Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2014

Heidi Moore

Judo

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Turkmenistan

Heidi Moore, LAT, ATC started judo in 1986 in Santa Monica, California. She currently holds the rank of godan, or 5th degree black belt. Heidi has had competitive success at every stage of her career, medaling multiple times at national tournaments at the junior, high school, collegiate, senior, and masters levels. She has won 11 medals at the USA Judo Senior National Championships. She represented the United States at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships and at the 2005, 2007 and 2008 Pan American Championships. She finished the 2007 Pan American Championships with a bronze medal.

Heidi moved to Denver in 1999 and took over Denver Judo with her husband Scott. Through Scott, Heidi became involved in the US Paralympic judo program and has served as a coach for the national team many times, including serving as the assistant coach at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Heidi serves as head instructor and executive director of Denver Judo and enjoys teaching the youth and senior competitive classes.

Heidi is a Certified Athletic Trainer and an International “A” level coach with USA Judo

Dartanyon Crockett

Judo

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Turkmenistan

Dartanyon Crockett was born with Leber’s disease, a genetic condition causing progressive vision loss. After his mother died when he was just eight years old, Dartanyon endured a life of transiency and extreme poverty at the mercy of his father who struggled with substance abuse. Wrestling became an important outlet for Crockett throughout high school, and it was on the mats that the he met his best friend, Leroy Sutton. Sutton lost his legs in train accident at age eleven, and Crockett physically carried Sutton on his back through practices and competitions. In 2009, ESPN featured the extraordinary friendship between these two young men, inspiring thousands of viewers to lift them out of poverty….In 2010, Crockett was invited to try blind judo. Just two years into this new venture, he shocked the world by winning a bronze medal at the London Paralympic Games. Crockett has qualified his weight class for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games with his victory at last year’s IBSA World Championships.

Lonnie Hannah II

Sledge Hockey

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2016  –  Slovakia

Lonnie Hannah II is a former ice sledge hockey player. He won medals with Team USA at the 2002 Winter Paralympics and 2006 Paralympics.

He received the Whang Youn Dai Overcome Prize for competing at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Turin, after being diagnosed with cancer the previous year. He also carried his country’s flag at the Games’ Closing Ceremony. In 2007 he started to coach the first ice sledge hockey program in Texas, affiliated to the San Antonio Rampage American Hockey League [AHL] team. The team’s roster contains mainly injured military personnel in rehabilitation at San Antonio’s Brooke Army Medical Center [BAMC].

Andrew Yohe

Sledge Hockey

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Kazakhstan

Andy Yohe began playing the Sledge Hockey in 2002 with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago [RIC] Blackhawks in United States of America. He played wheelchair basketball after his accident, but also searched for a sport he could play outside the basketball season. He had always been an ice hockey fan, so once he discovered Para ice hockey he wanted to give it a go.

After winning a gold medal at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, he retired from the sport to spend more time with his family. In 2013 he made a comeback and went on to win gold at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi. Soon after the event he retired from Para ice hockey for a second time, but in 2016 he made another return to the sport with the aim of winning a third Paralympic gold in 2018. “It’s all about the love of the game and being part of the team more than anything. I feel like with all the work we’ve put in previously, we’re working on creating a dynasty, not just one great Games here or there. It’s more of a long-term success of the programme and I’d like to be a part of it.”

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Track & Field

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Palestinian Territories

Born in 1962, in East St. Louis, IL, Jackie came from very humble beginnings but despite the at times, very strained conditions she describes her early home life as being full of love, principle and discipline. Engrained values have served Jackie well both on and on the field through her life. She has been described by the sports media as one of the warmest, most even-tempered, grace-led persons in all of athletics.

Having been dubbed ‘Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century’ by Sports Illustrated, Jackie Joyner Kersee’s athletic accomplishments are literally second to none. By the conclusion of her career in the heptathlon and long jump events she had amassed six Olympic medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) and four World Champion titles over four consecutive Olympic Games. Jackie was the first woman in history to earn more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon and today, over 20 years later, she still holds the world heptathlon record of 7,291 points. She continues to hold the Olympic and national records in the long jump and her 1994 performance in the long jump remains the second longest in history.

In addition to heptathlon and long jump, Jackie was a world class 100m and 200m runner and, after a decorated All-American career in basketball at UCLA, she eventually played professional basketball for a short time. Jackie’s athletic accomplishments have been well documented and remain some of the best ever across all of sports. Less well know are her tireless efforts and remarkable accomplishments off the field as a philanthropist and an advocate for children’s education, health issues (in particular asthma from which she has suffered throughout her life), racial equality, social reform and women’s rights.

Allyson Felix

Track & Field

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Brazil

Allyson Felix is a track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meter races. She is a 2012 Olympic champion, a 3-time World champion (2005-09) and 2-time Olympic silver medalist of 200 meters. A 2015 World champion, 2011 World silver medalist, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, and 2017 World bronze medalist.

