It’s not the easiest concept to get your head around, but bear with us: What if a bunch of next-big-thing athletes were able to write a letter to themselves, from the future, on the day they retired? Which hopes and dreams did they accomplish? What were the most memorable moments? That’s exactly what we asked a slew of rising stars to do — and exactly what they gave us.
Olivia Moultrie
In February, the American soccer prodigy made the unprecedented choice to go pro at 13. Here, she writes to her recently retired future self to reflect on how that big move launched an even bigger career.
Do you remember the day Abby Wambach followed you on Twitter? It was a Friday, and you were in a hotel room in Portland. You had just woken up, and Dad elbowed you to say, “Bro! Guess who just followed you on Twitter!?” You were only 13, but you had met a bunch of your soccer heroes already: Mia Hamm and Lindsey Horan and Tobin Heath, to name a few. Still, seeing that blue check mark next to Abby Wambach’s name on your follower list-yours!-was pretty surreal. You watched her win the World Cup! She’s a living legend! And she chose to follow you. There’s a reason I’m asking if you remember that morning. I’ll get to that later.
That same Friday-it was in early March 2019-some other really important news broke. The entire U.S. women’s national team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit to fight for equal pay. You saw that and you thought, “Yes, they deserve that.” You thought maybe, one day, you could be a part of that too. Fighting for equal pay; fighting to make sure no one ever says something like, “Yeah, she’s good for a woman,” but instead, “Holy smokes, she’s a great footballer, period.”
Fingers crossed, that’s what people will say about you when you read this as a freshly retired soccer star. Wow, she was a great footballer, the best to ever do it. She won a World Cup, an Olympic gold medal, an NWSL Championship and, yes, a Ballon d’Or, for sure. (I’ve tried to prepare myself for that one. How many times have I laid in bed, picturing that awards ceremony and that acceptance speech and, even in daydreams, been at a loss for words? It’s just a huge achievement. Too huge for words, apparently.)
Speaking of retirement, go big. Get yourself a big, fat slice of tiramisu and eat the whole thing by yourself in celebration of a career well-done. (Are you still a foodie, by the way?) I can’t eat much junk food these days, so live it up when you can. Maybe even take some time to enjoy the fact that your whole day isn’t planned out in 30-minute increments. I know you want to be a youth national team coach at some point, to be for the next generation what April Kater was for you. You want to work together with a player who loves football like you and be a mentor for someone like Alfredo Sainz is for you, but maybe take just one night to binge a few TV shows?
You probably won’t. You never were that patient, or one to-gasp-wait for things. Patient people probably don’t commit to play soccer for the University of North Carolina at 11 years old. They definitely don’t decide that even college can’t come soon enough so they should go pro at 13. Oh, well. Patience just isn’t your virtue.
But working hard is. Dreaming harder is too. Which brings me back to my original question. Do you remember the day Abby Wambach followed you on Twitter? Do you remember those butterflies that flew in your stomach when you realized it was really her? I’m asking because what I want to know is this: Has a future 13-year-old, out there in your future world, opened Twitter (or whatever the future version of it is) and thought, “Oh my gosh! Olivia Moultrie followed me!”?
I sure hope so.
–As told to Hallie Grossman
Jack Hughes
You’d think the NHL’s likely 2019 No. 1 pick might be looking ahead to a career full of Stanley Cups (you’d be right). But he’s also grateful to those helping his Cup dreams runneth over.
Do you remember the night you and Cole Caufield broke the National Team Development Program’s all-time points and goal-scoring records on the same play? That assist was your 190th point on Cole’s 105th goal. The equipment manager had to saw the puck in half so we could both have a piece.
I’m writing this to you as draft day nears, and it feels like so much has built to this moment, including that assist. You wanted to go No. 1, and you put in a lot of work to get there. It was a crazy year, but it was fun too. You got a chance to compete alongside USA Hockey’s best young players-faces I’m sure you’ve seen time and again in the NHL.
