Julie Foudy was honored by NAGWS as the Guiding Woman Sport at Convention.

Julie had a sensational soccer career while playing on the USA National Team for 18 years. She is the recently retired Captain of the US Women's National Team. Julie was a captain on the National Team for 13 of her 18 years with the team. Julie participated in all 4 Women's World Cups and all 3 Olympics for the USA Team. She is a two-time World Cup Champion and she is also a 1996 Olympic Gold medalist, 2000 Olympic Silver medalist and 2004 Olympic Gold medalist. Julie finished her National Team career with 45 goals, 59 assists and 271 international appearances (caps) for the USA. Her 271 caps rank third in the world all-time, male or female. Julie played all 3 years as Captain with the WUSA's San Diego Spirit. She was a 4 time All-American at Stanford University and was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. While at Mission Viejo High School, Julie won three CIF Championships and three CIF Player of the Year awards. Julie was voted Los Angeles Times' High School Player of the Decade for the 80's.

 

Most important to Julie, she has made a difference off the field as well. She was accepted into Stanford University's Medical School but decided not to pursue a career in medicine. Julie was the President of the Women's Sports Foundation from 2000-2002. She served on the Women's Sports Foundation Board of Directors for the past 7 years and is now doing advocacy work on their behalf, with a focus on Title IX and athletes' rights issues. Julie also served on the Board of Directors for the WUSA (the professional women's soccer league) as the Player Representative. Julie has been instrumental in a number of women's rights and child labor issues around the world. The world governing body of soccer, FIFA, awarded her the FIFA Fair Play Award, the first woman and American to receive the award, for her work against child labor in the stitching of soccer balls. She served as a member for the Commission on Title IX, appointed by President Bush and Secretary Paige. She has been honored numerous times for her work on behalf of Title IX. Most recently, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Smith College in 2005 and was honored by the National Women's Law Center. Julie was recently named as one of the "100 Most Influential NCAA Student-Athletes." The NCAA defines the 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes as those who have made a significant impact or major contributions to society. The 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes were chosen by a special panel that included college presidents, athletics directors, faculty representatives, student-athletes and conference representatives. Julie was inducted in the US National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007, alongside longtime teammate and friend, Mia Hamm. Julie and Mia were only the 6th and 7th women ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the first ever ALL FEMALE induction class. She is currently an analyst for ABC/ESPN and the NBC Olympics and continues to do motivational speaking.