Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2018

Barry Siff

Triathalon

Served as envoy

  • 2016  –  Benin
  • 2018  –  Panama

Barry Siff had a successful business career primarily in the food industry. He was a Vice President by the time he was 27, and eventually became Sr. Vice President of a multi-billion dollar company at the age of 40. However, after less than three years in that role, at the age of just 42, he and his entire executive team were removed, and Barry reinvented himself into the world of sports.

An avid marathoner and triathlete, having completed over 70 marathons, ultra-marathons, and Ironman competitions, Siff turned to the then exploding world of adventure racing. He helped start “MountainQuest Adventures,” which held 24-hour events and training camps in Colorado. At the same time, Siff became an elite adventure racing athlete, racing all over the world in multi-day expedition races from 1998 to 2003. These 5-10 day events took him to places like Tibet, Argentina, New Zealand, China, Fiji, and a dozen other exotic remote locations.

In 2004, Barry and his wife, Jodee, bought a small triathlon in Boulder, CO, and in five short years grew “5430 Sports” into one of America’s leading triathlon event companies, selling it to World Triathlon Corp. (“Ironman”) in 2009. Looking to give back to the sport he loved so much, Barry got involved with and ultimately was elected to the Board of Directors of USA Triathlon in 2012. In 2014, he was elected President of USA Triathlon, and served five years in this capacity.

Siff was asked to join the International Triathlon Union (ITU) Executive Board, also, in 2014, the governing body of the sport worldwide, and continues in that capacity today. In 2016, Siff was appointed a U.S. Department of State Sports Envoy, and has made sports diplomacy trips in that capacity to Benin (Africa), Panama, and Seoul, Korea.

Barry has served on the Boards of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau, and has also co-authored two books: “Adventure Racing: The Ultimate Guide” and “Fit and Fun for Life.” He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from WPI, and an MA in Industrial Relations from Wayne State University. He continues to remain very active in triathlon, running, and other endurance events today.

Esther Johnson

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Trinidad and Tobago

As the Assistant Volleyball Coach & Recruiting Coordinator for the Howard University Volleyball Team, Esther helped lead the Lady Bison to back-to-back Conference Championships and NCAA appearances in 2016 & 2017. Esther’s responsibilities included, but were not limited to: recruiting, practice court and game coaching, supervising individualized strength and conditioning sessions, marketing and game promotion, coordinating team travel, evaluating student-athlete academic progress, and initiating community service programs.

Esther has also worked as an athletic scout and videographer recruiting high school and club athletes in Colorado and across the U.S. As an athletic scout, Esther travels the country identifying potential recruits and helps them achieve maximum exposure through her company’s services so that they may be recruited to the appropriate collegiate program.

Esther, who played as an outside hitter for Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD from 2004-08, was a four-year letter winner and captain of her volleyball team. During her time at Morgan State, she was named MEAC Rookie of the Year, received first-team and second-team All-MEAC honors, was the recipient of the MEAC Commissioner’s All-Academic Award and was an Arthur Ashe Scholars first team selection. A two-time All-MEAC Tournament Team selection, Esther became the first player in school history to reach 1,000 kills as a sophomore, and later became the program’s all-time leader in kills and third on the charts in digs.

In May 2008, Esther earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Morgan State University and earned a master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science with a specialization in Sports Administration in December 2012 from the University of Northern Colorado.

Dr. Andrea Woodson-Smith

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  China
  • 2015  –  Papua New Guinea
  • 2015  –  Australia
  • 2018  –  Botswana

Dr. Andrea Woodson-Smith is a full professor at North Carolina Central University specializing in adapted physical activity and sports and physical education pedagogy. She earned her PhD from Texas Woman’s University specializing in adapted physical education, MS from North Carolina Central University specializing in adapted physical education and a BS from James Madison University, Kinesiology where she also competed as a Division I women’s basketball athlete.

She received an invite to try out for the American Basketball League (ABL) and also tried out for the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was a volunteer assistant women’s basketball coach for Texas Woman’s University and an Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach for Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, IL, an assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach and JV volleyball coach for East Chapel Hill High School and JV volleyball coach and assistant varsity volleyball coach for Waynesboro High School.

She participated in the 2003 and 2011 ParaPan American Games, 2006 and 2010 and 2012 U.S Paralympic team. She has also participated as the Vice Chair of the Women’s Division, Chair of the Youth Development Committee of the Women’s Division, Committee member of the High Performance Committee and currently member of the ADM and High Performance Committees and serves as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State.

