Carli Lloyd to continue in ambassador role with New Jersey Youth Soccer
East Windsor, N.J. ― New Jersey Youth Soccer announced today that two-time FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, two-time FIFA World Cup champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, former Olympic Development Program (ODP) standout and New Jersey native Carli Lloyd will continue to support the state association in her role as an ambassador.
As the NJYS Ambassador, Lloyd fulfills her desire to give back to the New Jersey soccer community and support growth of the game at the grassroots level.
“It was an honor to hold this position for NJ Youth Soccer and demonstrate my love for the youth game,” said Lloyd. “While the COVID-19 pandemic limited our ability to connect on the field and in person last season, we are looking forward to the future and finding more opportunities to engage with the NJ Youth Soccer membership.”
In her first year as the NJYS Ambassador, Lloyd hosted a photo opportunity for NJ Youth Soccer players attending a Sky Blue FC home game. She also provided multiple virtual appearances showing her support for the Olympic Development Program and the Annual General Meeting. She also filmed a special message for one of her NJ Youth Soccer fans, a young girl who was hospitalized for several weeks while being treated for an illness.
“Carli continues to be the consummate professional and leads by example,” said Evan Dabby, NJYS Executive Director. “We anticipated leveraging the Sky Blue FC home games as opportunities to engage with our membership. While that was not possible, Carli continued to find new ways to show her support, and we look forward to growing this connection and support from one of the all-time great soccer players and individuals of character from New Jersey.”
Lloyd grew up in Delran, N.J., before playing her college soccer at Rutgers University. She made her debut for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2005, and she has since accumulated 123 goals and 58 assists over 294 international appearances.
Historically, Lloyd has been known to rise tallest on the grandest of stages, scoring the game-winning goal in the Gold Medal Match of both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She was also responsible for one of the most phenomenal performances in FIFA World Cup history when she registered a hat trick in the opening 16 minutes of the 2015 Final against Japan. She finished the competition with six goals and received the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament, which was the first FIFA World Cup championship for the U.S. Women’s National Team since 1999.
She capped off 2015 by being voted the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, again winning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year accolades in 2016. She was also voted the runner-up to the award in 2017. Lloyd helped captain the U.S. Women’s National Team to its second consecutive FIFA World Cup championship in 2019, and she is currently in her third season with her home state club, Sky Blue FC, of the National Women’s Soccer League.
In addition to her early roots as a player, Lloyd also shares another direct connection to NJ Youth Soccer. For the past 17 years, her personal coach has been James Galanis, who is the NJYS Director of Technical Operations.
