The University of Washington women’s soccer team has suffered a tragic loss.
Goalkeeper Mia Hamant, who helped the Washington Huskies make it to the semifinals in the Big Ten tournament her junior year, died Thursday, November 6, of Stage 4 kidney cancer. She was 21.
“Mia was the heart of our program — someone who lifted up everyone around her with her joy, courage, and kindness. Even in the most difficult moments, she showed an unshakable spirit that inspired her teammates and coaches every single day. Mia made us all better people, and her impact will be felt in this program and in all of our lives forever,” Nicole Van Dyke, the team’s head coach, said in a statement shared by the university on Thursday.
Pat Chun, the Director of Athletics, added, “The University of Washington grieves the heartbreaking loss of Mia Hamant, whose strength, kindness, and spirit touched everyone around her. Mia embodied everything we hope for in a Husky student-athlete — perseverance, grace, and an unwavering commitment to her teammates and community. Her remarkable courage through adversity and the legacy she leaves behind will forever inspire the UW family.”
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The team physician, Ashwin Rao, commented on the social media post, opening up about his team working with the late athlete.
“I had the privilege of getting to know Mia throughout her four years as a student-athlete, and during her diagnosis and treatment,” he wrote. “I was also fortunate to be with her to the end of her journey. Throughout the process, Mia fought her cancer as fiercely as she played. She wished to be an inspiration to others also fighting cancer, as well as a source of awareness and destigmatization.”
Hamant enjoyed a tremendous 2024 season with the program, recording the third-lowest single-season goals-against average in program history before missing the 2025 season due to her diagnosis. The Big Ten conference honored Hamant with the 2025 Sportsmanship Award this week.
Mia Hamant Washington Huskies Courtesy of the University of Washington/Instagram
In an interview with 97.3 KIRO Newsradio on Friday, November 7, University of Washington associate professor Scott Tykodi explained how someone so young and so healthy can be struck with such an aggressive disease.
“Kidney Cancer, that’s a kind of a general, casual term, but what we typically see in adults, what’s called renal cell carcinoma has several different subtypes, and there are a few rare types that are enriched in a much younger patient population, something called a medullary renal cell carcinoma and a translocation renal cell carcinoma that often appears in patients in their late teens, 20s, early 30s,” he said.
Tykodi continued: “And those subtypes respond much less well to the available therapies. And so it’s a real tragedy that these rare types that are enriched in younger patients, yet the therapies we have typically don’t work very well at all. So it’s an awful, an awful scenario.”
Hamant’s cancer, stage 4 SMARCB1-deficient kidney cancer (which is also known as renal medullary carcinoma) is particularly rare — the young soccer star was only the 14th documented case of the disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, stage 4 of kidney cancer typically means the disease has spread to other parts of the body.
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“It’s quite unusual to have young patients with a kidney cancer diagnosis, and I think it always hurts more to see such a young person struggle with a terrible disease that does not have curative options,” Tykodi added.
