Shannon MacMillan on the Sports Envoy program

Soccer News: MacMillan and Noonan Named Sports Envoys

UPDATED: 11.19.10 - new images

U.S. Women’s National Team players Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan (née Ducar) headed to Guatemala on Monday, October 10, to hold clinics across the country for schoolchildren, internationals and coaches. U.S. Soccer, in partnership with U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will reach as many as 1,195 children in three cities during the five-day trip.

Former U.S. Women’s National Team stars Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan have been selected by the U.S. Department of State to travel to Guatemala as part of the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs team. The two will hold clinics across the Central American country for schoolchildren, coaches, and international residents a part of the Sports Envoy program.

The goals of the program include sparking dialogue with children around the world, helping to improve health and fitness among children and showing the connection between sports and higher education, particularly for girls.

U.S. Soccer is partnering with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the effort to reach children around the world on the sports field. The Sports Envoy program is a part of SportsUnited, a Bureau sports exchange program that sends athletes and coaches from a variety of sports overseas to work with children in other countries.

The program hopes to influence children on the importance of education, positive health practices and respect for diversity. MacMillan and Noonan are the latest top athletes and coaches to participate in the program.

MacMillan came to national attention as the winner of the 1995 Hermann Trophy for best collegiate female soccer player when she was at the University of Portland. She played on the U.S. Women’s Olympic teams that took the gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 and the silver medal in Sydney in 2000. MacMillan was also a member of the US WNT that won the 1999 Women’s World Cup. 

For her efforts, she was named U.S. Soccer’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2002 and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. She was one of the founding players of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) and played for the San Diego Spirit for three seasons. MacMillan is currently the Director of the Competitive Program for the Del Mar/Carmel Valley Sharks Soccer Club.

Ambassador and Mrs. Chacon with Soccer Envoys Tracy Noonan and Shannon MacMillan	US Embassy Guatemala, Soccer stars Tracy Noonan and Shannon MacMillan give out autographed photos

 

Shannon MacMillan told SoccerNation News that she was very excited about the trip. "I am leaving for Guatemala on Monday" MacMillan said in a short interview over the weekend. "I am going down there as part of a sports envoy on behalf of US Soccer and the State Department. It should be a fun adventure!"  MacMillan has always been dedicated to giving back to the world of soccer and her position with U.S. Soccer clearly demomstrates her promise to share the joy of the game and inspire others to do the same.

Noonan also came to national attention at the Atlanta Olympics, where she joined MacMillan and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill teammate Mia Hamm. She was also on the 1999 World Cup team, although she did not have playing time. In college, Noonan helped lead the Tar Heels to three NCAA championships and was another founding member of the WUSA, playing with the Boston Breakers. Noonan went on to coach at UNC-Greensboro and Greensboro College.

DETAILS: The Sports Envoy program is part of SportsUnited’s Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative. Research shows that there is a strong connection between girls’ participation in sports and pursuing a higher level of education, which then leads to more women in leadership roles. Through the international program, U.S. Soccer seeks to promote sports and spark dialogue with children from around the world.

MacMillan and Noonan will conduct several soccer clinics with secondary and high school students, underprivileged youth and coaches, in addition to hosting talks about women in sports and reaching goals. Sports Envoys teach the participants how playing sports can help them stay active and healthy throughout their life. The program also stresses the importance of hard work as it relates to soccer, as well as success and achievement in the classroom and other areas of life.

“I just really enjoy being able to help in some small way, to help get some kids opportunities that they didn’t have,” said Noonan. “Especially to help inspire girls that they can be strong, they can be athletic. That will help them lead to hopefully a better lifestyle and to empower them.”

The Guatemala trip will kick off in the Sololá Department on Oct. 11 with two hour-long clinics with secondary school students, both in groups of 100. Later that afternoon, MacMillan and Noonan will host a clinic with adult trainers, followed by a session with junior and high school students.

