Remembering ‘the Mia way.’ Family, teammates honor UW goalie Mia Hamant

If you were around Mia Hamant, you had to be ready for anything.

Teammates of the University of Washington goalkeeper say her confidence and fearlessness didn’t just lead to game-winning saves, it also inspired impromptu adventures with friends and team dance parties.

But underneath her spunkiness was a constant kindness for others, and a fun-loving, laughter-filled approach to life — even as she battled cancer.

The legacy of Hamant’s time on and off the field was on display Tuesday night during a celebration of life at Alaska Airlines Arena on the UW’s campus. Hamant’s blue goalie jersey and cleats stood on display for the audience of friends, family, and fellow student athletes. Some wore orange ribbons, representing Hamant’s battle against a rare form of kidney cancer.

“As I think about Mia, I’m struck by the depth and the breadth of how she lived with exuberance as well as sincerity, a deep joy and playfulness and delight tethered to this fierce competitiveness,” said JJ Breilh, collegiate director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Hamant, a UW senior, was a rising star in the world of collegiate soccer. During her junior season, she led the Big Ten in saves, with a 0.882 save percentage. She led the UW to a penalty shootout victory over Utah State in November 2024 during the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

But after a team trip to Spain in the spring of 2025, Hamant was diagnosed with Stage 4 SMARCB1-deficient kidney cancer. After multiple rounds of chemotherapy, she died in November at the age of 21.

Mia’s father, Kevin Hamant, said one of the most difficult parts of his daughter’s death to overcome is that his child was in “such a good place” prior to her diagnosis.

“She had it all — playing the sports she loved, great friends, great teammates, a great boyfriend,” Hamant said. “Her life was so fulfilling.”

But Mia's illness didn’t stop her from showing up for her team. Hamant was committed, UW Women’s Soccer Head Coach Nicole Van Dyke told mourners.

“She was with us at every home game,” Van Dyke said. “She watched online when we traveled, she stayed connected to her team, her teammates. She just cared so much, and she just loved this team.”

Hamant started an Instagram account documenting her cancer battle. She wasn’t sharing her story for sympathy, Van Dyke said, but out of a desire to help others.

“She believed that honesty and transparency could be a lifeline, that if she could be brave out loud, maybe someone else wouldn’t feel alone,” Van Dyke said. “And she did it her way, the Mia way.”

Part of the Mia way was keeping a sense of humor. Kelsey Branson was Hamant’s teammate, and roommate. She said she’ll never forget her best friend’s ability to “take a step back” to appreciate life.

“Mia had shared with my roommates and I one day, ‘How can I be sad when there’s so much happening around me, so much good happening around me? It’s just cancer,’” Branson recalled.

Hamant wasn’t “minimizing” what was happening, she was tapping into her rare ability to approach heavy moments with lightness and gratitude. Her determination stayed constant through the very end, Kevin Hamant said.

Less than two weeks before her death, Mia Hamant used the little energy she had to get up, get dressed, and head to a Husky football game to sound the siren.

“That was Mia. She said she was going to do something, she did it,” Kevin Hamant said. “Toughest person I know.”

He said it wasn’t easy for his daughter to stop doing all the normal things she enjoyed as a 21-year-old college student pre-cancer. But the outpouring of support from the UW community helped her, her parents, and younger brother get through it.

The orange ribbons worn by fellow UW athletes, the tribute from the school's marching band, the money raised through a GoFundMe campaign — it all helped make an "unbearable situation" tolerable, Kevin Hamant said.

“Mia was only on this planet for a very short time and probably didn’t have to make a lot of life-altering decisions,” he said. “But choosing to play soccer at the University of Washington was one of her best.”