Look at all the guys who played there before you-Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel. It’s special to be on top of that record book. Hopefully by the time you read this the record still stands!
And remember those winters? All day and night on the outdoor rink with Quinn and Luke? That’s where everything started. Your brothers made you who you are on and off the ice. I hope they’ll be able to say you did the same for them and that they had great NHL careers too.
Maybe you even suited up with them a couple of times in the NHL. Maybe we all represented the United States at the Olympics or World Championships. Maybe we won a gold medal (or gold medals) together. What an honor that would be.
Everything you worked for was about being the best, about helping your team win. Sure, you were always competitive. You wanted to win Hart and Art Ross trophies. You wanted to appear in All-Star Games. But what really drove you-the reason you play the game, your obsession-was winning the Stanley Cup. How many times did you imagine lifting it over your head in celebration? By now, I hope you’ve experienced the real thing a few times too.
Take a second to remember all of the people who helped you get there too. Mom and Dad, of course, and your coaches and teammates. Think about all the fun you had growing up in love with hockey with your brothers and your friends.
I hope as you look back over your career that you realize all of the hard work you put in from a young age gave you what you’d been dreaming about your entire life. I hope every time you laced up your skates and put your gear on, it felt as special as it feels right now.
–As told to Chris Peters
Morgan Hurd
In 2018, Hurd announced herself as perhaps the top American gymnast not named Simone Biles. And, as the 17-year-old writes to her future self, she’s just getting started.
You couldn’t help it. Your friends got mad at you, but you just. couldn’t. help. it. Sorry, she’s going too slow! you thought to yourself, as you jumped another gymnast in line to take one more vault turn.
But when you were 10 years old, when you were running full speed ahead, when that felt like running toward your dreams-well, 80-some feet and a few seconds on the runway just never seemed like enough. You needed more. So you almost had to cut your friends in line, even though they hated it, even though you knew they hated it. Because when you were running toward your dreams, you figured, you couldn’t run fast enough.
That’s when you knew you were hooked on gymnastics. There were parts you loved along the way-when your confidence peaked and you knew you could go through your routine in your sleep, barely thinking, barely even registering anything but you, and the chalk, and the mat. There were parts you loved less-that clenching in your chest that made you short of breath when the nerves kicked in. But yeah, you were hooked. On all of it.
And those 80-some feet and few seconds were enough to fantasize about what could be ahead for you. A Tokyo 2020 spot … fingers crossed. Competing in the all-around finals … toes crossed. Medaling in each event … fingers and toes crossed. You could see it all so clearly.
While we’re on the topic of seeing things clearly: After all those years of being one of the only gymnasts to wear glasses, of standing out like a sore thumb, of hearing all the questions — Why don’t you just wear contacts?! How do you keep those things on?! Do you LIKE glasses?! — I want to ask you a question too, now that you’re reading this in the future.
Do you think more young gymnasts feel comfortable wearing glasses like you? Did you help let them know it’s normal and fine and maybe even pretty special? Other than the Olympics, other than the competition, other than the medals (though, you know, fingers and toes still crossed), that’s what I hope happens in the future. I hope, at the end of all this, you look around to find a bunch of gymnasts wearing glasses just like you, because they know it’s normal and fine and maybe even pretty special.
–As told to Hallie Grossman
Efra Alvarez
The East LA native, who turned heads with his MLS debut at 16, tells his future self to remember his roots and share his success with the next, next big thing.
Was it worth it?
Kicking the ball around the house? Playing with your older brothers in the streets of East LA? Working on your left foot amid the chickens and roosters on Fairmount Street, trying not to kick the ball into traffic on Hazard Avenue. Dribbling the ball on the sideline while Dad played men’s league in City Terrace Park?
Was it worth it?
Fighting through traffic in Dad’s Scion XD from East Los Angeles to practice and back? Meeting Eric Cantona and training alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
Can you still remember the day your manager, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, told you that you’d made the roster for LA Galaxy’s opening night? That you’d make your Galaxy debut in front of your family? Does the moment when he pulled you aside after that training and said, “Be ready, you’re going in tomorrow,” still get you excited? Even after you have-hopefully-scored hundreds of goals and won an MLS Cup and played in a World Cup?
