Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Soccer

Jessica McDonald

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Virtual

Jessica McDonald is a powerful forward with a proven track record of goal-scoring—she was the first NWSL player to reach 33 regular-season goals. In 2017 and 2018, McDonald’s goals and assists helped lead the North Carolina Courage to two NWSL Shields. She is also mother to seven-year-old Jeremiah and her son is a huge part of her motivation to chase her dreams. “I want him to be proud of his mom,” McDonald says with an ear to ear smile. In the past ten years, Jessica McDonald has played for nine different professional teams—the Chicago Red Stars, SC Herford, Melbourne Victory FC, the Seattle Reign, the Portland Thorns, the Houston Dash, and the North Carolina Courage (previously the Western New York Flash). As a mother, moving from city to city wasn’t easy, but McDonald refused to give up her dream: to one day make the National Team. “I wanted to be able to tell my son Jeremiah that I went for it,” says McDonald. On November 2016, she earned her long-awaited call-up to the U.S. WNT. At age 31, her years of unwavering perseverance and steady goal scoring paid off. She’s headed to France for the 2019 World Cup, where she’ll look to inject speed and strength into the frontline.

Kristine Lilly Heavey

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2020  –  Turkey

Kristine Lilly is one of the greatest female soccer players in the history of the game. She retired as a player in 2010, but is still the world’s all-time leader in international appearances, male or female, with 354. She was the first player in U.S. history to hit 100, 200 and 300 caps, the final number being previously unimaginable.

With 130 career goals, she is third all-time in U.S. history and the all-time leader in minutes played, she has worn the U.S. uniform for 28,874 minutes. Remarkably, she appeared for the USA in four different decades and was both the youngest and oldest player ever to score for the U.S. Women’s National Team.

When she retired, she had appeared in 85% of the games the U.S. Women had ever played and only came off the bench 22 times over her legendary 23-year international career. She ended her career with 105 assists.

She played in five World Cups – winning in 1991 and 1999 — and her 30 all-time matches in World Cup play is still a U.S. record. She also played 16 matches over three Olympic Games and won two Olympic gold medals, in 1996 and 2004.

Known as one of the fittest players on the team and a tremendous teammate and leader over her entire career, she played in every World Cup and Olympic match for the USA over eight world championships from 1991-2007.

She was inducted in the United State Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012 and US Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014.

She is an Author of Powerhouse- 13 Teamwork Tactics that build Excellence and unrivaled Success. The book is about the success of the US. Women’s National team and how their tactics can help other organizations be more successful.

She also runs an operates the Kristine Lilly Soccer Academy and is Co-Founder of TeamFirst Soccer Academy. She is a Steward Health and Wellness Ambassador and a partner of Coerver Coaching. Her E-book, Girls soccer: My Story by Kristine Lilly Dream, Believe, Achieve.

She is graduate of the University of North Carolina with a degree in Communications.

She was a 4 time NCAA Champion and 4 time ACC Champion in soccer. She was a 4 time All – American.

She is married to David a Brookline Firefighter and has two daughters and lives outside the Boston area.

Kim Kammerdeiner

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Ethiopia

Born Aug. 12, 1964. Kim is an American retired Goalkeeper for the United States Women’s National Team. Considered a pioneer of women’s soccer in the US, she was a member of the 1991 USWNT that won the first Women’s World Cup in China. From 1988-1991, she played 843 minutes without allowing a goal- a record at the time. In 1990, she was named to the Soccer America All- Decade team. Maslin-Kammerdeiner attended George Mason University and played for the Patriots, who won the NCAA Davison 1 Championship Tar Heels in 1985.

Maslin-Kammerdeiner is Married to her husband of 28 years and has 4 children and one granddaughter and a new grandchild on the way. She is a Teacher of Health and Physical Education and has taught for 26 years, 12 years in High School and 14 years in Middle School. Maslin-Kammerdeiner has been a Coach for more than 30 years in multiple sports. Goal Keeping is a passion for Kammerdeiner and she has coached at all levels both males and females in goal.

Joanna Lohman

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Argentina
  • 2015  –  Thailand
  • 2016  –  Botswana
  • 2017  –  Ivory Coast
  • 2018  –  Niger
  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2021  –  Portugal
  • 2022  –  Germany
  • 2022  –  Montenegro

Joanna is a former professional soccer player and member of the United States Women’s National Team. Off the field, she is author of the newly released, “Raising Tomorrow’s Champions”, an extraordinary parenting and life lessons book as told through the eyes of the greatest women’s soccer players of all-time. She is also a professional speaker, human rights activist and a Sport Diplomat traveling the world running programs in less developed nations. She strives to live an unabashedly authentic life based around deep-rooted acceptance and helps others discover a comfort in their own skin.

