Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2016

Misty Copeland

Ballet

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Cuba

Born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in San Pedro, California, Misty Copeland began her ballet studies at the age of 13 at the San Pedro City Ballet.  At the age of fifteen she won first place in the Music Center Spotlight Awards.  She then began her studies at the Lauridsen Ballet Center.  Copeland has studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive on full scholarship and was declared ABT’s National Coca-Cola Scholar in 2000.

Copeland joined ABT Studio Company in September 2000, then joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in April 2001 and was appointed a Soloist in August 2007.  Her roles with the Company include Terpsichore in Apollo, Gamzatti, a Shade and the Lead D’Jampe in La Bayadère, Milkmaid in The Bright Stream, the Fairy Autumn in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Blossom in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Swanilda and the Mazurka Lady in Coppélia, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Mercedes, Driad Queen, the lead gypsy and a flower girl in Don Quixote, Duo Concertant, the Masks in Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, Lise in Las Fille mal gardée, the Firebird in Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird, Flower Girl in Gaîté Parisienne, Giselle, Zulma and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Queen of Shemakahn in The Golden Cockerel, Pierrette in Harlequinade, the title role in Jane Eyre, Manon and Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon, Clara the Princess, Columbine and one of The Nutcracker’s Sisters in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Bianca in Othello, a Gypsy in Petrouchka, the Lead Polovtsian Girl in the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, the Saracen Dancer in Raymonda, Cowgirl in Rodeo, Juliet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet, Sinatra Suite, Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette-Odile, the pas de trois, a cygnet and the Hungarian Princess in Swan Lake, the Waltz in Les Sylphides, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Princess Praline in Whipped Cream, leading roles in Bach Partita, Birthday Offering, Brahms-Haydn Variations, Monotones I, and Thirteen Diversions, and roles in Airs, Amazed in Burning Dreams, Baker’s Dozen, Ballo della Regina, Black Tuesday, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Brief Fling, Company B, Désir, Deuce Coupe, Gong, Hereafter, In the Upper Room, Overgrown Path, Pretty Good Year, Private Light, Raymonda Divertissements, Sechs Tänze, Sinfonietta, Symphonic Variations, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison and workwithinwork.

Copeland created the Spanish Dance in Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, the Fairy Fleur de farine (Wheat flower) in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, His Loss in AfterEffect, and roles in AFTERITE, C. to C. (Close to Chuck), Dumbarton, Garden Blue, Glow – Stop, Her Notes, I Feel The Earth Move, One of Three and With a Chance of Rain.

Copeland received the 2008 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts and was named National Youth of the Year Ambassador for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2013.  In 2014, President Obama appointed Copeland to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.  She is the recipient of a 2014 Dance Magazine Award and was named to the 2015 TIME 100 by TIME Magazine.  Copeland is the author of the best-selling memoir, Life in Motion, children’s book Firebird and Ballerina Body.

Copeland was appointed a Principal Dancer in August 2015.

Ms. Copeland’s performances with American Ballet Theatre are sponsored by Valentino D. Carlotti.

Sue Wicks

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Philippines
  • 2010  –  Indonesia
  • 2011  –  Dominican Republic
  • 2013  –  Malaysia
  • 2016  –  Cambodia
  • 2017  –  Jordan

Sue Wicks was a first-round selection by the New York Liberty in the WNBA’s inaugural draft in 1997. Wicks went on to play six seasons with the Liberty, earning an All-Star selection in 2000. She also was the recipient of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award in 2000. Wicks finished her WNBA career in eighth place all-time in blocked shots.

Wicks played collegiately at Rutgers University, where she was a three-time All-American and the 1988 National Player of the Year. She was inducted into Rutgers’ Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2013.

Kalana Greene

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Georgia

Kalana Greene is a former WNBA player for the Washington Mystics, New York Liberty, Connecticut Sun, San Antonio Stars, and Minnesota Lynx. She also played for the CCC Polkowice in Poland where she was a silver medalist of the PLKK during the 2010/2011 season.

