Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Year: 2024

Jack Van Wagoner

Surfing

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Colombia

Jack Van Wagoner is a nineteen year old surfer from Carlsbad, CA, studying architecture at Cal Poly SLO. Currently, Jack is ranked number 1 on the WSL North American Longboard Qualifying series after a recent win at the Morro Bay LBQS. Jack is also a two time NSSA interscholastic high school longboard champion and reigning NSSA college longboard champion. Jack has also had the honors to compete in the 2023 WSL US Open longboard classic and the 2021 Mexi Log Fest where he placed 1st. Not only does Jack longboard, but he also does shortboard, in which he competes for the Cal Poly surf team and the Carlsbad Boardriders Club. Jack has worked surf lessons with Eli Howard Surf School for 4 years now, giving him experience teaching others to surf. Jack volunteers with the Shine Project Foundation which we empowers teens with special needs by teaching them to surf as well as Best Buddies where they help special needs students feel included in school.

Courtney Conlogue

Surfing

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Colombia

Courtney Conlogue is a professional surfer known for her powerful and dynamic style in the water. Hailing from Santa Ana, California, Courtney has been a prominent figure in women’s professional surfing, consistently ranked among the world’s top surfers. Her fierce competitive spirit, tenacity, athleticism, and commitment to excellence have earned her numerous accolades and victories on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour. Off the board and out of the water; Courtney is known for her dedication to fitness, mental strength, and inspiring a new generation of surfers, making her a true icon in the sport.

Courtney has been riding waves since the age of four. In 2004 when she was 11, Conlogue was the youngest athlete to be selected to the USA Junior Surf Team. She dedicated 7 years to the USA Surf Team as a competitor. By the time she was 14, she had won a surfing gold medal as a member of the U.S.A. Team at the X Games of Surfing against the World Team. In 2009, at the age of 16, she won the biggest competition in the USA at the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing, held at her home break in Huntington Beach, California. That same year she immediately followed this with another win at the ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica earning an individual and team Gold Medal as a USA Surfing Team member.

In 2014, Conlogue suffered a major ankle injury while training before her heat at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia. She had to withdraw from the contest as well as the Rio Pro, Fiji Women’s Pro, and the US Open of Surfing. However, later she ranked in No. 2 place for two years in a row for the World Surf League. In the 2019 WSL WCT season; Conlogue suffered 3 consecutive concussions. She had to withdraw from the last event of the season: the Maui Pro. During 2020 the WSL WCT season was cancelled due to Covid. Due to the severity of Courtney’s concussions she underwent a tremendous amount of physical therapy to return to the WSL WCT 2021 season.

In 2015, she became a Surf Therapist working with the organization A Walk on Water. She brings all her knowledge of the ocean, the sport of surfing, and her athleticism to the process as she spreads confidence, strength, love, and levity to all the children that she works with.

In 2019, Courtney was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame as the Woman of the Year in Huntington Beach, California. Courtney is known for her positive attitude, infectious energy, and commitment to inspiring the next generation of surfers. As a role model, she embodies the values of hard work, perseverance, and passion, inspiring fans worldwide both in and out of the water. Courtney is currently coaching the USA Junior Surf Team; sharing her knowledge, and love for the sport of surfing.

Courtney has many other athletic interests and is an avid snowboarder, prone paddler, golfer, rock climber. She also enjoys fishing, cycling, skateboarding, and hiking. She’s an all around outdoor athlete! Courtney has a very creative side and enjoys painting, designing and collaborating. She has a deep love for coffee, teas, and enjoys exploring culinary experiences around the world.

In 2020, Courtney created her own brand, Sea Tiger selling her coffee and clothing. In 2024, she launched her website to display and sell her fine art; originals and prints. Courtney’s artwork is on display in several galleries.

Amobi Okugo

Soccer

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Niger

Amobi Okugo is a former professional soccer player turned multi hyphenate athlete entrepreneur who has been recognized as a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient.

Amobi Okugo was drafted in the first round of the 2010 MLS super draft after a standout All American freshman year at UCLA and has since played over 200 competitive games for teams including Philadelphia, Orlando, Kansas City, Portland, and Austin. Amobi Okugo was a high school gatorade all american and youth USMNT mainstay from u-14 – u-23 competing in the 2012 Olympic qualifying cycle amongst other international tournaments.

He is the founder of Athlete CEO, a platform that helps athletes turn into enterprises through education, content + business strategy, and brand incubation.

Amobi is a founder or partner with multiple other ventures including Serve Consulting.

Amobi Okugo also founded The Ok U Go Foundation to help provide resources and opportunities to children from low income backgrounds through athletic, educational, and social programs.

Billy Garrett

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Zimbabwe

Billy Garrett is a sickle cell warrior, advocate, author, and professional basketball player. Billy has played professionally all over the world for the last 6 years. Billy has had stops in both Europe and the NBA, becoming the first person to play in the NBA with sickle cell disease.

Billy has recently released a book entitled Ode To The Warrior in which he shares the ups and downs along his journey of becoming a professional athlete with sickle cell. His goal is to inspire others through the game of basketball.

Essence Carson

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Zimbabwe

A Paterson, NJ native, Rosa Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts/Eastside High graduate and member of the Rutgers University Athletic Hall of Fame, Essence Carson is a 13-year WNBA veteran, All-Star, World Champion, musician, philanthropist, TEDx speaker, and music industry professional. Essence has held several positions within the music business ranging from Director of Label Operations & Distribution at a budding boutique record label, to the Senior Manager of Label Relations and A&R Operations at the world-renowned Motown Records & Black Forum Records. Prior to her arrival at Motown, she started her career in the music industry at Priority Records and Caroline Records (now Virgin Music) of the Capitol Music Group. No stranger to initiating change as an active WNBA player, Essence has stood on the front lines championing equality and equity. Also deeply rooted in the community, she has been the ambassador of Health Equity Initiative (501c3) for over a decade. Continuously looking to change lives through Entertainment and Literary Arts, Essence has also contributed to the Watts Community Core “Unity Gain Crew” of Los Angeles, California.