Felix also won five additional Olympic gold medals as a member of the United States’ women’s relay teams. Her 200 meters best of 21.69 seconds from 2012 ranks 6th on the all-time list. In the 4 x 400 meter relay at the 2015 World Championships, she ran the fastest split ever recorded by an American woman, and third fastest split ever after Jarmila Kratochvilova and Marita Koch, with 47.72.

Joshua George

Track & Field Paralympics

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Brazil

Josh learned to navigate the world by wheelchair and was soon exploring everything available in the realm of adapted athletics, participating in basketball, track, field, archery, table tennis and swimming with a wheelchair sports organization for children in Baltimore, Maryland. Basketball and racing quickly became his stand-out sports.

Flying soon became a regular and important part of Josh’s existence. Competitive basketball led him to Brazil and Australia before he graduated from high school. At the University of Illinois, he began training with his now long-time coach Adam Bleakney, placed first in three Chicago Marathons and eventually took another flight. This time to Athens for the 2004 Paralympic games where he received two bronze medals and lost any remaining doubt that racing was his calling.

Four years later, in Beijing, Josh brought home silver and gold, and set a Paralympics record for the Men’s 100m. He followed up this performance with a bronze medal in the 800m at his third Paralympic Games in London as a full-fledged professional racer.

While he didn’t crack the podium at the Paralympic Games in Rio, Josh’s successes became more frequent. In the four years following the London Parlaympics Josh became a fixture in the top five at major races, success highlighted by exciting, sprint-finish wins in the 2014 Chicago Marathon and 2015 London Marathon, and 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the New York City Marathon in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Tracy Noonan

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2011  –  Guatemala
  • 2013  –  Costa Rica
  • 2014  –  Tonga
  • 2016  –  Fiji
  • 2016  –  Nepal

A potent combination of talent and tenacity carried Tracy Noonan (formerly Ducar) to the top of the women’s soccer world. Her list of accomplishments includes a 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship with the United States women’s national team and three NCAA championships with the powerhouse North Carolina Tar Heels. She also was a founding member of the Women’s United Soccer Association, backstopping a Boston Breakers team that included USA and international stars Kristine Lilly, Kate Sobrero Markgraf, Maren Meinert (Germany) and Dagny Mellgren (Norway).

Not bad for a player whose career was almost derailed by a broken back suffered during a high school basketball game.

Since retiring as an active player, Tracy has devoted herself to teaching and coaching, and was head soccer coach at Greensboro College in Greensboro, NC before deciding to devote herself full-time to Dynasty Goalkeeping.

Career Highlights:
3-time NCAA champion at the University of North Carolina (1991-95)
U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper (1996-99)
Alternate on the 1996 U.S. Women’s Olympic Soccer Team
1999 Women’s World Cup Team
Founding member of the WUSA and goalkeeper for the Boston Breakers (2001-03)
Winner of the Boston Breakers Shield Award (2001)
Member of the New England Women’s Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 2001)
Goalkeeper coach at UNC-Greensboro (1998-99)
Head Soccer Coach at Greensboro College (2004-05)

Tina Ellertson

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Guatemala

Christina “Tina” Ellertson is an American former professional soccer defender and member of the US women’s national soccer team. She attended University of Washington and competed in soccer, becoming one of UW’s most respected forwards. She was named Pacific-10 Conference co-player of the year in 2003 and in 2004, was named player of the year.

Ellertson was one of three players drafted for Saint Louis Athletica in September 2008. Ellertson was consistently present in the Athletica black line, playing 1748 minutes during the season, the most of anyone on the team. She made the All-Star team and was nominated for WPS’s Defender of the Year award.

In 2013, she was chosen in the first round of the National Women’s soccer league’s supplemental draft by Portland Thorns FC despite saying that she would no longer play in the league. She made five appearances for the Thorns before in 2014 announcing her retirement to focus on coaching and on her family.

Ellertson tried out for the women’s national soccer team and earned her first cap against Ukraine in 2005 before the new coach moved her to defender. She was named to the U.S. roster for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup and competed against Nigeria and against Brazil.

Linda Hamilton

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2007  –  Philippines
  • 2010  –  Ivory Coast
  • 2011  –  Brazil
  • 2013  –  Chile
  • 2014  –  Bangladesh
  • 2015  –  Burma
  • 2016  –  China
  • 2019  –  Egypt

Linda Hamilton enters her fifth season as head coach of the Southwestern women’s soccer team, coming off a season in which she was named the SCAC Coach of the Year, leading the Pirates to the SCAC Championship match.

Hamilton brings a wealth of experience to the program, both as a player and coach. She played collegiately at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina, earning All-America status and all-conference honors all four years. She was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1988. Hamilton was a member of the United States National Team, where she played in 82 international matches. She helped the team to a World Cup gold medal in 1991 and bronze in 1995.

Hamilton, who owns a United States Soccer Federation “A” coaching license, got her start in coaching at Old Dominion University as the team’s head coach from 1993 to 1995. She later served as an assistant at Hofstra University (2006-2007) and most recently served as head coach at the University of North Florida (2007-2013). She has additionally worked with the Easter Seals and National Multiple Sclerosis Society (2002-2006), serving as director of development.