I know it felt crazy then. It helped stoke your fire inside then. And when you did go in, and you knew your family was there-your mom and dad and your sister and brothers and your nieces and nephews-that they were all sitting up in the stands watching you step on that field, a shy kid from City Terrace in East LA, you felt it. Felt the size of the moment, felt the thrill of taking the first step toward the future you’ve wanted to build. It hit you. You wiped away the tears and hustled into your place on the field. The place you feel most comfortable. That’s how much you loved that moment. That’s how much you loved the game that gave you that moment.
It’s why it actually scares me a little, to think of you in the future, waking up and not having to go training. Waking up and not having another goal to score or another game to play.
It’s why I bet you’re making a difference now. Either as a soccer coach working your way up the ranks, retirement be damned, or a citizen in the community working to help young people like me find their calling. How could you ever stay away?
It’s why I hope you upgraded the soccer fields in East LA. Not all parks let kids play soccer-sometimes the field is only for baseball; sometimes it’s just plain not allowed-and I hope you create a place for that to happen. Maybe a future soccer player will step on that field and tear up a little bit. Maybe you’ll watch them and you’ll tear up too.
–As told to Hallie Grossman
Caroline Marks
The youngest surfer ever to qualify for the World Surf League tour, Marks, 17, anticipates her soon-to-be-legendary career — full of Olympic medals and celebrity cameos.
It’s me! You! Caroline! Do people still call you Caroline? Or do you have a cool nickname now? Maybe people just call you Champ. Like, “Hey, Champ! How’s retirement going? When are you going to settle down and start that family you always wanted, buy a house in Hawaii? Where do you keep all those trophies and medals?”
I know, I know! I’m getting ahead of myself. You retired only yesterday. But seriously. How many world titles did you win? Four? Five? At least five, right? How about the Olympics? Our sport makes its debut next year in Tokyo, and I plan to be on that team-and the teams in 2024 and 2028 and 2032. When I close my eyes, I can see every gold medal. Two years ago, I was the youngest surfer-man or woman-ever to qualify for the Championship Tour. Until now, it was my proudest moment. I’m about to start the 2019 season, and the top two Americans in this year’s rankings will make the 2020 Olympic team. So … how was it? What was it like to wear a uniform and compete for your country? Were there waves in Shida? How about Paris in 2024? Ooh-was the contest held in a wave pool?
Just thinking about the possibilities has me so excited, my hands are shaking as I type this. Is there still typing in 2039? It is 2039, right? I hope you were lucky enough to surf for 20 more years, that injuries and insecurities didn’t stand in your way. Big dreams come with big risks-but also big rewards. I hope that mantra pushed you to ride a really big wave, big enough that you had to wear a life vest and be towed in and were terrified. What was it like? No! Don’t tell me. I want the surprise.
I also want to be the first girl to land air reverses and backside airs consistently in competition. I want to hear the other surfers say, “Wow. Now we have to do that because we’re competing against the girl from Florida.” Lisa Andersen was the first girl to drive women’s surfing forward, and then Carissa Moore and Stephanie Gilmore. I want to be the next one to show what’s possible, to get barreled in bigger waves like the guys. I want to inspire young girls to go for it and never let anyone tell them they can’t do something, to be known as the surfer who works the hardest, has the most fun and is also the nicest person on tour. I want to be known as a legend. I don’t want anyone to forget who I was and what I did for the sport.
I want to be relentless. Do you still want it as much as I want it right now? Did you make that documentary, land the cover of Vogue, surf that gnarly left at Skeleton Bay? Did you ever see the northern lights? Oh, and one more thing. You might think it’s silly, but don’t forget, I’m-you’re-still only 17.
Did we get to meet Justin Bieber?
Hope so. See you in 20 years!
–As told to Alyssa Roenigk