Macca Malik

Breaking

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Nigeria

Macca Malik aka B-Girl Macca has worked hard to represent women at the forefront of Hip Hop dance culture on a high level through internationally recognized competition. She is a proven top female competitor in the Breaking scene winning many battles. She continues to travel the world teaching workshops, competing, and judging competitions. She has also teamed up to co-found GIRL ILLA Tactics, a multi-modal production & creative curation venture as a way to amplify and build leadership within the global B-girl Community and to bring awareness of the Bgirl scene to outside support in a healthy way. GIT then expanded into GIT Productions, a production house and collective centering Black, Indigenous and African Diasporic identified voices through high quality productions, calls to art & action, curated happenings and space/place making. As she continues to let her artistic life unfold, she has reached a major milestone by becoming the first-ever Sponsored B-Girl by Monster Energy. Macca serves as a Elite Athlete Representative for Breaking For Gold USA which is the US Breaking division to help catapult US Breakers to the 2024 Olympics and beyond. She is also the creator and host of her very own show called “The Battle Manifesto”.

Ryan Patton

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Turkey

Ryan Patton is currently the head women’s volleyball coach at Mercyhurst University, in a career that boasts over 350 wins, the men’s 1998 Division III National Championship at Juniata College, the Mercyhurst women’s first four NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances, and multiple coach of the year honors In 2024, he guided the Tool City VBC boys to the AAU 18 & under national title. Patton has served on volleyball executive boards and as a clinician for both the the American and Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Associations.

Jenell Patton

Volleyball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Turkey

Jenell Patton is the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s Mercyhurst University volleyball program for fifteen years. She assisted the team to two NCAA tournament appearances. In the summer of 2024, she served on the staff of the Tool City VBC where they won the AAU 18 and under club national championship. Prior to coaching, she was the Sports Information Director for the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association for men’s volleyball. In this role, she received the Grant Berger Media Award.

Peter Hughes

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Saudi Arabia

Mr. Peter Hughes has a long career in athletics as a coach and administrator, as well as nonprofit, sales, and fund development. Since 2017, he has served as Director of Adaptive Athletics at the University of Arizona. UArizona’s Adaptive Athletics program is the largest program of its kind and has produced 40+ Paralympians. As director, he supervises a large professional staff and cultivates relationships with donors who support program operations, as well as other community contacts to increase awareness of wheelchair and adaptive sport. During his tenure as director, Mr. Hughes he has tripled the number of enrolled student athletes and has committed to financially supporting each one because he believes sport is an important inroad to higher education and supports employability, areas in which disabled people are sorely underrepresented.

Mr. Hughes has coached various sports from YMCA to NCAA, and athletes of all ages with and without disabilities. As UArizona’s wheelchair track coach, he coached four Paralympian track athletes, including a gold medal winner. As UArizona’s women’s wheelchair basketball coach, he led the team to four straight national title games and won two titles.

In service to the international disability community, Mr. Hughes established UArizona as a site for the Global Sports Mentoring Program and hosts one or more international delegations of disabled athletes or coaches annually. Mr. Hughes founded the non-profit organization Wheelchair Athletes Worldwide (WAW) that donates sports wheelchairs and holds wheelchair sports camps in developing countries that do not have access to such equipment or coaching. WAW has donated over 50 wheelchairs in four different countries and is set to do another donation in Uganda in 2023.

Mr. Hughes earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, with a teaching credential in Physical Education and specialist teaching credential in Adapted Physical Education from San Diego State University, and a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis on sport and exercise psychology from the University of Western Australia.

Darlene Hunter

Wheelchair Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2024  –  Saudi Arabia

Dr. Darlene Hunter has a long career in athletics as a three-time Paralympic athlete in women’s wheelchair basketball. Dr. Hunter was on the USA National Team from 2010-2016 and 2019-2021; winning a gold medal in 2016 and a bronze medal in 2020. In addition, she has helped to establish the intercollegiate women’s wheelchair basketball program at both The University of Arizona and The University of Texas at Arlington. Prior to playing women’s wheelchair basketball, Dr. Hunter was an elite track athlete. She acquired a spinal cord injury at the age of four which resulted in her being a paraplegic; paralyzed from the waist down.

Dr. Hunter was the CEO of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) (2022-2023) expanding wheelchair basketball opportunities throughout the United States. Prior to taking on the CEO position with the NWBA, Dr. Hunter was the chair of the women’s division within the NWBA for 10 years, as well as the athlete representative of wheelchair basketball for The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She helped to increase the number of women’s teams within the division from six teams to the current sixteen teams.

In service to the disabled community, Dr. Hunter established a women’s wheelchair basketball camp at The University of Texas at Arlington. It is the only women’s camp in the US that is free to attend. The purpose of the camp was to establish a place where women can come together in sport, but to build a support system, practice independence and be mentored by other women in the sport. We wanted women to see others in the workplace, have a family, and experience life on a university campus. In addition, Dr. Hunter holds board positions at several other adaptive sports non-profits creating sport opportunities for those with physical disabilities. In 2017, Dr. Hunter was named as Toyota’s Everyday Hero for her work to broaden and grow the game in women’s sports.

Dr. Hunter earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a double minor in political science and special education from the University of Arizona. In addition, two master’s degrees in public health and social work from The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and a Ph.D. in Family Studies from Texas Woman’s University (TWU). Dr. Hunter is a licensed master’s social worker and is a professor teaching disability and social work at UTA.