Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2012

Tamika Raymond

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Malawi
  • 2011  –  Tanzania
  • 2012  –  China
  • 2013  –  Ukraine
  • 2013  –  Nigeria
  • 2014  –  Sri Lanka

Tamika Maria Raymond is an Assistant Coach for the women’s basketball team at the University of Kansas. Prior to serving in that role, Raymond played professional basketball in the WNBA for six seasons. During the 2002 WNBA Draft, the Minnesota Lynx selected Raymond with the sixth overall pick. She played her last season in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun.

Prior to playing in the WNBA, Raymond attended the University of Connecticut, where she majored in interpersonal communications. She played for the school’s women’s basketball teams, which won Division I National Championship teams in 2000 and 2002. She completed her four-year collegiate career with averages of 10.6 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. She finished as UConn’s all-time leader in field goal percentage at 70.3 percent.

Raymond had a stellar high school basketball career in Dayton, OH. She was named the 1997 and 1998 Ohio Player of the Year and was selected to the 1997-98 Associated Press girls Division I All-Ohio high school basketball team. She was named “Ohio’s Miss Basketball” by the Associated Press.

Evan Lysacek

Figure Skating

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Sweden
  • 2012  –  Belarus
  • 2014  –  Russia
  • 2020  –  Japan
  • 2020  –  Malaysia
  • 2020  –  Singapore

Following his figure skating Gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Lysacek was chosen as the 2010 United States Olympic Committee’s SportsMan of the Year, and the winner of the James E. Sullivan Award as the top U.S. amateur athlete of 2010. On January 22, 2016, he was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Evan Lysacek is the last American male figure skater to win an individual Olympic medal. He was a Sports Envoy in Belarus and Sweden in 2012 and Russia in 2014.

“With these adults, with young kids, with people who have nothing to do with skating whatsoever… our common language is sports and it transcends differences in language and differences in culture.” “I really feel like they absorbed the on-ice skills that I was trying to teach,” he said. “But also, I think they absorbed the message from what we were talking about a little bit and how that can help them if they continue skating, whatever skating will mean in their life, but it will also help them in everything that they do.”

Swin Cash

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  United Kingdom

Swin Cash started her basketball career as a forward at UConn. As a sophomore, she won her first career national title averaging 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds and earning All-Big East Third Team honors. As a senior, Cash averaged 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. She also earned 2002 Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors after leading the Huskies to an undefeated 39-0 season and second national title in three years.

Drafted into the WBNA by Detroit in 2002, Cash went on to spend 15 seasons with teams such as the Seattle Storm, the Chicago Sky, the Atlanta Dream, and the New York Liberty. During her WBNA career, Cash accumulated three WNBA Championships (2003, 2006, 2010). She averaged 10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Internationally, Cash won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, a second gold medal with Team USA in the FIBA World Championships for Women in the Czech Republic in 2010, and a third Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London. Cash also played in Russia and the Czech Republic.

Outside of basketball, in 2005, Cash launched Cash for Kids, a charitable organization that raises money for children in need.

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.

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.

Chamique Holdsclaw

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Senegal
  • 2020  –  Virtual

Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw (born August 9, 1977) is a professional basketball player in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) most recently under a contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars. She announced her retirement from the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11, 2007, though she eventually came out of retirement to play with the Atlanta Dream for the 2009 WNBA Season.

Holdsclaw grew up playing basketball. While attending Christ The King Regional High School in Queens, New York, she played for the school’s women’s basketball team, and led them to four straight New York State Championships in basketball. Holdsclaw was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1995, scoring eight points. She is Native American.

COLLEGE:
Holdsclaw went to the University of Tennessee from 1995 to 1999, where she played under coach Pat Summitt and helped to lead the Lady Vols to the women’s NCAA’s first ever three consecutive Women’s Basketball Championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first ever undefeated season at 39–0 and also set an NCAA record for the most wins ever in a season. She also helped lead Tennessee to two SEC regular season titles in 1998 and 1999 and to three SEC tournament championships in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

