The Courage still managed to win the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup -- Pickett was named to the Challenge Cup All-Tournament team. But during the kickoff, all the Courage players ran over to Chicago's side in what was a supportive moment of protest, was there discussion ahead of the match about potentially doing that? Did you encounter any technical issues? Pickett began playing football at an early age and helped her school team win three state titles. Soccer might seem a natural fit for someone with one arm, but she settled on it only after trying all the other sports her friends played growing up. She just played through it. "It's funny to say that because she doesn't have an arm, but to be left-footed and to be fast is a big advantage, in women's soccer especially.". 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 a variety of topics, among them her first season with her new club and getting acclimated to competitive environments in Courage Country. I can't imagine with that kind of dream come true, that kind of moment, would be like. So, it is challenging, but I do feel like, especially in games, it's the most fit I've been. So when Carson arrived on Sept. 15, 1993, their first impression was similar to the ones their new daughter would later fret over. I just wanted to enjoy soccer, and enjoy my teammates, and enjoy the game. WebCarson Leighann Pickett. That's one thing. "I shipped my car off and got on the plane and I was very, very nervous," says Carson. All right, everyone. Way back in kindergarten there'd been some questions. "I would say there are just people out there who would give me more sympathy than I need," Pickett said. Carson would eventually get her first call-up to a U.S. national team camp with the U-17s, playing with the likes of Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan and Emily Sonnett. "We didn't know if she'd sink to the bottom of the pool when she jumped in.". And maybe that day informs everything: he did not want Carson to feel sorry for herself or to feel limited. PEPPER PERSLEY: Hi, everyone. 32 NFL players who could change teams this offseason, What NBA Finals runs from LeBron, Giannis can teach Jayson Tatum, Sizing up the player of the year winners in all 32 Division I men's conferences. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. PEPPER PERSLEY: All right. And I think that it's so exciting. That's how she does things. There's not many basketball players with one hand. Accessibility It wasn't made up, I didn't plan it," Pickett said. We won.' Are PSG better off without Neymar in big games? This form So I'm glad that got a round of applause. Against Spain, the U.S. lost 2-0. It's really important. Heck yeah. I have no idea why, but they're a good team. Baffled, she asked her how she had done it, and Carson demonstrated the one-handed technique that to her was no big deal. She's proof wellbeing has nothing to do with size, TikTok users say 'bold glamour' filter is 'terrifyingly realistic'. Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students, Watch Live: Garland testifies amid ongoing special counsel investigations. But if she defined herself by what she does not have that others do, or by what she cannot do that others can, she would not have been on that road trip in the first place. "You need to be you. Which is a message that I'm sure all of us here can agree with. At 4 a.m., she got up to catch an early flight to Orange County, California. He told her they wanted to familiarize her with the system and have her to play in the upcoming games near Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. Within a week, Mike went to work at school with his arm tied behind his back because he wanted to understand what the world would be like for his daughter. "Everything she's ever done, she's taken it on and she works at it and figured things out," her dad said. I think it gives us time to just recover and get our bodies right. We like to eat. I feel like at any moment, anyone on this team can be a starter. She couldn't do her hair or check her teeth without seeing it. Seattle Reign FC selected Pickett in 2016 to represent them in the National Women's Soccer League. Carson Pickett plays defense for the Orlando Pride and is one of Joseph's favorite soccer players. Swimming freestyle in the last leg of a relay, Carson entered the pool with her team trailing by more than a full length. And I'm like, I'm not going to tell someone who has it way harder than me right now how to be positive. Pickett shared her journey. Mr. Pickett, longtime high school coach, is fond of inspirational sayings. September 15, 1993. 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. Download it here. Are PSG better off without Neymar in big games? "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. On Tuesday morning, they flew to Utah -- "That's what you do as a parent," says Treasure. 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). "Her dad will challenge you to basketball at lunch break and be in your head before you even start playing. For seven years as a professional, she had consistently started, played well and proven herself in the NWSL. She played tennis, learning to bounce the ball off her racket and up into the air in place of the toss and how to master the one-handed backhand. Because the people who have quote unquote, "disabilities", if we continue to show that we can do anything we want to do, then maybe that will change the word. Pickett has become an integral part of her club; she was named to the 2021 NWSL First-Team Starting XI and was a finalist for 2021 Defender of the Year. The boys would slide tackle girls, girls would slide tackle boys, and that was the way they all wanted it. Truly inspiring. No matter if you're an opponent, everyone seems like family in this league. But none of them were moving quite like she was. And this was this year. American soccer player who first gained fame as a member of Seattle Reign FC, which she joined in 2016. I mean, it has absolutely changed so much for me personally, but so much for girls and women in sports. I can't really hear the fans. And so that was really important for me just to kind of realize that everyone's journey is different. As she vented to her mother, Treasure replied: "You can reach so many people with your story. So I know that for you, language is very important when it comes to awareness. 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. Carson's favorite, the one she'll share with others, is: "Never let someone turn your sky into a ceiling." But let's be honest. This is so much bigger than soccer, and however I can make someone feel comfortable, or help support people who feel like family, that's what I want to do. There was a problem. "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. After a warm greeting for a Orlando boy became an online sensation, former St. Johns Country Day defender Carson Pickett is adapting to a brighter spotlight. I know that there's so much we have to look forward to. And so I knew that if I chose soccer, it was going to be a lot of years of really good times with him and allowing him to coach me, and on and off the field. CARSON PICKETT: Yeah, so social media, as we all know, especially as women, it can be powerful or it could be terrible. Pickett is the first person with a limb difference to play for the U.S. women's national team -- although when her friends from home first heard the game announcers share that factoid, they were momentarily puzzled. "I basically spent the whole day feeling sorry for myself," says Mike. Because that's what athletes like to do. PEPPER PERSLEY: Yeah, started with that love of the sport. Over the next 10 years, doctors would make her three more prosthetics. And I realized that I started to play soccer because I loved it, not for any certain opportunities that were going to fulfill me for a certain amount of time. Training here is, is just it's hard no matter what week it is, but I will say this week has been very difficult in the best way possible. 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?!" She was always just happier with what she was born with. That includes sports, which she proved at an early age she could do just as easily as others and better than most. A photo was recently snapped of the two arm-bumping after a recent game and it went viral. / CBS News. So just keep going. 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? Mike recalls: "She would crawl two steps, it would slow her down, then she'd take it off, chuck it, and take off crawling on her nub with blinding speed around the room. But there were some really mean comments. And just allow yourself to fail. 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. And my dad played A day later, she confirmed: "I'm starting." Date of birth. In tennis she regularly made it to the finals. Absolutely, got my groceries, made sure I checked out first because I had to get my food. Let's all try to love ourselves no matter what we look like and let's all be kind to each other above all else. 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. And we visited the kids with cancer. I love that. It helped that she went to the same school from grade school through high school and had a familiar network of friends. 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. But that team environment I feel like was hard because there's just people all over the world trying to get games and you just got not getting that team environment that you that you need for the next year. Just to follow up: Andy Sullivan recently gave a really good response to a postgame questions about kneeling during the anthem and support as a white teammate, and the importance of sort of pushing oneself to be uncomfortable. And I want to put it on my Instagram.' So, I think just coming back into training everyone was hungry just to get better for themselves and for the team. It is a far cry from how Carson grew up at a K-12 private school where everyone knew everyone. Different people are my kind of people. In the Pickett house, "Can't" and "quit" are the worst four-letter words you could use. Sleep didn't come easily to Carson Pickett the night before Florida State's opening game this season, the first of the freshman's college career. 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