Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Nykesha Sales

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Uganda
  • 2010  –  Cape Verde
  • 2011  –  Haiti
  • 2012  –  Venezuela
  • 2013  –  Ukraine
  • 2014  –  South Korea

The all-time leading scorer in Connecticut Sun history, Nykesha Sales returns to the team for her second season as the community liaison and an assistant to the coaching staff.

In 2013, Sales made numerous community relations appearances on behalf of the Sun, practiced regularly with the team and also provided color commentary on selected team broadcasts.

Sales was the first member of the Connecticut Sun franchise, which began as the Orlando Miracle prior to the 1999 season. She played with the team from 1999-2007, helping the Sun reach two WNBA Finals and four straight Eastern Conference Finals between 2003 and 2006.

A seven-time WNBA All-Star, Sales was the second player in league history to amass 3,000 points, 500 assists and 400 steals during her career – joining Sheryl Swoopes. She finished her career with 3,955 points, 683 assists and 490 steals.

Jeneba Tarmoh

Track & Field

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  Uganda

Jeneba Tarmoh is a track and field sprinter who specializes in 100 meters and 200 meters. Tarmoh was an All-American for Texas A&M University, helping them with back to back to back wins in the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships 2009-11 seasons. She came in third at the 2011 USA National Outdoor Championships, earning her a place on the 2011 IAAF World Championships team.

At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Tarmoh finished third tying with Allyson Felix for third place in the 100m finals. Tarmoh traveled to London as a reserve on the US team and ran the second leg of the women’s 4 x 100 meter relay. She received a gold medal for setting a world record in winning the finals.

Jason Maxiell

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Uganda

Jason Maxiell began his basketball career during his time at the University of Cincinnati from 2001 to 2005. He is best known for his time spent with the Detroit Pistons but has played for the NBA and in China and Turkey.

During his time at the University of Cincinnati, he earned Conference USA Sixth Man and All-Freshmen team honors as a freshman. Maxiell earned All-Conference USA second team honors in both his junior and senior years. And as a senior in 2004–05, he led Conference USA in blocked shots (2.8 bpg) and ranked 18th in the nation. His 91 blocks are the second-highest University of Cincinnati single-season total. Maxiell was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 26th overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, playing for Pistons until 2013 when he signed with Orlando Magic.

He signed with Tianjin Ronggang of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2015 and played for them for a year. On January 30, 2017, Maxiell signed with the second-tier Turkish team Acıbadem Üniversitesi before retiring later that year as a Detroit Piston.

Curt Onalfo

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2006  –  Uganda

After starring as a defender at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut, Onalfo played collegiately for Bruce Arena at the University of Virginia from 1987-1990. In four seasons as a defender with the Cavaliers, he earned a pair of All-ACC First Team selections and helped the team win the 1988 ACC Championship. He began his professional career with French side La Ciotat in 1991, before featuring for the Connecticut Wolves of the USISL from 1994-95, and Mexican second division side Tampico Madero in 1995.

Onalfo was selected by the LA Galaxy in the inaugural MLS Draft and would make 13 appearances for the club in 1996, helping it reach the first ever MLS Cup. The defender went on to register 23 appearances across four seasons in MLS, spending additional time with San Jose (1997) and D.C. United (1998-99). He recorded one international cap with the U.S. Men’s National Team and featured extensively at the youth level, including the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 1991 Pan American Games, and the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Onalfo’s journey took a detour soon after the 1992 Olympics, when a diagnosis of stage three Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 24 disrupted his career and nearly ended his life. After surviving his arduous battle with cancer, Onalfo resumed his playing career with Connecticut and then Mexican side Tampico FC, before joining the Galaxy for the inaugural MLS season. He owns 13 total years of MLS coaching experience, highlighted by stints as head coach of D.C. United (2010), the then-Kansas City Wizards (2007-09), and the LA Galaxy (2017). While continuing as an assistant with the Galaxy, he also served as the inaugural head coach of USL Championship side LA Galaxy II from 2014-16, where he led the club to a Western Conference title in 2015. When he departed “Los Dos” to take over head coaching duties with the Galaxy first team, his overall record with the developmental side finished at 46-29-20.

