Sports Envoy Program
Soccer
Johnny Collins is an “A” licensed soccer coach who has been coaching all over the world for the past 25 years. He has coached at all levels but prefers working in youth development. An orphan himself, he loves working with underprivileged kids and he has an 18 year old daughter so empowering young women is also a passion of his.
Soccer
Cobi Jones is a Southern California sports legend, maintaining the title of the longest standing member of the LA Galaxy dynasty. LA’s “Original Cobi,” spent 15 seasons with the Galaxy, as both a player and coach from 1996 – 2010. A 2011 US Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, Cobi is a two-time MLS Cup winner (2002, 2005) with a storied international career with the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. A permanent fixture with the team from 1992- 2004, he played in three World Cups (1994, 1998, 2002) and has the most international appearances for the Men’s side with 164 caps. He is also a 1992 Olympian. Prior to his MLS career, Cobi played overseas with Coventry City (English Premier League) and the Brazilian side, Vasco de Gama.
Today, Cobi is one of the sport’s preeminent broadcasters working with FOX Sports, where he was part of both the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup broadcast teams, both as a game analyst (2018) and co-hosting World Cup Tonight (2018-2019). He is the lead English language analyst for Fox’s coverage of Liga MX, Mexico’s top professional soccer league. He has also covered the Bundesliga, US Men’s National Team games, CONCACAF Champions League, the Gold Cup, and various FIFA tournaments for Fox. Cobi has been in the booth as the color commentator calling the LA Galaxy matches since 2012 for Spectrum SportsNet (formerly Time Warner Cable), Pac-12 Network, BeIn Sports, Next VR and he was also part of the 2012 NBC Olympic coverage.
A UCLA Hall of Famer and 1990 NCAA Champion with the Bruins, Cobi works closely with the LA2028 Olympic Committee, The Rose Bowl Institute, the LA84 Foundation, Cal South, AYSO, the US Soccer Foundation, and others. He represented the White House as part of the Presidential Delegation, attending both the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final in Canada and the 2014 FIFA Men’s World Cup Final in Brazil. He is also consistently part of the US State Department’s Sports Envoy.
In the Fall of 2020, it was announced that Cobi joined the esteemed ranks as one of the founding investor owners of the NWSL’s newest team, Angel City FC, brining women’s professional soccer to Los Angeles. Cobi joins sports greats Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Serena Williams, actresses Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner, America Ferrara and other notable names as part of the ownership group that is moving the needle for parity and equality in sports.
In an effort to work toward racial equality, improve the gender pay gap and continue to help elevate American soccer on a global level, Cobi will work with US Soccer and the US Soccer Foundation to bring his passion and commitment to the beautiful game to another level.
Basketball
Born in 1976, Allison Feaster played basketball for Harvard University before being drafted in the first round of the 1998 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Feaster played with the Sparks until 2001, when she left to play for the Charlotte Hornets until 2006. In 2008, Feaster finished her final WBNA season with the Indiana Fever. Over her 10 seasons, Feaster played 284 games, averaging 8 points per game. After retiring from the NBA, Feaster was a part of the inaugural NBA Basketball Operations Associate Program, which was created to prepare former NBA and WNBA players to pursue career opportunities in team management positions. Feaster is now the G League player personnel and coach relations lead and serves as one of the primary liaisons for the NBA G League Basketball Operations group.
Soccer
Linda Hamilton enters her fifth season as head coach of the Southwestern women’s soccer team, coming off a season in which she was named the SCAC Coach of the Year, leading the Pirates to the SCAC Championship match.
Hamilton brings a wealth of experience to the program, both as a player and coach. She played collegiately at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina, earning All-America status and all-conference honors all four years. She was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1988. Hamilton was a member of the United States National Team, where she played in 82 international matches. She helped the team to a World Cup gold medal in 1991 and bronze in 1995.