During her spare time, she is an advocate for colon cancer, children’s cancer and equality for all girls and women in sports and a 7th grade girls Life Group Leader for New Hope Church

Rose Hollermann

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Botswana

Paralympic Experience:
Two-time Paralympian (2012, 2016); One-time medalist (1 gold)
Paralympic Games Rio 2016 , gold
Paralympic Games London 2012, 4th
World Championship Experience
Most recent: 2018 – 6th
Years of competition: 2018

Personal: In 2001, Hollermann and her family were involved in a car accident that took the lives of two of her brothers and caused her to be partially paralyzed from the waist down. As part of her rehabilitation, she was introduced to swimming at the Courage Center in Minneapolis. From there, she tried sled hockey, track and field, archery, cross-country skiing and wheelchair basketball. She discovered her talent and passion for wheelchair basketball. In 2011, she became one of the youngest players on the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team at age 15. Since then, she has excelled in her career, playing collegiate basketball at the University of Texas at Arlington and leading Team USA to Paralympic gold in 2016….Daughter of John and Michelle Hollermann…Has three brothers: Shane, Ethan, and Seth Hollermann…Hobbies include fishing, hunting, basketball, sled hockey, photography, listening to music.

Cat Whitehill

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Tajikistan

Catherine Anne Reddick, is a retired American professional soccer defender, now assistant coach of the Boston Breakers in the NWSL. Whitehill last played for the Boston Breakers in 2015 and previously played for the Washington Freedom and the Atlanta Beat in the WPS as well as the United States women’s national soccer team from 2000 to 2010.

Lorrie Fair

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Morocco
  • 2010  –  Paraguay
  • 2012  –  Afghanistan
  • 2012  –  Venezuela
  • 2013  –  Iraq
  • 2014  –  Burma
  • 2016  –  Nepal
  • 2018  –  Pakistan
  • 2020  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  Cote d'Ivoire
  • 2023  –  Brunei

As an undergraduate student at Carolina, Lorrie Fair Allen helped the women’s soccer team to national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999. During the same period of time, Allen was succeeding on the field globally, becoming a FIFA World Cup champion and an Olympic silver medalist in 2000.

These days, Allen, a mother of two boys under the age of five, works as a program director for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project and volunteers as a sports envoy for the U.S. Department of State.

Her dual passion of soccer and advocacy began to take root when she arrived at Chapel Hill. The women’s soccer program is special, and one of coach Anson Dorrance’s goals is to build leaders, Allen said in a 2018 interview. “His biggest hope is that that extends beyond the soccer field.”

As a State Department sports envoy since 2008, Allen works to support the embassies’ diplomatic missions abroad by connecting with people from diverse cultures using a shared love for soccer. Allen also led a six-month expedition beginning in London and ending in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as part of the organization, Kickabout, which she co-founded and self-funded.

At the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, Allen spearheads the foundation’s grantmaking. She seeks out and identifies community-based organizations in Southern Africa that engage young people to keep themselves and their peers safe from HIV and helps them apply for grants to support them in accomplishing their goals.

In 2016, Allen became a Carolina student once again, pursuing an online master’s degree in public administration through the School of Government.

Staci Wilson

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Peru
  • 2016  –  Senegal
  • 2018  –  Niger
  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2019  –  Ethiopia
  • 2022  –  Cameroon
  • 2023  –  Mexico

Staci Wilson – former professional soccer player with extensive experience training athletes, teams and coaches. An NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach, she holds a US Soccer B Coaching License, and has teaching certifications in yoga and Pilates. She played professional soccer for the Carolina Courage and on the 1996 USWNT that won the first ever Olympic Gold Medal for Women’s Football. Currently Wilson coaches youth, high school in south Florida and has a soccer consulting business. She devotes free time to giving back to the sport through charitable organizations that target females and underserved communities.

Joanna Lohman

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Argentina
  • 2015  –  Thailand
  • 2016  –  Botswana
  • 2017  –  Ivory Coast
  • 2018  –  Niger
  • 2019  –  Nigeria
  • 2021  –  Virtual
  • 2022  –  Virtual
  • 2024  –  Cambodia

Joanna Lohman is a keynote speaker and performance coach. She is a former professional soccer player and member of the United States Women’s National Team. She is the first player in Washington Spirit history to have her jersey retired, honoring her 16-year playing career where she built a platform for social impact. She is the author of, Raising Tomorrow’s Champions, and an authenticity activator. She continues her influence as a Sport Diplomat and global leader who has shared her message with organizations all over the world, including: The Minnesota Vikings, The Human Rights Campaign, Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Qualcomm, Lifetime Television, Sanofi, American Staffing Association, McDonalds, CNN and universities all over the country.

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
  • 2023  –  Eswatini

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/travel 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 23 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. She also is a member of a USTA tennis league and rows competitively as single sculler. 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. Zola is passionate about empowering girls and women through sports, especially the beautiful game of soccer.