Kenyanna Wilson

Track & Field

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  Uganda

Kenyanna Wilson, running track and field at LSU from 2008-2011, was one of the team’s lead sprinters. During her career, she was a NCAA Champion, 8-time All-American, 2-time NCAA Mideast Regional Champion, 2-time SEC Champion, and 3-time All-SEC. In her senior year, Wilson’s personal best of 7.18 in the 60-meter dash ranked in a tie for number three on LSU’s all-time performance list. Following college, Wilson ran at Californian indoor and outdoor venues such as Los Angeles, Pasadena, Sacramento, and Norwalk.

Tiffany Roberts-Sahaydak

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2006  –  Uganda
  • 2007  –  Philippines
  • 2010  –  Thailand
  • 2011  –  Brazil
  • 2014  –  Brazil
  • 2015  –  Indonesia
  • 2017  –  Belarus
  • 2017  –  Albania
  • 2019  –  Egypt

An Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion and two-time NCAA champion, Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak was named head women’s soccer coach at UCF in May 2013.

A three-time American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Roberts Sahaydak has wasted no time in putting her stamp on UCF’s successful program. Under her guidance, the Knights have earned four NCAA Tournament bids and four American Athletic Conference championships while boasting 11 conference Player of the Year awards and 38 all-league and tournament selections.

In her first season (2013), she led UCF to a school-record unbeaten streak (18 matches), an NSCAA national standing through much of the year and the program’s first undefeated conference season since 1999. In addition, UCF made history as the first program to win an American Athletic Conference Championship.

Roberts Sahaydak came to Orlando after serving six seasons at VCU alongside her co-head coach, husband and current UCF associate head coach Tim Sahaydak.

Roberts Sahaydak spent a decade with the U.S. National Team from 1994-2004, earning 112 caps (with 60 starts). Her career was highlighted by three women’s World Cups – among them, the unforgettable 1999 championship – and a gold medal with the 1996 Olympic team.

After retiring from the USWNT, she has served as an ambassador for U.S. Soccer with the U.S. Department of State Sports Envoy Program since 2007, promoting the power and benefit of sport internationally. With the program, she has visited Indonesia, Uganda, the Philippines, Thailand, Namibia, Brazil and France. In 2014, she was appointed to President Barack Obama’s Presidential Delegation to the Federative Republic of Brazil at the opening of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. She is a native of San Ramon, Calif., and was selected as the 1994 California High School Player of the Year.

She was a three-time Parade High School All-American, a three-time NSCAA All-American and was the two-time National Girl’s High School Player of the Year. She debuted for the Stars and Stripes in 1994 when she was only 16 as one of the youngest players ever to suit up for the National Team. She played in her first FIFA Women’s World Cup a month after her 18th birthday and won Olympic gold before she was out of her teens (USSoccer.com).

As a collegian, Roberts Sahaydak was a standout midfielder for North Carolina (1995-98) as a three-time All-ACC First Team selection. She led the Tar Heels to two NCAA titles (1996, 1997) during her tenure, was voted the 1998 ACC Tournament MVP and finished third in voting for collegiate soccer’s highest honor, the Hermann Trophy.

She still ranks among the top five for career starts in UNC’s record book.She was a two-time captain for the Carolina Courage in the first fully professional U.S. women’s league (Women’s United Soccer Association). She helped the Courage win the 2002 title after finishing last in the team’s inaugural campaign one year prior.

Roberts Sahaydak took over VCU’s program in 2007 and led the Rams to three conference championship game appearances. She was voted as the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Co-Head Coach of the Year, along with her husband Tim. The duo mentored two CAA Defenders of the Year, one CAA Rookie of the Year and 20 all-conference players, including six first-team honorees.The Sahaydaks reside in Orlando with their two daughters, Layla and Evie.

“It’s been a life changing experience being involved in the Sports Diplomacy Envoys. I have had the good fortune of participating in programs all over the globe, and I’ve worked together with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. I am constantly reminded that sport can bring us closer together. We can celebrate our differences and our common interests. Every time we start to play a game we start to connect and the world seems to get a bit smaller.”