updated 6:46 p.m. ET Jan. 17, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - Mia Hamm retired in 2004 as soccer’s most storied female player. Now she’s getting her kicks again as the image of a new league.

Hamm’s silhouette is featured in the logo unveiled Thursday by Women’s Professional Soccer, a league that plans to debut in spring 2009 in seven U.S. cities.

Just as a dribbling Jerry West became the model for the NBA’s logo, Hamm is about to strike a ball with her right foot in the navy, red and gold WPS logo.

Hamm was part of the “Fab Five” — along with Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain and Joy Fawcett — that led the U.S. team to two World Cup wins and two Olympic gold medals from 1991 to 2004.

“It’s a wonderful honor. I was really very touched by the consideration,” Hamm said in a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home. “You could put any of us on that logo and it would be appropriate. So I look at it as more of a celebration of all those people.”

The logo and the league’s formal name were unveiled Thursday in Baltimore at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention.

Formation of the league was announced in September, with teams expected in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis and Washington. League offices are in San Francisco.

Hamm debuted as the youngest player on the fledgling U.S. women’s national soccer team at 15 in 1987, and retired at the end of 2004 with 158 goals in 275 international games. She entered the National Soccer Hall of Fame last August.

Hamm and her husband, Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra, have 9-month-old twin daughters, Ava and Grace. The twins are just learning to crawl, which means most of Hamm’s exercise now comes inside the house — but she plans to play in the Mia Hamm Foundation celebrity soccer game on Jan. 26.

The charitable organization raises funds and awareness for bone marrow transplant patients and focuses on opportunities for young women in sports.

“Right now, I’m heavy into my girls and spending time with them and watching them grow,” she said. “I’ll play in the celebrity soccer game next weekend in LA. I can’t guarantee I’ll play well, but I’ll play.”

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