Cheryl Bailey (née Marra from

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamestown is the largest pop ...

) is the former Executive Director of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

. She formerly served as general manager of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

from 2007 to 2011.

Early career

In 1979, Bailey was appointed as the Athletic Director of

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

a position she held until 1990. During her time at Denison, Bailey oversaw 12 women's sports where she most notably served as head coach of the track and field team from 1981 to 1988 and was head coach of the women's soccer team during her entire tenure with the school. She was also an assistant professor at the University where she taught Psychology/Sociology of Sports, History of Sports, Ethics of Sports, Lifetime skills & Activity Classes. From 1990 to 2005 Bailey served in the Athletic Administration at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. In 1990 Bailey was hired at the university as an associate athletic director for women's athletics. In the mid 1990s after the men's and women's athletic departments were combined at the University, Bailey was named the associate athletic director for sports administration. In 2001, as the lead administrator, Bailey was key in helping the University athletic department achieve gender equity compliance. Bailey served 3 years as the Badgers senior associate athletic director before resigning in 2005. During her 15 years at UW Bailey was the sports administrator for 22 different teams, including men's and women's soccer. Bailey served as chair of the NCAA Division 1 Basketball Committee from 2001 to 2004 and also served on the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Executive Committee.

US Soccer

In 2007 Bailey was appointed as the general manager of the

United States Women's National Soccer Team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

. She led the support staff for the US team during the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

FIFA Women's World cups and the 2008 Olympics. During her time with US Soccer, Bailey was in charge of all administrative areas pertaining to the Women's National Team including travel, payroll, liaising with clubs, and working with FIFA, CONCACAF and various other federations.

National Women's Soccer League

On November 29, 2012

Sunil Gulati Sunil Gulati ( ; born July 30, 1959) is an American sports administrator who presided over the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) from 2006 to 2018. On April 19, 2013, he was elected to a four-year term on the FIFA Council. In March 2014, he ...

, President of the USSF, announced that Bailey was named as the Executive Director of the

. She oversaw the first two seasons of the league She stepped down after the 2014 season.

Personal life

Bailey has a bachelor's degree from

Slippery Rock State College Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...

in health and physical education and received her master's degree in physical education from

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in 1983. Bailey's son, Kenneth James Marra, currently serves as a Director at the Atlantic Coast Conference.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Cheryl Living people National Women's Soccer League commissioners Sportspeople from Jamestown, New York Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology alumni Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania alumni United States Soccer Federation officials Women association football executives Year of birth missing (living people)