Top 40 Abby Wambach Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I’ve never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.”

— Abby Wambach

2. “You never know if you can actually do something against all odds until you actually do it.”

— Abby Wambach

3. “You must not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance you face, to never quit.”

— Abby Wambach

4. “No I or individual is better than the team. I’ve scored no goals just on my own. Every goal I’ve ever scored has been because of someone else on my team, their excellence, their bravery. And I’m kind of the end product of a collection of a really good vibe, and feeling, and creativity on the field.”

— Abby Wambach

5. “To watch people push themselves further than they think they can, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s really human.”

— Abby Wambach

6. “It’s not pressure. It’s responsibility We put it on ourselves.”

— Abby Wambach

7. “Leadership is taking care of yourself and empowering others to do the same. Leadership is not a position to earn, it’s an inherent power to claim. Leadership is the blood that runs through your veins – it’s born in you. It’s not the privilege of a few, it is the right and responsibility of all. Leader is not a title that the world gives to you – it’s an offering that you give to the world.”

— Abby Wambach

8. “Strength is a full gamut. You’ve got to be strong from top to bottom, but you also have to raise your hand and say, “I’m feeling weak right now. I need some help.” There is true strength in being able to ask for help.”

— Abby Wambach

9. “Here’s what’s important: You are allowed to be disappointed when it feels like life’s benched you. What you aren’t allowed to do is miss your opportunity to lead from the bench. If you’re not a leader on the bench, don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.”

— Abby Wambach

10. “A champion never allows a short-term failure to take her out of a long-term game.”

— Abby Wambach

11. “You were never Little Red Riding Hood. You were always the Wolf.”

— Abby Wambach

12. “When you stand up and demand the ball, you give others permission to do the same.”

— Abby Wambach

13. “Note: When they say you’re ridiculous, you know you’re onto something.”

— Abby Wambach

14. “The world needs to see women take risks, fail big, and insist on their right to stick around and try again. And again. And again. A champion never allows a short-term failure to take her out of the long-term game. A woman who doesn’t give up can never lose.”

— Abby Wambach

15. “If we can trust each other and leave everything-all our hearts-out on the field, I think we’re going to have something to come home to and cheer about.”

— Abby Wambach

16. “Today was about execution, period. Every single player, all of us in the dressing room right now, we’re embarrassed because that’s not the way we want to play soccer.”

— Abby Wambach

17. “Playing on turf affects everything, you know, it affects the way the ball rolls, it affects the way the ball bounces, it affects the way you think about whether or not going into a slide. It’s kind of a nightmare.”

— Abby Wambach

18. “You can do as many sprints as you want but there’s nothing like playing in a 90-minute soccer game. There’s no better way to gain your fitness, in my opinion, than playing in consistent games.”

— Abby Wambach

19. “I don’t care who scores the goals, I’m going to leave my human beingness on the field!”

— Abby Wambach

20. “If given a really great chance, I’m going to put it away every single time.”

— Abby Wambach

21. “Abby, You were never Little Red Riding Hood. You were always the Wolf. There is a wolf inside of every woman. Her wolf is who she was made to be before the world told her who to be. Her wolf is her talent, her power, her dreams, her voice, her curiosity, her courage, her dignity, her choices – her truest identity.”

— Abby Wambach

22. “Claim your power, and bring along your full humanity. Clear the way for others to do the same. Because what our families, our companies, and the world needs is nothing more – and nothing less – than exactly who we are.”

— Abby Wambach

23. “New Rule: Be grateful for what you have AND demand what you deserve.”

— Abby Wambach

24. “A woman who doesn’t give up can never lose.”

— Abby Wambach

25. “We can choose our own comfort even if it makes other people uncomfortable.”

— Abby Wambach

26. “You will not always be the goal scorer. When you are not, you better be rushing toward her.”

— Abby Wambach

27. “Failure is not something to be ashamed of – nor is it proof of unworthiness. Failure is something to be powered by. When we live afraid to fail, we don’t take risks. We don’t bring our entire selves to the table – so we end up failing before we even begin. Let’s stop worrying: What if I fail? Instead, let’s promise ourselves: When I fail, I’ll stick around.”

— Abby Wambach

28. “When we live afraid to fail, we don’t take risks. We don’t bring our entire selves to the table – so we end up failing before we even begin.”

— Abby Wambach

29. “Old Rule: Play it safe. Pass the ball. New Rule: Believe in yourself. Demand the ball.”

— Abby Wambach

30. “Women must stop following the Old Rules, which exist only to maintain the status quo. If we follow the rules we’ve always followed, the game will remain the same. Old ways of thinking will never help us build a new world. Out with the Old. In with the New.”

— Abby Wambach

31. “Leadership is volunteering at the local school, speaking encouraging words to a friend, and holding the hand of a dying parent.”

— Abby Wambach

32. “You see, soccer didn’t make me who I am. I brought who I am to soccer, and I get to bring who I am wherever I go. So do you.”

— Abby Wambach

33. “They laid that new path – brick by brick – for generations of wolves to follow.”

— Abby Wambach

34. “You might find yourself holding a baby instead of a briefcase and fearing that your colleagues are “getting ahead” and leaving you behind. Here’s what’s important: You are allowed to be disappointed when it feels like life’s benched you. What you aren’t allowed to do is miss your opportunity to lead from the bench. If you’re not a leader on the bench, don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.”

— Abby Wambach

35. “Women – who are feared by many to be a threat to our system – will become our society’s salvation.”

— Abby Wambach

36. “At a young age I learned that you own labels by defying them, and defy them by owning them. I know that the final word on me will be one that I choose.”

— Abby Wambach

37. “Because no matter who you are or what you’ve done with your life, you recognize the feeling I’ve described, that private, flailing terror that makes you wonder if you’re lost for good.”

— Abby Wambach

38. “Be grateful AND loud.”

— Abby Wambach

39. “Your speech is our new bedtime story.”

— Abby Wambach

40. “I’m not going to tell people how to live their life and I surely wouldn’t tell people my life is the way you should be living. People get to choose what they do want to do with their life and I appreciated that.”

— Abby Wambach