Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Region: East & Southeast Asia

Kym Hampton

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Thailand

Kym Hampton is a former professional basketball player who completed a 15 year career in the WNBA, Spain, Italy, France and Japan. A high school basketball and track star from Louisville Kentucky, Ms. Hampton was inducted into the Dawahares KHSAA Hall of Fame in 2005. She attended Arizona State University on a full athletic scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Kym will go down as one of the most decorated players to ever wear a Sun Devil jersey. To date, she remains the all-time leading scorer and rebounder (male or female) in ASU history. During Kym’s 12th season in Europe, the WNBA was formed. Ms. Hampton
was the 4th pick in the Elite first round draft, by the New York Liberty. Kym was voted starting center in the WNBA’s inaugural All-Star game. During Kym’s three year tenure, she started every game for the Liberty until a knee injury curtailed her career.

Hampton has lived one dream through basketball and is pursuing others in the world of sports and entertainment. As a person who has always worked to reach goals and follow her dreams, she also encourages everyone to do the same, especially our youth. Two of her favorite sayings are; “Be the best YOU that you can be.” and “As adults, we must lead with our actions, not our words”.

Edna Campbell

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2011  –  Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 2012  –  Indonesia
  • 2014  –  Sri Lanka

Edna Campbell (born November 26, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is a retired women’s basketball player who played in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The 5′ 8″ guard was a star player for the Sacramento Monarchs and has also played for three other teams, but is well known for continuing to play despite suffering breast cancer.
Campbell’s college career began at the University of Maryland, College Park, but achieved her most notable success at the University of Texas’ women’s team, known as the Lady Longhorns, where she was named the Southwest Conference’s Newcomer of the Year in 1990. She graduated in 1991 after the Lady Longhorns compiled a 48-14 won/loss record while she was there.
Campbell played for the Colorado Xplosion in the American Basketball League (ABL).
Edna Campbell was the 10th overall draft pick, selected by the Phoenix Mercury during the 1999 WNBA Draft. She was left unprotected in the expansion draft the following year, and was chosen by the Seattle Storm. She became the new franchise’s go-to option, but the team finished with a cellar-dwelling 6-26 record.
The next year, the Storm drafted its first superstar, Lauren Jackson, and Campbell was traded to the Sacramento Monarchs for Katy Steding and a draft pick. During the second of her four seasons in Sacramento, Campbell was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received treatment and was welcomed back before the fans of her two most recent teams in the Monarchs’ final game against Seattle during the 2002 season.
Campbell continued to play despite the cancer, and has become a symbol to some survivors of the disease. She became the WNBA’s national spokesperson for its anti-cancer efforts with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She received the league’s Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award in 2003.
Campbell signed a free agent contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars in 2005. She played with the Silver Stars for that one season, before announcing her retirement from the WNBA on February 28, 2006.
During the 2006 WNBA season, which honored 9 years of existence, Edna Campbell’s return from breast cancer was nominated by fans as Most Inspirational and one of the top four WNBA Anniversary decade moments.
Shortly after retiring from basketball, Edna was hired as a television commentator for the San Antonio Silver Stars games during the 2006 WNBA season. In addition, Campbell has worked in Real Estate. Edna Campbell became a nurse in 2008, and also began coaching high school girls.

Ebony Hoffman

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Lebanon
  • 2013  –  Thailand
  • 2014  –  South Africa
  • 2014  –  Rwanda
  • 2015  –  Botswana
  • 2015  –  Mozambique
  • 2015  –  South Africa

Ebony Hoffman (born in 1982), played basketball at USC before being drafted by the Indiana Fever in the 1st round of the 2004 WNBA Draft. Hoffman left Indiana in 2011 when she moved to play for the Los Angeles Sparks. Hoffman spent her final WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun in 2014. Across her 11 seasons, Hoffman started 172 games, averaging 5.8 points per game.

From 2013, Hoffman has been the President and CEO of EbHoops Clinics, an organization geared towards coaching young kids interested in basketball. Hoffman is also currently Assistant Basketball Coach at Windward School in the greater Los Angeles area.

