BERKELEY – Mary Harvey, the former U.S. national team goalkeeper and one of the most decorated alumnae in California women's soccer history, collected the prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award from U.S. Soccer on Wednesday for her long-term advocacy of soccer.
 
The award – which is named for the former U.S. Soccer President and is the highest honor that the U.S. federation bestows – is given annually to an individual or group that dedicates at least 20 years of service to the sport and works to establish a lasting legacy in the history and structure of soccer in the United States. The award recognizes those who have developed programs that will outlast their own involvement in the sport.
 
Harvey is the first woman to receive the award since its inception in 2002. At 51, she is also the second youngest recipient of the award after current U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, who earned the honor in 2003 when he was 44.
 
"I am honored and humbled to receive this award, and to be selected by a committee of such esteemed builders of the sport themselves," Harvey told U.S. Soccer. "It is particularly meaningful to receive the award bearing Werner Fricker's name. A giant of the game, Werner was the president of the federation when I first made the national team, and I had the pleasure of serving with him on the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors. To receive this recognition is a tremendous honor, particularly in light of the many others who have given so much of themselves to the game."
 
Harvey has had a long history in the sport, including her years at Cal. She starred for the Golden Bears as a player from 1983-86 – leading the Bears to three top-five finishes in the NCAA tournament – was named the National Goalkeeper of the Year in 1986, and graduated from Cal in 1987 with a degree in business administration.
 
She was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
 
"Mary Harvey is a true icon within our soccer program, as well as women's soccer here in the U.S.," Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. "To be honored in this manner speaks volumes for who she is, what she stands for and what she has given to the beautiful game. We are proud to call Mary one of our own here at Cal. She is a proud Cal soccer alumna and is a wonderful role model to our players."
 
One of the pioneers of the game at the international level, Harvey was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. when it captured the first Women's World Cup in 1991 in China, was the backup on the squad that took third place in the 1995 Women's World Cup in Sweden and was a member of the 1996 gold-medal winning U.S. team in the inaugural Olympic women's soccer tournament in the United States.
 
Off the field in 1992, Harvey was elected by fellow players to serve on the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors as their representative. She would go on to serve for the next 11 years, including five years on the Executive Committee. She became a player advocate, establishing the U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council and leading the task force charged with writing the U.S. Soccer Player Bill of Rights.
 
After completing her MBA and working in the management consulting industry, Harvey – who retired as a player in 1996 – was hired in 2003 by FIFA to lead its Development Division – the first woman to lead a division for soccer's international governing body – overseeing a quadrennial budget of $640 million and team of 70 people located in 13 offices around the globe. She held the role until 2008, and some of her many accomplishments during her five-year tenure include implementing extensive reforms to FIFA's financial assistance program, convincing senior leadership to establish the U-17 Women's World Cup, and creating incentives to establish sport legacy programs for countries applying to host FIFA's women's competitions.
 
Harvey's work at FIFA eventually led to being appointed Chief Operating Officer for Women's Professional Soccer, a role she held from 2008 to 2010. During that time, she brought league operations from startup to full operation, led the process to implement operating standards for all teams and the signing of all 150+ players into the league.
 
In 2012, she founded Ripple Effect Consulting, a consultancy for organizations using sport to drive social and environmental change. Through this agency, Harvey has influenced a variety of organizations, from FIFA to the U.S. Department of State. At FIFA, she helped drive the #WomenInFIFA campaign, a global media campaign calling for gender equity and inclusion as a core tenet of reform at the sport's governing body. As a Sport Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Harvey has led multiple sport diplomacy missions to the Middle East, engaging local communities to promote acceptance and inclusion of refugee and marginalized populations, as well as empowerment and access to sport for women and girls.  
 
An active environmentalist, Harvey is also the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Green Sports Alliance, a U.S.-based non-profit dedicated to inspiring professional sports leagues, teams, venues, their partners and fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices.
 
Throughout her nearly three-decade involvement with the sport, Harvey, has gone above and beyond to leave her mark on the game all over the world.