Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Soccer

Angela Hucles

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Morocco
  • 2012  –  Namibia

Founder and CEO of the Empowerment Through Sport Leadership Series, Angela Hucles is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist for US Soccer, two-time World Cup Bronze Medalist, former professional soccer player of the Boston Breakers and the US Soccer Foundation’s 2009 Humanitarian of the Year. With a passion for helping others achieve their goals and dreams and over 25 years experience in the sports industry, she founded Empowerment Through Sport, LLC in 2012, an organization focused on discovering sports leadership skills and athlete transitions that translate to life success. Angela has become a regular speaker on topics of sports leadership, equality, inclusion & safe spaces, anti-bullying, and the power of sport and its impact on personal growth and development. Angela currently serves as the Women’s Sports Foundation President, effective January 1, 2015. Hucles played at University of Virginia from 1996-1999. Hucles’s career as a Virginia Cavalier she put up impressive numbers. While at Virginia she was a first team All-ACC Selection and a 4 time Mid- Atlantic Star. What made her stand out from all the other women soccer players at University of Virginia was just how high her numbers were on the field. Hucles ended her career at Virginia as the all- time leader in goals with 59 and also the all- time leader in points with 138. Lastly Hucles holds the record at University of Virginia for most game- winning goals with 19.

U.S. Women’s National Team leading scorer in the 2008 Olympic Games, Hucles played her inaugural season of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) for the Boston Breakers. This 5 foot 7 midfielder first stepped into the soccer scene for USA in 2002; she started in 48 of her 109 career caps (she is ranked to be 24th on the all- time the U.S. caps list). Undoubtedly her breakout year was in 2008. Going into her last year, she only scored five career goals, but doubled that number, she scored eight in 32 matches which more games than Hucles has ever played in year.
In the 2008 Olympics Hucles did not expect to play as fast as she did, but an unfortunate leg injury to Abby Wambach in the pre- Olympic match pushed Hucles into the starting lineup. With this opportunity as a starter she delivered in true clutch fashion, she put up the best performance in U.S. history. Angela led the U.S. team in 4 goals in the 2008 Olympics; 2 of these goals came in the U.S. victory over Japan. Hucles was named the 2009 Humanitarian of the year by the U.S. Soccer Foundation because of her efforts with the youth in the Boston area which she has been involved with since her career with the Boston Breakers. Angela was also named as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy in 1999.

Career Highlights
Two-time Olympic gold medalist
Two-time World Cup medalist
Peace Queen Cup gold medalist
Five-time Algarve Cup medalist
Yolanda L. Jackson Give Back Award winner, 2014
Women’s Sports Foundation Past President

Jeff Agoos

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Egypt

MLS Senior Vice President of Competition, Operations, Medical Administration

Five-time MLS Cup champion and National Soccer Hall of Famer Jeff Agoos is Major League Soccer’s Senior Vice President of Competition, Operations and Medical Administration, in which he is responsible for improving the quality of the on-field product, ensuring a best in class sports experience and providing exceptional, individualized medical care. Additionally, Agoos provides input on technical development, disciplinary matters and serves as the league liaison with MLS coaches and Chief Soccer Officers on all game-related matters. Agoos serves on the COVID-19 Task Force Agoos and is responsible for all medical and testing protocols. Agoos joined MLS in April of 2011, after serving as Sporting Director and Technical Director for the New York Red Bulls.

Soccer fans know Agoos as a rock-solid fixture in the U.S. National Team defense for more than 15 years, including two FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Agoos has played at every level of the game including earning a silver medal in the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Championships. He also won the 2002 Concacaf Gold Cup and was named to that tournament’s Best XI. Agoos ranks fifth all-time in appearances for the United States with 134 caps.

A 10-year MLS veteran, Agoos was named an MLS All-Star nine times while playing 244 games with three clubs: D.C. United, the San Jose Earthquakes and the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls). He was selected to the MLS Best XI on three occasions, and to the league’s “All-Time Best XI,” the latter awarded to commemorate the league’s 10th anniversary in 2005.

Agoos played every minute of all five MLS Cup victories, winning three championships with D.C. United (1996, 1997 and 1999) and two with the San Jose Earthquakes (2001 and 2003). Agoos also won the 1996 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with D.C.

In 2009, Agoos was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He has gone on to earn his MBA in Sports Administration from Southern New Hampshire University while working for Major League Soccer.

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.

John Cone

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Azerbaijan

After playing soccer at the collegiate level, Dr. John Cone began his coaching career as Assistant Coach at the Metropolitan State College of Denver in 1998. From then, he served a variety of positions at Colorado Rush, The University of Tennessee, SoccerPlus Camps, CASL, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sporting KC, Portland Timbers, and USSF. In 2005, Dr. Cone co-founded Fit for 90, an online soccer-specific sports science consulting company, of which he is the current CEO. In 2010, Dr. Cone graduated from UNC Greensboro with a Ph.D. in Kinesiology.

Jay Miller

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Morocco
  • 2009  –  Bolivia
  • 2010  –  Thailand

Coach Miller is the Executive Director of Coaching for the Atlanta Fire United Soccer Association, a club with over 4,000 members. He also serves as the head coach of the Region III boys Olympic Development Program (ODP)
Coach Miller was the head soccer coach at the University of Tampa, where he won six consecutive conference titles and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Championship in 1981. He also coached the University of South Florida Men’s Program to four conference titles.