Cappie Pondexter

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Malaysia

Cappie Pondexter is a former NBA player who is known for her play style, quick crossovers, and midrange jumpshot. In 2011, she was voted as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.

In high school she was close friends with basketball star Dee Brown and played for John Marshall Metropolitan HS in Chicago where she was named a WBCA All-American. She also took part in the 2001 WBCA HS All-American Game where she scored 16 points and earned MVP. Pondexter attended college at Rutgers University. She led the Scarlet Knights to a 97–22 record and back-to-back Big East Championships in 2005 and 2006.

Cappie was drafted as the 2nd overall pick by Phoenix Mercury in the 2006 WNBA draft. As a rookie, she was picked to the western conference WNBA All-Star team. In 2007, she was named the WNBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player after she averaged 22 points per game. To celebrate the WNBA’s twentieth anniversary in 2016, she was named in the WNBA Top 20@20.

Allison Feaster

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Burma
  • 2014  –  Philippines

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.

Alana Beard

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Philippines

WNBA Champion (2016)
WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018)
WNBA All-Star (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
All-WNBA Second Team (2006)
WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2007, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018)
WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2006, 2009, 2014)
Most career steals among active players (697)
All-time steals leader in Washington Mystics history
No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft (Washington)
First woman to win the John R. Wooden, State Farm Wade Trophy and Naismith Player of the Year Awards
Duke’s first National Player of the Year and three-time ACC Player of the Year

Alex Shibutani

Ice Dancing

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  South Korea
  • 2018  –  Japan
  • 2019  –  Japan

Maia and Alex Shibutani, known to audiences around the world as the “ShibSibs,” are the sister-brother ice dancing duo who captured two Olympic bronze medals at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Their dedication and hard work, skating together for 14 years, paid off as they became the first U.S. team of siblings to earn an Olympic medal in ice dancing and the first in the world to do so since 1992. The Shibutanis also made history in South Korea as the first ice dancers of Asian descent to claim an Olympic medal.

Maia, born in NYC and Alex, born in Boston, MA, spent their early years growing up in Boston, MA and Old Greenwich, CT. Maia and Alex decided to take up ice dancing when she was 9 and he was 12 after their family traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the 2003 World Championships. They were so enthralled by the ice dancing competition that they became a team shortly afterward.

During their first year competing, they earned a silver medal at the U.S. Junior Championships (2005) at the Juvenile level. From 2006-2007, they lived and trained in Colorado Springs, and won unprecedented back-to-back National titles at the Intermediate (2006) and Novice levels (2007). As they advanced to the Junior level, they relocated to Michigan to train alongside the top ice dance teams in the world. They debuted internationally with a gold at their first Junior Grand Prix at the ages of 14 and 17. They won silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships, and the Junior ice dance title at the 2010 U.S. Championships.

Upon advancing to the senior level, Maia and Alex made a historic debut on the international circuit in 2010, becoming the first ice dance team ever to medal at both of their Grand Prix events during a rookie season. By earning a silver medal at the 2011 Four Continents Championship, they became the first ice dancers of Asian heritage to medal at a major ISU championship. During the 2011 World Championships, they became the first American ice dancers to medal at their Worlds debut. At just 16 and 19, they were the second youngest team in the history of the sport (and youngest since 1962) to medal at the World Championships. They secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, competing at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, competing as the second youngest team in the field and placing ninth.

Maia and Alex went on to win the national crown in both 2016 and 2017. Maia and Alex are the only ice dance team to medal at every level of national competition over consecutive years, standing on the podium at each of the 14 years that they have competed. A gold medal at the 2016 Four Continents Championships marked their first ISU Championship title. They returned to the World Championships medal podium, earning a silver medal in 2016 and the bronze in 2017. Their bronze-performance secured three spots for the United States at the 2018 Olympic Games.

Maia Shibutani

Ice Dancing

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  South Korea
  • 2018  –  Japan
  • 2019  –  Japan

Maia and Alex Shibutani, known to audiences around the world as the “ShibSibs,” are the sister-brother ice dancing duo who captured two Olympic bronze medals at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Their dedication and hard work, skating together for 14 years, paid off as they became the first U.S. team of siblings to earn an Olympic medal in ice dancing and the first in the world to do so since 1992. The Shibutanis also made history in South Korea as the first ice dancers of Asian descent to claim an Olympic medal.

