Julie Foudy

Julie Maurine Foudy (born January 23, 1971) is an American retired soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Foudy was born on January 23, 1971, in San Diego, California but raised in Mission Viejo.

Foudy was named the Los Angeles Times High School Player of the 1980s and the Player of the Year in southern California for three straight years (1987–1989).

She played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1988 to 2004.

She attended the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament as a non-playing substitute, then made her first appearance against France at the Mundialito on July 29, 1988.

She graduated from Mission Viejo High School in 1989, where she was a two-time First-Team All-American.

Foudy attended Stanford University, where she was honored as the Stanford Cardinal women's soccer Player of the Year for three straight years (1989–91).

She was a four-time NSCAA All-American at Stanford and finished her collegiate career with 52 goals, 32 assists and 136 points in 78 appearances.

She was the recipient of the Stanford Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Athlete Award and was named to Soccer America's College Team of the Decade for the 1990s.

She was named the 1991 Soccer America Player of the Year and the 1989 Soccer America Freshman of the Year and was a two-time finalist for the Hermann Trophy in 1991 and 1992.

She helped lead the Cardinal to NCAA tournament playoff berths all four years.

Foudy played in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments, winning two FIFA Women's World Cups—in 1991 and 1999.

Foudy played for the Sacramento Storm, which won the 1993, 1995 and 1997 California State Amateur championship.

In 1994, Foudy played for Tyresö FF in the Damallsvenskan in Sweden, joining her national team teammates Michelle Akers, Mary Harvey, and Kristine Lilly.

Foudy held the captain's position for her Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) team, the San Diego Spirit.

She made 59 regular season appearances, scoring eight goals and providing 13 assists.

She played in three Summer Olympic Games, winning an Olympic gold medal in 1996, Silver in 2000, and Gold again in 2004.

In 1997, she was the first American and first woman to receive the FIFA Fair Play Award.

She was the executive producer of the documentary short, An Equal Playing Field, starring Christen Press and producer of the ESPN Nine for IX episode entitled The 99ers, featuring some of her teammates from the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup-winning U.S. national team.

She is a part of the ownership group of Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

The film, directed by Erin Leyden, and produced by Foudy, tells the incredible story of the 1999 United States women's national soccer team, using Foudy's personal behind the scenes footage.

Foudy finished her international career with 274 caps and served as the team's captain from 2000 to 2004 as well as the co-captain from 1991 to 2000.

From 2000 to 2002, Foudy served as president of the Women's Sports Foundation.

When the WUSA suspended operations in September 2003, Foudy was the official player's representative to the ongoing efforts to resurrect the league.

Foudy began traveling with the United States women's national soccer team as a 16-year-old.

Following the 2004 Olympic Games, Foudy joined fellow soccer icons Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett and Brandi Chastain in a 10-game "farewell tour" that marked the end of what the media labeled the "golden era" of US women's soccer.

The St. Petersburg Times said the team, "... changed the face of women's soccer".

In 2006, she co-founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, an organization focused on developing leadership skills in teenage girls.

Foudy has served as an in-studio analyst for ABC, ESPN and ESPN2's coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2008, and has provided on-air commentary and analysis during United States Women's National Team matches since then.

In 2007, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame with her teammate, Mia Hamm.

She is currently an analyst, reporter and the primary color commentator for women's soccer telecasts on ESPN.

Foudy is the author of Choose to Matter: Being Courageously and Fabulously YOU and appeared in the HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.

She has also coanchored ABC and ESPN telecasts of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2007 season of Major League Soccer, including the MLS Cup.

She appeared as a pundit for the ESPN coverage of the UEFA Euro 2008 championship finals, together with Andy Gray and Tommy Smyth.

She served as a sportsdesk reporter for NBC Sports coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

She also fills in for Dana Jacobson on ESPN First Take.

For the 2010 FIFA World Cup, she served as a reporter and analyst, doing features, interviews and analysis in South Africa for ESPN.

Foudy is also a reporter for ESPN's investigative program, Outside the Lines.

Since late-2010, Foudy has been paired with Glenn Davis or Ian Darke on ESPN's primary broadcast team for women's soccer telecasts, as was the case for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

On August 20, 2013, ESPN Films teamed up with Foudy to premiere their new Nine for IX film on the 1999 Women's World Cup Team, The 99ers.