Hamilton, who owns a United States Soccer Federation “A” coaching license, got her start in coaching at Old Dominion University as the team’s head coach from 1993 to 1995. She later served as an assistant at Hofstra University (2006-2007) and most recently served as head coach at the University of North Florida (2007-2013). She has additionally worked with the Easter Seals and National Multiple Sclerosis Society (2002-2006), serving as director of development.
Basketball
Richard Cho is an American baskebtall executive who is currently the Vice President of Basketball Strategy of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. Prior to which he was the general manager of the Portland Trailblazers, Charlotte Hornets, and assistant manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Cho was the first Asian American general manager in NBA history. I995, he was hired as an intern for the Seattle SuperSonics while finishing his law degree. Two years later, he earned his degree and was hired as the SuperSonics’ director of basketball affairs before being promoted to assistant general manager. During his time as the assistant general manager, the SuperSonics made it to the NBA playoffs twice.
When he left Seattle to manage Oklahoma City Thunder, Thunder utilized Cho’s background in law and mathematics when negotiating trades, free agent signings, and interpreting the NBA’s complex collective bargaining agreement. He returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2010 and remained there until 2019 when he was hired by Memphis.
Basketball
As a manager of International Basketball Operations at the National Basketball Association (NBA), Martin Conlon conducts basketball grassroots events all over the world, organizing, coaching in, recruiting for, and creating curriculum for camps, clinics, or coaching seminars. He also maintains relationships with international basketball federations, clubs, and organizations.
Conlon has led the NBA Haier Academy camps in mainland China for the last three years, working in nine different cities and acting as the lead scout and championship coach of the reality TV show NBA Mengniu Basketball Disciple. In 2008, Conlon also led the first-ever “NBA Hoop School” program in India, working with local coaches in Bangalore, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
Prior to joining the NBA front office, Conlon enjoyed an extensive professional basketball career, most recently as the captain and player/coach of the Irish National Team. He played one season in Spain, another in Greece, and three in Italy. Conlon played in the NBA from 1991 to 1999, spending time on the rosters of Seattle, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Miami.
A member of the Westchester County Hall of Fame, Conlon is also a junior council member of New York’s Museum of Natural History, a junior board member of SEEDS (Sports for Education and Economic Development in Senegal) and a member of the Hawk Mountain conservancy.
As a player at Providence College – from which he holds a bachelor’s degree – Conlon played on the 1987 NCAA Final Four team. He returned to the tournament with Providence in 1989 and 1990.
Basketball
Darvin Ham is a professional basketball coach that enjoys fulfillment of helping others. He founded Urban Youth Development in 2003 to bring about a critical change in his communities.
Darvin was born July 23, 1973 in Saginaw, Michigan.
Darvin was shot in a cross-fire one block away from his home at the age of 14, during his 9th grade year, while attending Central Junior High School. The bullet entered his jaw, and lodged in his neck, barely missing his spine by millimeters. No one was convicted for the shooting. Having gone through a life-threatening experience at such an early age, Darvin realized how precious life is and moreover, the terrible circumstances that have entrapped our young men.
Darvin attended Saginaw High School and played just 1 year, his senior year, during 1990-91. After making a verbal commitment to the United States Air Force, Darvin was persuaded by his brother DeRonnie to pursue an athletic scholarship through basketball and was granted a partial scholarship in the summer of 1991 to attend Otero Junior College in LaJunta, Colorado.
After playing the 1991-92 season at Otero, Darvin was voted an All-American and participated at the JUCO(junior college) Jamboree in Vincennes, Indiana during the summer of 1992. There he was discovered by Texas Tech University. He earned his Associate of Arts degree from Westark Community College in Fort Smith, Arkansas in July of 1993.
Darvin attended Texas Tech from 1993-96. During that time, he started all 90 games of his collegiate career. At Texas Tech, Darvin received the following accolades:
• Named to Southwestern Conference Defensive Team (1993-1994)
• Named by The Sporting News as the Southwest Conference “Most Underrated Player” before the 1995-96 season.
• Name second team All-SWC in 1995-96.
• One of four seniors to lead Texas Tech to the Sweet 16 after posting a 28-1 regular season record.
• Featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated after shattering the backboard during an upset victory over North Carolina in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
• Finished the season ranked 9th in the nation with a 30-2 record.
• 1996 NCAA Slam Dunk Champion
Darvin’s NBA Bio:
• Signed as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association.
• Finished 4th in the Nestle Crunch NBA Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in 1997.
• Traded to the Indiana Pacers midway through his rookie season in February of 1997.
• Signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards for the 1997-98 season.
• Signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1999, and played there until 2002.
• Signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks for the 2002-03 season.
• Signed as a free agent with the Detroit Pistons in 2003, and played there until 2005.
• Member of the 2003-04 NBA World Champions Detroit Pistons.
• Has appeared in 417 NBA games, with 45 starts.
• Has appeared in 55 playoff games, with 11 starts.
Broadcasting
• FOX Sports Network (FSN) Southwest NBA Analyst
• NBAtv Network Analyst
NBDL
• Drafted 3rd in the 2007-08 NBDL Draft by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds
• 2007-08 Member of the Southwest Division Champion Austin Toros
• 2008-09 Assistant Coach for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds
Coaches that I’ve played for have a combined 3,422 wins.
Bernie Bickerstaff- 414
Dick Motta-935
George Karl-879
Lon Kruger- 69
Terry Stotts-115
Larry Brown-1010
Darvin’s International Bio:
• Played in Granada, Spain during 1998-99 season.
• Featured guest of NIKE Swiss Camp in Zurich, Switzerland in 2002.
• Played in Manila, Philippines in 2006.
• Played in Coamo, Puerto Rico in 2006.
• For the past 8 years, annually oversees a Basketball Life Skills Camp in Bad Honnef, Germany.
Mr. Ham has a wife, Deneitra, of 11 years, 3 sons, Darvin Jr., 17, Donovan, 12 and Dominic,9. Thanks to the priceless examples set forth by his father and grandfather, both of whom are now deceased, Darvin was shown the importance of a strong, positive and influential male role model directly in the home.
His hobbies include fishing, playing dominoes, traveling, jet-skiing, working-out, working with young basketball players (AAU), and going out-to-eat with his wife and kids.
Soccer
As an undergraduate student at Carolina, Lorrie Fair Allen helped the women’s soccer team to national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999. During the same period of time, Allen was succeeding on the field globally, becoming a FIFA World Cup champion and an Olympic silver medalist in 2000.
These days, Allen, a mother of two boys under the age of five, works as a program director for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and volunteers as a sports envoy for the U.S. Department of State.
Her dual passion of soccer and advocacy began to take root when she arrived at Chapel Hill. The women’s soccer program is special, and one of coach Anson Dorrance’s goals is to build leaders, Allen said in a 2018 interview. “His biggest hope is that that extends beyond the soccer field.”
As a State Department sports envoy since 2008, Allen works to support the embassies’ diplomatic missions abroad by connecting with people from diverse cultures using a shared love for soccer. Allen also led a six-month expedition beginning in London and ending in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as part of the organization, Kickabout, which she co-founded and self-funded.
At the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, Allen spearheads the foundation’s grantmaking. She seeks out and identifies community-based organizations in Southern Africa that engage young people to keep themselves and their peers safe from HIV and helps them apply for grants to support them in accomplishing their goals.
In 2016, Allen became a Carolina student once again, pursuing an online master’s degree in public administration through the School of Government.
Soccer
Danielle Slaton currently works as the Director of the Coaching for Life Academy at Santa Clara University where she teaches coaches, athletes, and parents about how to integrate life skills development through sports. She is also a sideline reporter for the San Jose Earthquakes and a women’s soccer analyst for NBC, Fox Sports, and the Pac-12 Networks.
Danielle was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team from 2000-2005, winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics and a bronze in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She attended Santa Clara University where she captained the women’s soccer team to the 2001 NCAA National Championship. After she retired from playing, Danielle coached soccer at Northwestern from 2006-2009, where she also earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Administration.
