Her entrepreneurial spirit was the catalyst for Leslie and fellow US Women’s National Soccer Team teammates Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner and Danielle Slaton, all Santa Clara alum, to spearhead the charge to bring the newest NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) expansion team Bay FC, to NorCal.
Leslie’s newest venture is in partnership with Front Office Sports co-creating Redefined, a show (audio and video) highlighting a different type of sports mom: athletes-turned-mothers; the moms whose careers have been defined by sports; the parents who can thank sports for their team-centric leadership in both the home and the boardroom. These women are changing our idea of what is possible by mastering a lifelong juggling act of professional success, off-field passions, and active parenting. They continue to redefine what it means to be a mother, an athlete, an entrepreneur, and so much more.
Leslie has been a member of the FOX Sports broadcast team since first covering the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. She has gone on to cover the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She has predominately served as one of the co-hosts for Fox Sports’ digital studio show World Cup Now, and as an analyst for Fox Soccer Tonight. Leslie has also worked with CBS/Paramount + and Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL. Leslie first started her broadcast career as a color commentator for the Pac-12 Network’s women’s college soccer package.
With 62 caps for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Leslie played in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China where the U.S. took third place in the tournament. Leslie started five out of six games for the U.S, before the squad fell to Brazil in the semifinals. In 2006, she was named a finalist for the U.S. Soccer Women’s Player of the Year. Leslie made her first appearance with the full squad in 2004. She scored her first goal for the full National Team that same year against Chinese Taipei. Leslie began playing with the U.S. National Team youth programs when she was 14 years old.
Leslie played professionally for nine seasons and was team captain on all of her professional teams in the WPS and NWSL. Most notably, she played for FC Gold Pride (2009), the Boston Breakers (2010 – 2012) and finished her career with the Chicago Red Stars (2013). Leslie’s strongest skills on the field included tackling, heading and keeping possession of the ball in midfield.
Leslie was a star player at Santa Clara University, winning the national championship her freshman year. She was a NSCAA First-Team All American for three years and in 2004, her senior year, she received the NCAA Honda Sports Award as the nation’s top female athlete in soccer. Santa Clara University retired and honored her #10 jersey in September of 2011. Santa Clara University inducted her into their Hall of Fame in May 2016.
Leslie, along with some of her former teammates, co-founded Sweat Cosmetics, which has been rebranded as HUSTLE BEAUTY, a high-performance makeup and sun-care line that launched in 2015. With varying products, Hustle is designed to protect and enhance beauty while enduring a woman’s on-the-go life. Developed, tested and proven by professional and Olympic female athletes, Hustle believes in empowering active women to embrace their beauty and encourage every woman to find their sweat.
An avid fitness enthusiast who loves running, HIIT workouts, strength training, her Peloton, hot yoga, and playing soccer with her family, Leslie is a sought-after social media influencer that brings her passion for sports, family, business, health and wellness to her partnerships.
Leslie and her husband Ricky Lewis, also a former professional soccer player, live in San Jose, CA and have three daughters, Olivia, Gabriella, and Isabella.
