Athletes

Women's Sports Foundation President Jessica Mendoza is also an ESPN color analyst during the Women's College World Series, athletic ambassador for Team Darfur and a board member of the National Education Association Foundation. Currently a member of the ProFastpitch X-Treme Tour, she was voted Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year in 2008.   In September 2007, Mendoza was officially named to the U.S. Olympic softball team, which captured silver at the 2008 Games. In July 2007, the U.S. team went undefeated, taking home its sixth consecutive Pan American gold medal. For the second consecutive year, the U.S. team captured the World Cup championship. The team was also victorious at the 2007 Canada Cup. Mendoza was named 2006 USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year, as she led the United States to its first gold medal at the World Cup of Softball with three home runs, 16 RBI and a 1.167 slugging percentage. She also led the team to the International Softball Federation (ISF) World Championship title in Beijing with five home runs, 16 RBI and a slugging percentage of .969. That same year, she was inducted into the International Latin Sports Hall of Fame. In 2005, she captured the International Sports Invitational Championship as a member of the U.S. women's softball team and became a member of the National ProFastpitch's Arizona Heat, making the all-star team. Mendoza made her first Olympic appearance as a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's softball team in 2004. At the 2003 Pan American Games, she and her team also won a gold medal. She was Stanford University's leader in hits (83), home runs (14), runs scored (70), slugging percentage (.737) and total bases (151).  In 2002, Mendoza was a 2002 ISF world champion, was one of the top 25 selections for the 2002 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, and was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association/Louisville Slugger first-team All-American for the fourth time. In her final season, she was one of three Stanford seniors named to the 2002 Division I All-Pacific Region squad. She garnered first-team All-Pac-10 accolades for four years straight and led the Cardinal team to its first Women's College World Series appearance in her junior year. During her sophomore season, Mendoza was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year, making her the first Stanford athlete to achieve this feat. As a freshman, she was named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year. That season she shattered the school's single-season records for home runs, batting average, hits and doubles. Mendoza graduated in the spring of 2002 with a degree in American studies and a master's degree in social sciences in education. She is featured in the Women's Sports Foundation's GoGirlGo! educational curriculum.  (1/09)

For more information on Jessica, check out her Web site at: www.jmendoza.com.