Denison University

Cheryl Bailey served as Denison's women's athletic director from 1983 until 1990 overseeing 12 women's varsity athletic programs. She also served as the first head women's soccer and women's track & field coach at Denison. As the head women's soccer coach she compiled a career record of 86-52-12 and led the Big Red to an NCAC Championship in 1984. She was a three-time NCAC Coach of the Year and in addition to starting the program at Denison, her squad was also the first women's collegiate varsity program in the state of Ohio. 

Bailey led the Denison women's track & field team from 1981 until 1988. In 1990 she left Denison for the University of Wisconsin where she became Senior Associate Athletic Director for the Badgers from 1990-2005. In 2001, Bailey led the Wisconsin athletic department to gender equity compliance and in 2004 she was named the chair of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee. After Wisconsin, Bailey was named the General Manager of the United States Women's Soccer National Team in 2007, a position she held until 2011. Under her watch, the United States won gold at the 2008 Olympics and took silver at the 2011 World Cup and bronze at the 2007 World Cup. She was a founder and executive director of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2012-14. Bailey graduated from Slippery Rock in 1977 and went on to earn her master's degree from Ohio State in 1983.