Growing up, Greene averaged 17 points per game as a high school freshman and by the time she was a senior, she averaged 28 points per game, 18 rebounds, 9 steals, and 8 assists per game which earned her the WBCA All-American. She joined the University of Connecticut Huskies’ team where she won two national championships at the University of Connecticut, the All-BIG EAST First Team, and Big East Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Greene was the 13th overall pick for New York Liberty in the 2010 WNBA Draft.

Jennifer Lacy

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  Nicaragua
  • 2016  –  Angola

Jenn Lacy is a former American professional basketball player of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

A native of Agoura Hills, California, Lacy played collegiate basketball at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, averaging 9.1 points per game in 103 games over four years. Lacy went undrafted in the 2006 WNBA Draft and joined the Phoenix Mercury for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, winning the 2007 WNBA Championship. She went on to play for the Atlanta Dream (2008-09), Tulsa Shock (2010-14), Los Angeles Sparks (2015) and Connecticut Sun (2015). Lacy played professionally in China during the 2008-09 WNBA offseason with Beijing Shougang.

Astou Ndiaye-Diatta

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Cameroon

Astou Ndiaye-Diatta is a former Senegalese professional women’s basketball player and current assistant coach at Utah State University in the United States.

A 1997 cum laude graduate of Southern Nazerene with a bachelor’s degree in business, Ndiaye-Diatta was named a Kodak/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association NAIA All-American as a senior and was a two-time NAIA First Team All-American. She also earned the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year as a senior and was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

In 1999, Ndiaye-Diatta was selected in the fourth round (41st overall) of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft by the Detroit Shock. Ndiaye-Diatta played five seasons for the Shock, including winning the 2003 WNBA Championship. She went on to play for the Indiana Fever (2004), Houston Comets (2006) and Seattle Storm (2007). She also played professionally in Italy and France during her career.

Ndiaye-Diatta represented Senegal in international competition at the World Championships in Malaysia (1990), Germany (1998), China (2002) and Brazil (2006) and at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

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].

Linda Gomez

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Moldova

Linda Gomez is a Classroom Certified Teacher, an Athletic Director for K-12, a Volleyball Coach (Elementary, High School, University, and USAV Club), a Sitting Volleyball Coach at USA Volleyball and Army Warrior Games, a USAV Sitting Volleyball Coordinator for the Old Dominion Region, a USAV Sitting Volleyball Liaison Florida Region of USA Volleyball, a USAV IMPACT Instructor, a USAV CAP III Certified, and a Blaze Adapted Sports Specialist Level 1.

In 2016, Gomez founded Get Set 4 All, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide adapted sports opportunities for youth, adults, and military wounded warriors.

Carlie Cook

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Algeria
  • 2016  –  Morocco

Carlie Cook is a former basketball player at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team, who has most recently played for the Connecticut Spokebenders. She has competed at the national championship and was an alternate for the 2011 U25 USA team.

Trooper Johnson

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Russia
  • 2016  –  Algeria
  • 2016  –  Morocco
  • 2018  –  Kuwait

Coach Johnson is a legendary NWBA member, showcase in the iconic symbol of the NWBA, as a NWBA Hall of Famer and Paralympian. As an athlete, Johnson is the only U.S. player to compete on 15 National Teams (1990-2004), and is widely acknowledged as the most prolific three-point shooter in NWBA history. His shooting accuracy led Team USA to the top of the medal platform for a total of nine gold medals and one silver medal. He also has two bronze medals as an athlete at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games, and was a member of the 1992 and 2004 U.S. Paralympic teams.

Professionally, Johnson is the Sports Program Coordinator for the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program in California, which includes being the head coach of the Junior Road Warriors Wheelchair Basketball Team. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern California Olympians & Paralympians. Johnson first found the sport of wheelchair basketball after being involved in a car accident at the age of 17 that left him paralyzed. After that, wheelchair basketball was all he knew. Coach Johnson resides in San Lorenzo, California. He and his wife, Megan, have a son Max, and triplets, Hank, Sam and Sophia.

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)