By David Wight
WHEN THE CONNECTION learned that Costco
member Brandi Chastain was impressed with a
1-Hour Photo service, we were eager to track her
down for the story. You should recognize the name,
and may recall her iconic image—on the covers of
Sports Illustrated, Newsweek and Time magazines—
celebrating the penalty kick with which she took her
team to a World Cup win in 1999.
We caught up with the Olympic and World Cup
champ, author, mom, youth coach, ESPN color
commentator and not-for-profit co-founder (Bay
Area Women’s Sports Initiative) by phone at her
California home.
The Costco Connection: What got you interested
in transferring old media to DVD?
Brandi Chastain: I was going to take a trip to
Brazil for the U.S. State Department and U.S. Soccer,
a goodwill-ambassador trip trying to get local government officials and people to recognize how
important it would be for young girls to participate.
I thought it would be great to bring some video of
my teammates and me playing. If I could get that on
a disc, great, because I don’t have a VHS [player]—I
don’t think most people have those anymore. I
found tapes from when we played Brazil, and took
those to Costco because I knew they did transfers to
disc. I asked if I could get the transfer back in five
days—I’m always doing stuff at the last minute—but
they told me the process takes about three weeks.
CC: But you didn’t take “three weeks” as the final
word, right?
BC: I learned that the headquarters of Yes Video, the
company that provides the service, was close to my
home, so I drove by to see if that would be any faster.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t do it, and after seeing
the process, I understand why. I am in awe of how
incredibly secure and safe everything is, and how
delicately they [treat] every single piece of media.
CC: What type of videos did you convert?
BC: The USA–Brazil soccer stuff, but I also had all
this other stuff, from when I was 3 or 4 years old
with my brother in the bathtub, to youth soccer, to
Olympic soccer. As it turns out, we were having this
family reunion, so I got to show my grandmother
some old things of my father and my mom and
cousins together—just some really funny things.
CC: Will you be doing more transfers?
BC: I have a ton more. That was just the tip of the
iceberg. I have Hi8 tapes of our first-ever professional women’s soccer league in the U.S., and other
national league stuff—on the road or behind-the-scenes kind of stuff.
CC: You retired from professional soccer in 2010.
How are you spending your time now?
BC: I don’t like that word [retire]; it seems so final.
I’d rather say I’m on a sabbatical [laughs]. Mom is
the No. 1 [priority]. My son is 7 years old, about to
go into second grade, so our summer vacation has
been about him, and about coaching soccer. It was
actually the first summer I remember that I didn’t
play soccer.
CC: In conclusion, what do you want to share with
Costco members about your overall experience?
BC: Both of my parents passed away fairly young, so
photos and videos got lost in the shuffle. That’s a
reason why this is such a gift: I’m re-collecting these
things for myself. If you haven’t tried it, feel comfortable in knowing your memories will be safe and
secure, and that you’ll have access to them on a
regular basis. C
The Costco
Connection
Convert your fading home movies,
videos or slides to long-life gold
DVDs. It’s a good time to plan
holiday gifts of converted
memories. Typical delivery time is
three weeks, and pricing starts as
low as $17.99. Costco members
receive free online storage with
easy access for sharing media
memories with family and friends,
even on smartphones and tablets.
Information is available at 1-Hour
Photo counters in most warehouses, by phone toll-free at
1-866-463-7694 or search
“home movies” at Costco.com.
Video conversion
scores big with
soccer champ
Winning memories
inside costco
Tablet or
smartphone?
Scan or click here
for a look at some
of Chastain’s
recovered memo-
ries. (See page 5
for scanning
details.)
Brandi Chastain on the
field with FC Gold Pride
in 2009 (left), and some of
her recovered memories.