USA FOOTBALL NAMES U.S. NATIONAL TEAM ALUMNI AMBER CLARK AND DARCY LESLIE TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS

USA Football adds two gold medal-winning U.S. National Team alumni to Board of Directors

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Football, a member of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the sport's governing body, announced today that U.S. National Team alumni Amber Clark and Darcy Leslie are joining the Board of Directors. 

Clark, who competed in the long and triple jump in track and field at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before entering football, was a defensive back on USA Football's 2023 U.S. Women's Flag National Team. Clark was a member of the team that won a gold medal at the 2023 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Americas Continental Flag Football Championship in Charlotte, N.C. this past July. She previously served as an alternate on the 2022 U.S. Women's Flag National Team.

Clark has served as a role model on and off the field for young, aspiring athletes through the sport of flag football and has attended multiple USA Football events and engagements. She is the current head coach of the women’s flag football program at the University of Saint Mary. 

“It means everything knowing my peers trust me with this responsibility, and I promise I will make everyone who voted for me proud. It’s an honor, and I’m excited to step into this role to continue cultivating the game of football," said Clark. "I want to empower young ladies who look like me to always reach for the stars and be that representation for young girls that I didn’t have growing up in this sport. I hope to bring more awareness to girls' and women’s sports to help prepare USA Football for the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.”

Leslie was a linebacker on USA Football's 2022 U.S. Women's Tackle National Team. The team won a gold medal at the 2022 IFAF Women's World Championship in Vantaa, Finland, defeating Great Britain 42-14 in the gold medal game. Leslie led the U.S. with 4.5 tackles as the Americans pitched a second-half shutout.

Before her football career, Leslie played basketball, softball and volleyball at Oakton Community College. During her time at Oakton, she was a team captain in all three sports. 

Leslie spent eight years with the Chicago Force in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA), winning a WFA Championship and the WFA Conference Player of the Year award in 2013. She joined the Boston Renegades in 2023, helping the team capture its fifth straight WFA Championship in a 35-7 win over the St. Louis Slam. 

In 2018, Leslie worked as a Summer Scouting Specialist intern for the New York Jets throughout training camp. In the summer of 2023, she appeared at the Chicago Public League (CPL) High School Girls Flag Football Summer League Championships along with fellow former U.S. Women’s Tackle National Team athlete and current board member Elizabeth Okey to support girls in football.

“I’m honored to join the USA Football Board of Directors and be recognized by my peers for my leadership qualities and judgment. I feel a sense of gratitude for the trust placed in me and feel a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to making a positive impact in this role,” said Leslie. “I want to contribute, serve, and give back to a sport that has taught me so much and to use the adversity, struggle, resilience and victory that I have experienced in my own life to contribute to the growth of this organization and its diverse members. I’m thrilled to sit alongside my fellow board members to imagine, foster and cultivate a culture that embraces the love of sport but also the lessons it provides.”

“We are pleased to welcome Amber and Darcy to our Board of Directors,” said USA Football CEO Scott Hallenbeck. “Their collective experience as multi-sport, elite athletes from youth sports through adulthood will help influence how we can best support athletes at all levels in addition to our pursuit of LA28. Amber and Darcy are terrific football ambassadors, and we look forward to their advice guiding our actions as we enter an exciting period of international growth for the sport.”

Clark and Leslie were elected to the Board of Directors by their fellow U.S. National Team alumni. 

Now five members of USA Football’s Board of Directors played for the U.S. National Teams prior to assuming their current positions. Okey won a gold medal at the 2013 IFAF Women’s Tackle World Championship with USA Football’s Women’s Tackle National Team. 

The other National Team alumni on the Board of Directors are Eric Holliday and Ashlea Klam. Holliday was a quarterback on the U.S. Men’s Flag National Teams that won gold at the 2018 and 2021 IFAF Flag World Championships. 

Klam, who joined the Board of Directors in 2023, won gold at the 2022 Junior International Cup with the 17U Girl’s Flag National Team before helping the 2023 Women’s Flag National Team claim gold in the first-ever IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship. 

USA Football’s Board of Directors

• General Peter W. Chiarelli, US Army (Retired), Chairman 
• Carl Allegretti, Arbor Investments 
• Amber Clark*, U.S. National Football Team Athlete 
• Mike Golic, DraftKings Network 
• Dr. Gerard Gioia, Children's National Hospital 
• Sheila Hamp, Detroit Lions 
• Eric Holliday*, U.S. National Football Team Athlete 
• Ashlea Klam*, U.S. National Football Team Athlete 
• Darcy Leslie*, U.S. National Football Team Athlete 
• Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers 
• Elizabeth Okey*, Wintrust Financial Corporation 
• Dr. Allen Sills, National Football League 
• Pete Ward, Indianapolis Colts 

*U.S. National Team Alumni

About USA Football: USA Football is the governing body of American football in the United States, the sole US member of the International Federation of American Football, and a recognized sports organization of the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Its non-profit mission includes designing and delivering premier educational, development, and competitive programs for American football, including tackle and flag football. USA Football is the only organization that selects and organizes men’s and women’s US National Teams in federation-sanctioned international competition.