Athletes

Julie Foudy, a three-time Olympic medalist and a two-time World Cup champion, served as Public Policy Officer for the Women’s Sports Foundation, working to address equity issues on all levels of sport (2005-2006). She was the vice president at-large of the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Trustees (2000-2005) and was a former president of the Foundation (2000-2002).

Foudy captained the U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team for 13 of the 18 years in which she was a member. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2004), an Olympic silver medalist (2000) and a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion (1991, 1999). She was the captain of the former Women’s United Soccer Association’s (WUSA) San Diego Spirit and was a founding player of WUSA. In 1997, Foudy became the first woman and first American to receive the FIFA Fair Play Award for her work against child labor. That year, Soccer magazine named Foudy Player of the Year. A four-time NCAA All-America selection at Stanford University, Foudy was named one of the "100 Most Influential NCAA Student-Athletes" in 2006 by the NCAA. Also in 2006, she founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, a residential camp for girls ages 8-18 that focuses on both soccer and leadership. In 2005, Foudy received an honorary doctorate of law degree from Smith College. In 2007, she was elected into the National Soccer Hall of Fame alongside longtime teammate and friend, Mia Hamm. She is one of the four players featured in the HBO documentary entitled "Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team." She currently works as a television analyst and reporter for ESPN/ABC. Her husband, Ian Sawyers, is the general manager and head coach of the New Jersey Sky Blue franchise of the new women’s professional soccer league, due to launch in April of 2009. They have one daughter, Isabel, and are expecting their second child in December.  (9/08)