The next day, the Envoys will head to Quetzaltenango where the group will spend a day and a half holding talks and clinics before arriving in the capital, Guatemala City. During the next two days, the former U.S. internationals will meet with members of the Guatemala Men’s and Women’s National Teams and conduct clinics for underprivileged children from dangerous neighborhoods.

“We’re working with some coaches and some teachers as well, which I think is really important so that we can help make some of the efforts and activities we’re showing them more sustainable,” said Noonan. “It would be great to help inspire these coaches so that they can help continue these projects with their students once we’ve left.”

MacMillan was one of the leading women’s goal scorers when she retired with 176 caps in 2006. The forward scored 60 goals and notched 53 assists during her 12-year career that spanned from 1993 to 2005. MacMillan was with the WNT during two World Cups and two Olympics, including the 1996 games when the U.S. took home the historic gold medal. During the 1995 World Cup, MacMillan became the first woman in U.S. Soccer history to score in the semifinal and final of a FIFA world championship.

Noonan earned 24 caps during her four years between the posts with the National Team. Between 1996 and 1999, Noonan had seven shutouts and allowed only nine goals. She was a member of the winning U.S. World Cup team in 1999 but did not see playing time.

Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan will travel to Guatemala as Sports Envoys from October 10-16 and be in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, and Solala, Guatemala. They will lead soccer clinics for young girls and boys, meet with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ English Access Microscholarship Program participants, and reach out to underprivileged youth with the Guatemala Women’s and Men’s National Soccer Teams. While in Guatemala, MacMillan and Noonan will work with several groups of young people, ages 9–20, and lead several clinics for groups of more than 100 young players.

Sports diplomacy builds on Secretary Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy. It embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools, including sports, to bring people together for greater understanding.

In June, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton launched the Women's World Cup Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through Sports, with an event at the Department of State for members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, female youth soccer players from around the world, Olympic medalists, professional athletes, and other leaders from the world of sports. In addition to soccer, the Department has engaged girls throughout the world this year through a host of international sports exchanges, including basketball, hockey, martial arts, snowboarding, softball, and volleyball. Click here to learn more about the Department’s efforts to empower women and girls through sports.

Sports Envoys are current and retired professional athletes and coaches that travel overseas to conduct drills and team building activities, as well as engage youth in a dialogue on the importance of education, positive health practices and respect for diversity.

SportsUnited is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ premier sports exchange program at the U.S. Department of State. Athletes and coaches from a range of sports are chosen to conduct clinics, visit schools, and engage with youth overseas in a dialogue on the importance of an education, positive health practices, and respect for diversity. Since 2003, SportsUnited has brought more than 600 athletes from 44 countries to the U.S. to participate in Sport Visitor programs. Since 2005, SportsUnited has sent more than 100 U.S. athletes to 40 countries to participate in Sport Envoy programs.

Ambassador Chacon and Sports Envoys Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan present a jersey to a Champions in Action member.

U.S. Soccer has been involved with Sports Envoy since 2006. Former players and coaches have traveled to South Africa, Bahrain, Uganda, Nigeria and Morocco, to name a few. Just this year, Linda Hamilton, Tiffany Roberts, Amanda Cromwell and Briana Scurry held clinics in Brazil and Germany. More past participants include Juergen Sumner, Cindy Parlow, Jeff Pill, Marcelo Balboa and Jay Miller.

FROM FLICKR SITE: Destacadas Futbolistas Profesionales de EE.UU. Visitan Guatemala para Promover el Futbol Recreativo

Tracy Noonan y Shannon MacMillan están de visita en Guatemala del 11 al 15 de octubre de 2011, para desarrollar el programa de intercambio cultural “Enviados Deportivos”, auspiciado por la Embajada de EE.UU., SportsUnited y U.S. Soccer, en colaboración con organizaciones y autoridades deportivas guatemaltecas nacionales y municipales y forma parte de la iniciativa de SportsUnited para “Facultar a las Mujeres y a las Niñas por Medio del Deporte”.

Related Article: MacMillan Joins Envoy