As part of the U.S. Department of State’s Sports United Envoy Program as well as the mission’s sports engagement strategy in relation to the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup and upcoming Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, the U.S. Mission in Canada is programming two Olympian female soccer envoys across Canada in June. Sports Envoys are athletes and coaches who travel overseas to lead programs that were developed by U.S. embassies and consulates. These American coaches and athletes hold sports clinics for young people and their coaches, participate in community outreach activities, and engage youth in a dialogue on the importance of leadership and respect for diversity. For more information on the SportsUnited Sports Envoy program, please visit here.
This Soccer Envoy program will provide life and sports skills for indigenous girls, newcomers, and other underserved communities within Canada. The athletes selected for Mission Canada are Lori Lindsey, who will travel to Vancouver (June 16-18) and Yellowknife (June 18-21), and Mary Harvey, who will be in Thunder Bay (June 21-24), Sudbury (June 25), and Montreal (June 26). Mary Harvey is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and Hall of Famer for U.S. Soccer, U.S. Olympic Committee, and at her alma mater, Cal Berkley. She was the starting goalie for 1991 U.S. Women’s National Team, which won the inaugural 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup; and a member of the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal team.
In Thunder Bay, Harvey will speak to the press, make presentations at local schools, give soccer clinics for indigenous girls with the support of the Thunder Bay Chill and Northwest Soccer, participate in National Aboriginal Day programming, and visit a reserve in conjunction with Lakehead University’s Reach Up! program. In Sudbury, Harvey will meet with the press and local officials, coach a soccer clinic at St. Charles College, and speak to girls soccer players at Laurentian University.
In Thunder Bay and Sudbury, the U.S. Consulate General in Toronto’s primary partner is the Aboriginal Sports and Wellness Council of Ontario (ASWCO), which is the Provincial Aboriginal Sport Body for Ontario that provides input and services for the North American Indigenous Games, National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, and many other regional games and programs throughout Ontario and Canada.