Coach Miller has over 20 years of international coaching, training and scouting experience, including the position of the USA Under-17 National Team Coach, USA U-23 National Team Coach and the interim coach of the full USA National World Cup team.

He has served as the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) National Coaching Coordinator 1994-2001 and has been instructing on the National Staff since 1978. Coach Miller holds a USSF National “A” Coaching License.

Jay earned a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Education from East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Sarah Huffman

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Kuwait

During her brilliant career way she also was involved in the National team. She spent two years by playing for the “United States U-19” team from 2000 till 2002. Sarah helped National team win the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship. In the 2003 Sarah joined to the “United States U-21”, where she played about four years. Thanks to her skills, U-21 team won on the Nordic Cup in the 2004, 2005 well as in 2007.

In the 2010 she finally appeared in the major National team of the United States. Sarah was honored with numerous awards. She was named Virginia State Player of the Year and as well as finalist for Soccer Buzz National Player of the Year. After a successful professional soccer career, she tried herself as a coach and was a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater, University of Virginia.

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.”

Julie Foudy

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  Brazil

Founder, Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy,
Television Analyst and Reporter for ABC/ESPN.

Julie had a sensational soccer career while playing on the USA National Team for 17 years. She is the former Captain of the US Women’s National Team. She was a captain on the National Team for 13 of her 17 years with the team. Julie participated in 4 Women’s World Cups and 3 Olympics for the USA Team. She is a two-time World Cup Champion and she is also a 1996 Olympic Gold medalist, 2000 Olympic Silver medalist and 2004 Olympic Gold medalist.

Julie finished her National Team career with 45 goals, 59 assists and 272 international appearances (caps) for the USA. Her 272 caps rank third in the world all-time, male or female. Julie played all 3 years as Captain with the WUSA’s San Diego Spirit. She was a 4 time All-American at Stanford University and was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. While at Mission Viejo High School, Julie won three CIF Championships and three CIF Player of the Year awards. Julie was voted Los Angeles Times’ High School Player of the Decade for the 80’s.

Most important to Julie, she has made a difference off the field as well. She was accepted into Stanford University’s Medical School but decided not to pursue a career in medicine. Julie was the President of the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2000-2002. She served on the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Directors for 7 years and was a WSF advocacy consultant for two years, with a focus on Title IX, childhood obesity, and athletes’ rights issues. Julie also served on the Board of Directors for the WUSA (the professional women’s soccer league) as the Player Representative. Julie currently sits on the board of Athletes for Hope (AFH), a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization created by successful athletes who have a deep commitment to charitable and community causes. Julie is an espnW advisory board member and is a global spokeswoman for Global Girl Media, a new non-profit helping young women around the world find their voice through journalism. Julie also has been instrumental in a number of women’s rights and child labor issues around the world. The world governing body of soccer, FIFA, awarded her the FIFA Fair Play Award, the first woman and American to receive the award, for her work against child labor in the stitching of soccer balls.

Julie served as a member for the Commission on Title IX, appointed by President Bush and Secretary Paige. She has been honored numerous times for her work on behalf of Title IX. She received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Smith College in 2005 and was honored by the National Women’s Law Center.

Julie was recently named as one of the “100 Most Influential NCAA Student-Athletes.” The NCAA defines the 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes as those who have made a significant impact or major contributions to society.

Julie was inducted in the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007, alongside longtime teammate and friend, Mia Hamm. Julie and Mia were only the 6th and 7th women ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the first and only ALL FEMALE induction class.

Julie founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA) in 2006, along with her husband Ian Sawyers. The JFSLA is a unique residential camp experience that uses sports as a vehicle to teach leadership skills for life. In 2006, Julie also founded the Julie Foudy Leadership Foundation (JFLF), a non-profit, 510(c)3 public charity. The mission of the Julie Foudy Leadership Foundation is: Building on a foundation of sports and fitness, we empower young women from all socioeconomic backgrounds to become leaders who positively impact their communities.

Julie is currently a reporter and analyst for ABC/ESPN, contributor and writer for espnW, director of her Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academies, motivational speaker, proud mother of two children, Isabel and Declan, and the best chocolate-chip pancake maker in the entire universe.

Jill Ellis

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Liberia

Jillian Ellis is an English-American soccer coach. Ellis coached the US National Women’s Soccer Team from 2014 to 2019 and during her time, won two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2015 and 2019), making her the second coach to win consecutive World Cups.

Ellis did not play organized soccer until her family moved to the US in 1981 when she joined her high school’s soccer team in which she led them to win the state championship and won the under-19 national title before going on to play as a forward at William & Mary.

Ellis has a USSF Pro coaching license with coaching experience as a under-20 and under-21 national team coach and as a UCLA Bruins coach. After being appointed to head coach of US Women’s soccer, she was honored 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football in 2016.

Cheryl Bailey

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Malaysia

Cheryl Bailey is a former executive director of the National Women’s Soccer League as well as the former general manager of the US women’s national soccer team from 2007 to 2011.

Bailey was appointed as the Athletic Director of Denison University until 1990. During her time there, she oversaw 12 women’s sports and was the head women’s soccer coach. For 15 years, she served in the Athletic Administration at the University of Wisconsin, overseeing 22 different teams. In 2007, she was appointed the general manager of the US Women’s National Soccer Team. She led the support staff for the US team during the 2007 and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cups and the 2008 Olympics.