to them. 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.". I think it gives us time to just recover and get our bodies right. So I think fitness-wise, obviously, it was really tough. I can't really hear the fans. Real Madrid accused of fostering 'dangerous environment' for women football players, Indian women suffer 0-2 defeat at hands of Mexico at U-17 football tournament. His parents constantly remind their 22-month-old son that his limb difference makes him unique, but that he's not alone. You don't know what the rules are. And you've waited a long time for this. We could be the best athletes. "The second-hand store.". Carson Pickett plays defense for the Orlando Pride and is one of Joseph's favorite soccer players. 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. And so that was really important for me. A version of that shoe is the Nike GT Academy FlyEase, available The same year, while playing for the Brisbane Roar against the Western Sydney Wanderers, she scored her first goal as a professional. Her friend Joseph Chiafair remembers a game when Carson got whistled for a hand ball. I feel like the teams are all super close, and we're all moving forward, as best we can to support each other. Pickett was loaned to Brisbane Roar for the 201718 W-League, the national women's association football league in Australia. 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. CARSON PICKETT: Yeah, so social media, as we all know, especially as women, it can be powerful or it could be terrible. First and foremost, she wanted to prove herself on the field, and the 18-year-old could defend. Today she can freely joke about her arm and proudly post pictures on Instagram. And I definitely didn't have anyone to look up to that had a limb difference. Pittsburgh currently has Kenny Pickett as the face of the franchise and needs to make space behind him. "Every time, we'll cheer on Carson and she always can hear us, and she came over in that instance and we were able to take that picture," Tidd said. 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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. PEPPER PERSLEY: Yeah, self-love. "After all of this, looking at the world, I see that there are people who have it way worse than me, and a simple disability really shouldn't shape who you are," Pickett said. She didn't want to be known as the girl with one-arm -- she wanted to be known as the soccer player. So, I think that is probably the biggest thing that COVID did, was just not allow us to train together. And as I'm sitting here in a room full of so many powerful women who have changed the world already, I'm just inspired. So what does it mean for the team to go back to the drawing board? "No way we'd miss it. And luckily, we haven't done that yet. Plus, Pinoe loves throw-ins," Carson says with a laugh. "Whoever didn't make it would cry the whole way home," says Mike. Who are your role models? They got her into Shriners Hospital: she was the youngest patient to ever receive a prosthetic limb. And thanks for coming, you guys. All right. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. Were they talking about Carson? "I shipped my car off and got on the plane and I was very, very nervous," says Carson. She finished her shopping in a haze, called him back, and heard the words she'd dreamt of: We'd like to bring you in. My mom played basketball in college. By Drew Weisholtz. Really, they should be telling me how to be positive because what I'm going through is nothing compared to what they're going through. Joseph Tidd, a 21-month-old from Florida, sees himself in professional soccer player Carson Pickett. Both were born without a left forearm and the pair have shared a special connection ever since they were first introduced at a game in April. Florida State University has 33,000 people. She swam, too. Pinoe, as Rapinoe is known by her teammates, played in front of Carson, and Pinoe had this way of grinning at you conspiratorially, making you feel welcome and at ease, joking with you until the nerves went away. Coach Paul Riley described her to the local news channel: "Honestly, she's a much better all-around player than I thought. "She does the same thing because she doesn't know any different.". I think just not being able to play a full year together no matter what team you're on, definitely takes a toll. Can Barca overcome on-field fatigue, off-field chaos to beat Real Madrid in Copa del Rey? However, Pickett and her teammates are looking at the bigger picture an NWSL Championship. If that phone call comes again from the U.S. national team, she's going to be ready. Carson Pickett made history Tuesday night when she became the first player with a limb difference to play for the United States womens She was the team's starting center-back and allowed zero goals during the course of tournament. Carson Pickett (@Cars_Pickett16) June 29, 2022 Met with praises and support on social media Tuesday, Pickett tweeted "Dream come true," after the 2-0 win against Colombia. She didn't know a soul. Meanwhile Coach Pickett shouted from the sideline -- and all the guys in the stands got a good chuckle figuring out what was going on. "Obviously, it's your baby. I'm able to live life. "We knew if we coddled her, she'd have no chance," says Mike. Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The 27-year-old full back has slotted into the Courage's system with relative ease. Pickett first gained international attention in 2019 when a picture of her giving a fist bump to a kid with a similar limb difference went viral on social media. 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