Maia, born in NYC and Alex, born in Boston, MA, spent their early years growing up in Boston, MA and Old Greenwich, CT. Maia and Alex decided to take up ice dancing when she was 9 and he was 12 after their family traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the 2003 World Championships. They were so enthralled by the ice dancing competition that they became a team shortly afterward.

During their first year competing, they earned a silver medal at the U.S. Junior Championships (2005) at the Juvenile level. From 2006-2007, they lived and trained in Colorado Springs, and won unprecedented back-to-back National titles at the Intermediate (2006) and Novice levels (2007). As they advanced to the Junior level, they relocated to Michigan to train alongside the top ice dance teams in the world. They debuted internationally with a gold at their first Junior Grand Prix at the ages of 14 and 17. They won silver medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships, and the Junior ice dance title at the 2010 U.S. Championships.

Upon advancing to the senior level, Maia and Alex made a historic debut on the international circuit in 2010, becoming the first ice dance team ever to medal at both of their Grand Prix events during a rookie season. By earning a silver medal at the 2011 Four Continents Championship, they became the first ice dancers of Asian heritage to medal at a major ISU championship. During the 2011 World Championships, they became the first American ice dancers to medal at their Worlds debut. At just 16 and 19, they were the second youngest team in the history of the sport (and youngest since 1962) to medal at the World Championships. They secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, competing at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, competing as the second youngest team in the field and placing ninth.

Maia and Alex went on to win the national crown in both 2016 and 2017. Maia and Alex are the only ice dance team to medal at every level of national competition over consecutive years, standing on the podium at each of the 14 years that they have competed. A gold medal at the 2016 Four Continents Championships marked their first ISU Championship title. They returned to the World Championships medal podium, earning a silver medal in 2016 and the bronze in 2017. Their bronze-performance secured three spots for the United States at the 2018 Olympic Games.

Chloe Kim

Snowboarding

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  South Korea

Chloe Kim is an American snowboarder. Currently, she is World, Olympic, Youth Olympic, and X Games champion in the halfpipe and the first to win the title at all four major events.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics, she became the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal when she won the gold in the snowboard halfpipe at 17 years old. She is a 4x X Games gold medalist and the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboarding at the Winter Youth Olympics.

She began snowboarding at the age of four and began competing 2 years later before beginning training in Geneva, Switzerland from eight to ten. She joined the US Snowboarding Team in 2013 at 12. In 2018, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2018.

DeeDee Trotter

Track & Field

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Japan

Trotter exploded on the Elite Track and Field scene in 2004. That year, she would win the prestigious NCAA title and become an Olympic finalist in the 400 meters, finishing fifth overall. Her Olympic debut was capped by a gold medal on the 4x400m relay, and she concluded the year ranked fourth in the world.

The 2004 season turned out to be the tip of Trotter’s athletic success. DeeDee is a three-time World Champion as a member of the 2003, 2007 and 2010 4x400m relay teams, a three-time 400m U.S. Champion and a three-time Olympian, which is an accomplishment that ranks her amongst the greatest female athletes in the world.

For the vast majority of DeeDee Trotter’s career, she has been considered by most to be the underdog. She would learn to use this imposed title as sheer motivation to propel herself to many unpredicted triumphs. In 2007, DeeDee pulled off a stunning upset defeating the #1 world-ranked Sanya Richards Ross, a victory that earned DeeDee her first Outdoor National Championship title. Although many were stunned by the aforementioned victory, DeeDee was not. Throughout her career, her strong belief in God, as well as her talent, carried her to heights many did not think were possible. To cap the season, Trotter would receive a nomination for “Breakthrough Performance of The Year” at the USA Track & Field Jessie Owens Awards, a much-respected honor among the sport. She also would reclaim her spot among the top 400m runners in the world. Through her experiences, DeeDee feels extremely blessed to share her medals and motivational truth with people all over the world, a gift she says “is worth its weight in gold!”