The college junior is bringing light to a dark journey, embracing optimism as she documents her battle with rare disease
Mia Hamant wanted to play through everything. It started with a bad cough that lingered for a while. Then the coughing fits became worse and longer-lasting. She made light of it at the time. Her goalkeeping coaches joked that she needed to stop smoking cigarettes – never mind the fact that she had never touched them.
A few months of that, and the University of Washington goalie still thought nothing of it. But then, on a team trip to Spain, she started getting other symptoms, including vomiting. The cough lingered, and Hamant – who by her nature would make an effort to play through anything – had to sit out two fixtures in a row.
That finally prompted her to go to the emergency room. A cough? Fine. An even worse cough? Play through it. Her body physically shutting down? It might be time to get checked out. The results came back, and doctors told her there were three possible options.
“It could either be an autoimmune disease, it could be an infection or it could be cancer,” she said. “I was like … what? Like, there's no chance. That's a sick joke.”
More tests followed, and then the troubling news came back. It was stage four SMARCB1-deficient kidney cancer, a rare condition that accounts for fewer than one percent of all kidney cancers. Some hospitals only see one case per year. She was, statistically, a medical anomaly.
That was nearly two months ago, and the time since for Hamant has been a whirlwind of treatment, chemotherapy and hospital bills. But through it all, she has been determined to use her diagnosis and the battle through it as a means of hope for others. She has documented all of it, insisted that she still go about the day-to-day of life, and worked towards the goal of playing soccer again – no matter how rare, or challenging, her condition is.
“You’ve got to have hope,” she says. “And that's what I always say, is like, ‘If I don't have something to shoot for, a goal to strive for, like, what is this? What are we doing?’ “
Mia Hamant 'I don't want people to see me like that'
Hamant doesn’t want to know any of the deep details about her condition. She doesn’t want to know the prognosis. She doesn’t want to know about the potential outcomes, good or bad, or how much her body can fight this thing. Instead, the competitor in her is looking at her condition, paradoxically, in a different way.
This is a chance for her to show people what dealing with cancer is like, what chemotherapy does to your body, and how she, at 20-years-old can – and – get through it.
“I am down at times and whatnot,” she admits, understandably. “But I don't want to put that out there. I don't want people to see me like that. Because others who are going through this might feel discouraged, if that makes sense.”
It helps, of course, that she has the Washington community – and wider soccer world, it should be noted – behind her. Her family set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the treatment for her condition. A few donations would have been nice, she figured.
Yet, as of this week, she has raised more than $120,000 on contributions from 1,000-plus individuals. Last week, someone anonymously donated $5,000.
For Hamant, that – not the disease – is the overwhelming part of her story.
“Not just the amount of money, but the amount of people who donated, it's just mind boggling,” she said. “That is just crazy. I didn't think that many people would care.”
Mia Hamant 'I like just being a normal person'
The generosity has also fostered a sense of positivity. That’s never been hard, she admitted. She insists that she doesn’t want to be treated differently, or looked at from a sympathetic perspective. Yes, she lost her hair because of chemotherapy. No, she can’t kick a soccer ball at the moment, and is experiencing all sorts of weird and unanticipated body pains. But it is vital that she remains as “normal” as possible.
“I don't like pity. That's not something I f*ck with,” she said with candor. “I like just being like a normal person. I like being treated as an equal. And my friends have been doing a really good job about that. My family, too.”
Part of that effort has been publicly documenting her journey. On May 6, she put up her first post on Instagram, miakickscancer. It was pieced together as a laugh at first. She suggested to her boyfriend, Jack, that 100 followers would be cool. She now has more than 2,000, and has kept up a regular posting schedule. Hamant jokes that she might now be part of a rare category of cancer influencers.
“It's actually really comical, but it's honestly more fun,” she says. “Sometimes I'm like, ‘Yeah, this is like a burden to post on.’ But then sometimes, I have this really funny idea, I don't know where else I would post it on, besides this account.”
But the social media presence does serve a purpose. It’s not for entertainment or clicks. Rather, she wanted to use it to show others what her journey has been like, and how she can even inspire those in similar circumstances.
Here’s Hamant shaving her head with the help of her family. There’s Hamant going in for a round of chemotherapy. And then there’s the other day-to-day, managing to work out – pull ups, squats, basic stuff most can do in the gym. More than anything, though, she wants people to see how she is confronting cancer, and still attacking life.
“Right now, my biggest side effects from the chemotherapy is just a lot of joint pain, muscle pain or nerve pain,” she said. “I'm not even sure what it is, but my back is so bad. The past few days, like, I wasn't able to drive, I wasn't able to get up really. It really hurts to move, honestly.”
Mia Hamant 'I would actually go crazy if I was just stone cold'
All of that, though – the pain, the annoyance, the inconvenience, what Hamant dubs “niche side effects” – is important for people to know.
In fact, she finds it all, to some degree, funny.
“You’ve just gotta laugh. You can't be serious all the time,” she says. “I would actually go crazy if I was just stone cold. It's just, it's funny to me.”
And, full circle, there’s the soccer element to this all. Hamant knows what it’s like to miss time on the pitch. She tore her ACL after graduating high school, and had to medically redshirt her freshman year with the Huskies. Returning from that injury was difficult, she said. It fostered a renewed sense of competitive spirit within her.
Prior to last year, there was a chance she could start. And she seized every moment. Last season, she claimed the No. 1 spot and was among the best goalies in the Big Ten Conference. That meant playing through anything – literally, anything.
“We played the pro Seattle Reign team, and I think I actually had cancer through that,” she said, “which is just mind-blowing to me.”
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Mia Hamant 'She's shown she shines brighter than that kit'
This summer, she was supposed to play for the USL W League team West Seattle Rhodies. In fact, she was slated to be a crucial part of the side. Team owner Jessica Pierce had earmarked Hamant as a core member of her squad on the back of the 2024 college season. Hamant bought into the team, and had a say in the kit. She saw an all-black design, and insisted that the team wear it.
In her words, it was ‘bus’ – translation, cool.
“She's shown she shines brighter than that kit,” Pierce said. “And I cannot wait to see her wear that kit next year. I'm not gonna freaking retire that kit until I see her in it.”
Once it became clear that Hamant wouldn’t be able to appear for the team this season, Pierce made some modifications. A patch in her honor adorns every shirt. The men’s team, also affiliated with the USL club, wear orange tape – the color associated with kidney cancer awareness – in her honor.
“We have her patch, and the guys also wear orange tape for every match, on their socks or on their wrist,” Pierce said. “There's not a moment where her presence isn't felt on the pitch and remembered. So no matter how lousy we think our match went, we're grateful.”
And now their support is codified in full, with a portion of every shirt purchased going towards Hamant’s treatment. More hospital visits will follow. More Instagram updates will come. More humor, and more challenges, as well. But so too will normal life, as much as possible: college classes, workouts, the day-to-day of being a 20-year-old, navigating all that life has to offer. And yes, cancer. For now.
And somehow, someday, Hamant is going to play soccer again. That’s non-negotiable.
“Whether it's collegiate, whether it's adult League, like, I'd love to play one day,” she says. ‘Even if it's just one time.”