Danielle is passionate about continuing to grow the game of soccer and teaching life lessons through sports. She serves as an advisor to U.S. Soccer’s Athlete Council, travels as a sports envoy on behalf of the U.S. State Department coaching youth about the life lessons that soccer can teach, and is a certified Positive Coaching Alliance trainer.
Soccer
Lisa Berg is a professional soccer coach, development strategist, talent scout, and an international instructor who consults with federations and organizations around the world to develop the lives of women and girls through sport.
Berg has over 20 years of coaching experience and she has taught coaching courses in more than 20 countries. She holds the USSF A Coaching License, CONCACAF D License, M.S. in Exercise and Sport Psychology (Texas Tech University), and B.S. in Kinesiology (University of Minnesota). She earned the NSCAA Level 3 Goalkeeping Diploma, USC Director of Coaching Diploma, USC Performance Analysis Diploma, and is a CSCS from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Berg is currently located in Mexico City, Mexico. She is a former scout for the FMF assisting with talent identification for the Seleccion Nacional Mexicana. In her role, she identified women players for all categories of the Mexican National Teams, she connected players to professional teams, mentored female coaches, and worked with youth soccer academies. She assisted with evaluations of the FMF’s FIFA Academia Femenil Project to identify players for the U15 and U17 youth national teams. She continues to work with She Wins a Mexican non-profit and she travels globally to execute her work to empower women and girls globally through education, consulting, and coaching.
Berg has served as an Envoy for the US Department of State’s Sports Diplomacy program in Mexico (2023), Cameroon (2022), Burma (2019), Kuwait (2019), Vietnam (2017), and Venezuela (2016). She co-founded Growing the Game for Girls in 2010 which handles projects of the 501c3 non-profit ISC Outreach, Inc. in the following countries: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Zanzibar, Swaziland, Rwanda, South Sudan, Brazil, and Mexico. The aim is to use grassroot sport clinics, courses, and workshops to reach at-risk and disadvantaged communities of children and women including those with deafness and disabilities.
Berg is the Head Coach in the Midwest ODP Regional Program. She served as the Girls’ Technical Director of Dakota Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 2018-2020. She has instructed coaching courses for MYSA, WYSA, USSF, SFA (Swaziland), and FUFA (Uganda). She previously worked with Salvo Soccer Club in Minnesota as their Director of Athletic Development, goalkeeper trainer, and head coach of their top girls and boys teams. She has served as an assistant women’s soccer coach at Bethel University (DIV III), Arkansas State University (DIV I), and University of MN (DIV I) and has brought each program to post-season play. She played NCAA Division I soccer at the University of Minnesota, T.C. from 2002-2005. She was a former US Soccer Talent Scout and works alongside other federations to establish scouting structures and strategies.
In 2011-2015, she was the Technical Advisor for Uganda’s Women’s National Football Team and served as the assistant coach during the 2012 Olympic Qualifiers against Egypt and DR Congo and the 2014 U20 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers against South Sudan. In addition to her technical roles with the Ugandan National Team, she led the first ever CAF C License Course in Uganda creating curriculum, mentoring instructors and candidates, and overseeing the evaluation and certification of top professional and national team coaches in Uganda. Lisa was part of the 2013 launch of the immensely successful Airtel Rising Stars Tournament in Uganda which finds new talents to feature in their U17 National Teams. She advocated for the inclusion of more girls teams and proper scouting of youth players to overcome age-cheating and tribalism. Berg continues to mentor former national team players to become the up and coming leaders of the future. She has created a mentoring program that exposes professional players and national team stars to careers in sport. Through workshops and one on one mentoring, these players become leaders in sport.
She has been a presenter at multiple events promoting sport for development advocating for gender equality hosted by CONCACAF, UNWomen, Valencia FC, and Women Deliver. She has also attended conferences and symposiums hosted by FIFA, the US Olympic Committee, and CONCACAF. She has been a key presenter at the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) Winter Coaching Symposium. In addition to these speaking appearances, she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at Texas Tech University.