Sports Envoy Program
Swimming
Alex Cleveland is a swim coach and outdoor educator. She has four years of experience across multiple cultures in coaching and educating, and helps combine water safety with environmental education. She is a lifelong swimmer and swam competitively at the University of Tennessee for four years before moving to Monterey, CA to focus on ocean safety.
Judo
Ann Shiraishi, a 3rd degree black belt, began studying judo at the young age of 4. She is a two-time Senior National Champion and represented the United States at 2 World Championships (2010 & 2011). In addition, Ann was the 2008 Olympic Alternate in Beijing & was selected as a training partner to accompany the team. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Anthropology, Ann began a career in law enforcement. She is currently a Senior Inspector (sworn) at the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office. She, her husband (Joseph) and twins (Jacob & Emma) live in the east bay.
Judo
Sayaka Torra began studying judo at the young age of 5 and is currently a sixth degree black belt. She is a 7-time Senior National Champion, represented the United States at 3 World Championships (2001, 2003, 2005), and was a member of the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing. Sayaka also won a silver medal at the 2000 Junior World Championships in Tunis, Tunisia. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Mass Communications and a minor in Japanese. Since retiring from competitive judo, Sayaka now leads the competitor’s classes at the East Bay Judo Institute and works as a business operations manager for Humintell, a psychology-based company out of El Cerrito, CA. She, her husband, and son live in the east bay with their two cats, and multiple beehives.
Soccer
Professional football player William Oluremi John was born on June 13th, 1985 in Overland Park, Kansas. William started playing soccer at the age of three following in the footsteps of his father, Emilio John, who played professionally in the U.S. and also represented the Nigerian national team.
In 2016, Will started his own YouTube channel that now has over 915,000 subscribers worldwide and 90 million views. His 21-day challenge has now been viewed by over 12 million people and marked his initial popularity.
Soccer
Amy Allmann Griffin has included soccer as a big part of her life and given back to the game whenever the opportunity arises, including being a member of the inaugural World Championship team in 1991. Following her playing career, Griffin was one of the first 20 women to earn her USSF “A” coaching license and began a career of coaching. Griffin started the program at the University of New Mexico in 1992, and then moved to Seattle as an Associate Head Coach at the University of Washington for 24 years.
Basketball
Former McDonald’s All American and Professional basketball player who now works with the NBA in Player Development.
Soccer
Vlastimir Davidovic is currently a head coach at Phoenix College of the Men’s Soccer team in addition to a youth head coach role at Real Salt Lake – Arizona working with three boys Elite Academy teams ages U17, U15, and U14.
Vlastimir is a passionate and experienced soccer coach and soccer ambassador who loves using the power of the beautiful game to guide student athletes of all ages to accomplish individual and team goals, but more importantly to positively impact players in establishing overall well being and in becoming good citizens.
Soccer
2023 United Soccer Coaches recipient Honor Award
2020 Selected into United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame
2019 5th Division 1 Coach to Win 500 Games
2015 Inducted Into Southern Methodist University Hall of Fame
2010 MLS Coach of the Year
2008 – 2013 FC Dallas Coach
2005 President of United Soccer Coaches Association
2004 Director Of Coaching NSCAA
2001 Inducted into Eastern Illinois Hall Fame
Harlem Globetrotters Basketball
Widely heralded as the “Queen of the Crossover” and owner of some of the best handles on Earth, Torch George brings the fire every time she steps onto the court with her razor-sharp shooting skills and ankle-breaking dribbling moves.
In 2018, Torch made Globetrotter history when she became the first of the team’s female stars to own her own Guinness World Record title. In celebration of Guinness’ annual World Record Day, Torch set the record for the most basketball under the leg tumbles in one minute (female), with 32.
The 5 foot 3-inch guard attended Iowa Western Community College (IWCC), where she led the Reivers to a 26-5 record her sophomore year while averaging 25.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.3 steals per game. She finished her sophomore year with four single-game records and was later inducted into IWCC’s Hall of Fame in 2019. After a brief stint at Purdue University, she transferred to Oklahoma City University, where she earned a degree in Kinesiology.
Torch’s on-court success has led to her off-court development as an entrepreneur and inspiration, with the recent launch of her “Hood to History” clothing line. This successful apparel line aims to show young people how to dominate without a ball in their hands. With an eye on the future, she hopes to bring her fire to the sideline in a Division 1 coaching role.
Harlem Globetrotters Basketball
There’s family, and then there’s extended family. That’s how Globetrotters dribbling wizard Scooter Christensen describes his teammates. “I consider my teammates my brothers and sisters,” he says. Of course, like siblings do, the players fun-lovingly joke around with each other a lot. “My first year, we had a player that looked like Squidward Tentacles from SpongeBob SquarePants. Some guys put a picture of Squidward right on his seat on the bus. We were trying not to laugh, but as soon as he got on the bus, it was over.”
He was introduced to basketball at the age of five. He played soccer too, but when he started growing faster than most of the other kids, he started concentrating solely on basketball in eighth grade. After winning a state championship and team MVP honors in high school, Scooter went on to play at the University of Montana, leading the Grizzlies to the NCAA tournament in 2002. He is one of only three players in school history to lead the team in assists three straight seasons, and he is still second on the school’s all-time assist list.
Scooter has appeared on such popular TV shows as “The Bachelorette,” and GAC’s “Top 20 Countdown.” Being on camera in front of millions can be nerve-wracking for some, but Scooter says the craziest thing he has ever done is cliff diving.
Not only is Scooter one of the Globetrotters’ premier ball handlers, he also has a great set of pipes; he once won a karaoke contest in Montana. “I come from a singing family; we sang a lot in church.” He even sings on the bus now and then when the Globetrotters are traveling from city to city. He can also keep his teammates entertained with one of the nearly 1,000 movies he has in his collection.