At Tennessee, Holdsclaw was a four-time Kodak All-America, one of only six women’s basketball players to earn the honor (along with teammate Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller of USC, Ann Meyers of UCLA, Lynette Woodard of Kansas and LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State.) Holdsclaw finished her career with 3,025 points and 1,295 rebounds, making her the all-time leading scoring and rebounder at Tennessee in men’s or women’s history, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in SEC women’s history, and the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in the NCAA tournament women’s history with 470 points and 197 rebounds. She was also only the fifth women’s basketball player in NCAA history to have 3,000 points (a list including Jackie Stiles of Southwest Missouri State, Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State, Lorri Bauman of Drake, Cheryl Miller of USC, and Cindy Blodgett of Maine). She is also one of five women’s collegiate basketball players to ever accumulate over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals (a list that includes teammate Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller of USC, Sophia Young of Baylor, and Armintie Price of Mississippi.) In 1999, Holdsclaw received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Holdsclaw also won the Naismith trophy for player of the year twice, in 1998 and 1999 and posted a 134–17 win/loss record during her remarkable career as a Lady Vol. In 2000 she was named Naismith’s Player of the Century for the 1990s and was also part of an ESPY award given to the Lady Vols as Co-Team of the Decade for the 1990s. In 1996, 1997 and 1998, Holdsclaw was named to the Final Four All Tournament team.
In 2006, Holdsclaw was named to a women’s collegiate basketball silver anniversary team for being picked as one of the 25 greatest players of the past 25 years. She was also picked as one of the 5 greatest players in the SEC of the past 25 years.
Holdsclaw is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
WNBA

In the 1999 WNBA Draft, Holdsclaw was selected by the Washington Mystics 1st overall. After this selection, Chamique gained the distinction of being the first, and only, female athlete to appear on the cover of SLAM Magazine. Furthermore, Chamique was pictured in a New York Knicks jersey, implying that perhaps she was good enough to be the first woman NBA player.

In her first season, she was named the Rookie of the Year, the first number one draft pick to win the honor. She was also a starter in the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game that same year. She is the first averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in her first season. The next year, Holdsclaw was named to the Olympic team, helping to lead them to a gold medal.

During her subsequent seasons in the WNBA, Holdsclaw continued to improve her numbers. In 2002, despite missing several games with an ankle injury, Holdsclaw averaged a double-double per game with 19.9 points and 11.5 rebounds. By 2003, she was averaging 20.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. On July 24, 2004, however, she failed to show up for a game against Charlotte, played one more game in reserve and then did not play the rest of the season including the entire playoffs. At first, Holdsclaw refused to discuss the reason for her absence, other than to rule out cancer, pregnancy and drug addiction, but following the season, she told The Washington Post that she was suffering from clinical depression and that she had been ashamed to discuss it with the public. It ends up her grandmother died, the woman who raised her and she went into a real depression. She decided not to stay in Washington because of to many memories.

On March 21, 2005, Holdsclaw was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for DeLisha Milton-Jones.

In May 2006, Holdsclaw took a sudden two-week leave from playing for the Sparks, but later clarified that this was due to the serious illnesses of her father and stepfather. As of late June, she was averaging 14.4 points per game and 7 rebounds per game.

On June 11, 2007, only a few weeks into the 2007 WNBA season, she surprisingly announced she was retiring and did not immediately provide any explanation as to her sudden departure.[5]

On December 17, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the rights to Holdsclaw. Holdsclaw stated she definitely considered a return to the WNBA if healthy, and did. Holdsclaw has found herself to be a constant part of the team’s offense and a starter that season, despite an injury that kept her out several games toward the end of the season. However, she returned just in time for one game in the playoffs. The Dream lost to the Detroit Shock.

On May 19, 2010, she was released from the Dream after requesting a trade and did not report to the team. Two days later, she signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

Ashley Robinson

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Greece

Robinson, a retired 10-year WNBA veteran from Grand Prairie, Texas, graduated from South Grand Prairie High School in 2000 and went on to play for the legendary Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee. Her Lady Vols competed in three Final Fours and two championship games. Robinson received a degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Business.

Robinson was drafted 13th overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. She spent much of her career with the Seattle Storm, checking a championship off her bucket list with the Storm in 2010. Robinson was a member of the USA Women’s U18 team which won gold at FIBA Americas Championship in Argentina. Robinson also played overseas in various countries including Israel, Turkey, Russia, Spain, Czech Republic, Australia and South Korea.

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.

Marian Dalmy

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Morocco

Marian Dougherty (Dalmy) is a former professional soccer defender. She last played for Portland Thorns FC and was on the US women’s national soccer team. In high school, she was captain of her soccer team for 3 years and earned MVP honors in 2001. She was named 2003 Parade Magazine HS All-American and was a two-time NSCAA/Adidas All-American.

Dalmy attended Santa Clara University. As a freshman, she scored six goals and served two assists for 14 points while playing as a forward and midfielder. She started in 14 out of 17 matches during that season. In 2005, as a junior, she was named team captain and earned All-American honorable mentions from Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz magazines and was named second-team All-West Region by Soccer Buzz.

In 2007, she played on the US senior team before being named as a late addition to the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup roster.

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