Lori Lindsey

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Canada
  • 2015  –  Egypt
  • 2015  –  Jordan
  • 2016  –  New Zealand
  • 2016  –  Venezuela
  • 2016  –  Samoa
  • 2017  –  Colombia

Lori Lindsey played at the University of Virginia (UVA) from 1998-2001 and was the school’s first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, winning the award two consecutive years (2000, 2001) joining North Carolina’s Mia Hamm as the only other player to achieve that distinction. She finished as the sixth all-time scorer in UVA history with 33 goals and 76 points, NSCAA Second-Team All-American in 2001, and third-Team All-American in 2000. She was also a 2001 finalist for the Mid Atlantic Conference Award and named Female Athlete of the Year at UVA for the 2001-02 academic year.

Lori Lindsey broke into the National Team relatively late in her career but was a consistent call-up from 2009 to 2012. Lori Lindsey made her first appearance on the National Team in July 24, 2005, vs. Iceland. She was called into WNT training camps on the strength of her WPS performance in 2009 but did not appear in a match. Her best and most active year for the USA was in 2010, playing in 13 matches while starting six and upping her career cap total to 14. In 2011 Lori played in 10 games, starting three, and made her first Women’s World Cup team, playing in one match in Germany, starting and playing the entire 90 minutes in the USA’s second group match, with a victory over Colombia. Finally in, 2012 she played in six matches, starting two, and scored her first career national team goal against Guatemala – on a header – at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada. She was named as an alternate to the 2012 Olympic Team and traveled with the squad to the U.K

Through the Women’s Professional Soccer League, she played for the Washington Spirit and with Canberra United in Australia. She was the captain of the Washington Spirit in 2013. In the years prior to playing for the Washington Spirit and Canberra United, she also played for the Western New York Flash in the WPSL-Elite and the Philadelphia Independence. Lori was the first player taken in the 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) Expansion Draft by the Independence and that year she was named to the WPS Best XI and was also named to the WPS All-Star Team.

Tony Sanneh

Tony Sanneh

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Cyprus
  • 2012  –  Ethiopia
  • 2012  –  Malaysia
  • 2014  –  Bangladesh
  • 2014  –  Bolivia
  • 2018  –  Pakistan
  • 2019  –  Kenya
  • 2019  –  Bahrain
  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  Cote d'Ivoire

Among the most successful American soccer players of his generation, Tony Sanneh enjoyed an impressive 17-year professional soccer career. Major career highlights include starring in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, two Major League Soccer championships with D.C. United, and participation in the UEFA Champions League with Hertha Berlin during his six years in the German Bundesliga. Sanneh’s impact on American soccer was recognized by his selection to the Soccer America U.S. Men’s National Team “All-Decade Team,” and he was a finalist for the United States Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2018.

At the height of his playing career, he created The Sanneh Foundation (TSF) to leverage sport’s unique potential to create positive social change for under-served youth through relationships. Since retiring from professional soccer in 2010 and becoming the organization’s full-time CEO, TSF has evolved into one of Minnesota’s leading youth development organizations by serving the holistic youth development needs of increasingly diverse Twin Cities Metro, Central and Southeastern Minnesota.

The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation recently recognized the organization’s work by awarding TSF their annual Sports Award, among the highest honors any organization in the field of health equity and community well-being can receive. The 2018 RWJF Sports award validates The Sanneh Foundation’s approach to creating a culture of community health by leveraging the universal appeal of sports to provide a range of holistic youth programs that address the social determinants that help diverse youth develop the skills to become productive adults

In addition to his executive leadership role with The Sanneh Foundation, Sanneh continues to serve the United States as a Sports Envoy on behalf of the SportsUnited Division of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Zola Solamente

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Bolivia
  • 2016  –  Jordan
  • 2016  –  Netherlands
  • 2016  –  Senegal
  • 2017  –  Belarus
  • 2017  –  Albania
  • 2018  –  Tajikistan
  • 2019  –  Bahrain

Zola Solamente began playing soccer at the age of 5, with her older brother and his friends. She continued to play with boys until middle school, when she switched to a female club team. From ages 12 – 17 Zola was a captain of her club team, as well as with the Olympic Development Program, and was a member of the East Regional team, which competed internationally.

Zola played at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill 1990-1993. She was a starter at UNC for all four years of her career. She won 4 National Championships, 4 ACC Championships, and was named All-American her senior year. She was invited to play on the US Women’s National team in 1993. She traveled with the team for 2.5 years participating in international tournaments.

In 1995 Zola retired from international soccer to become a mother and pursue a career in fine arts. She now owns Arden Gallery Ltd. in Boston, MA, which she has been directing for 18 years. She continues to share her passion for soccer by providing individual and small-group soccer clinics to female players ages 12 – 18 in the greater Boston area. The focus of these training sessions is to improve technical skills, increase tactical awareness, and deepen strength/fitness levels. Since the fall of 2014 she has been traveling with the US State Department as a Sports Envoy coaching and mentoring children in under-served and at-risk environments in the Middle East, Africa, and South America.