Cindy Parlow Cone is the President of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Her selection to the role was historic in several ways – Cone is the first female to hold the position, the first who played for a senior U.S. National Team, and the second inductee of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Cone was first elected as Vice President of the Federation in February 2019, and was then elevated to President in March 2020. Cone advised the Federation through the COVID-19 global pandemic, supporting Federation staff and membership organizations as they navigated the fast-changing environment.

In her tenure as President, Cone has focused on improving U.S. Soccer’s efforts to take meaningful action in the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging space, bringing commercial rights back in house, team building, and leading efforts to grow the game in all its forms.

In May 2022, under Cone’s leadership, U.S. Soccer and the United States Women's National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association (USNSTPA) agreed to terms on historic, first-of-their-kind collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that achieved equal pay through identical economic terms, setting the global standard moving forward in international soccer.

As President, Cone has advanced the Federation’s efforts to build thefirst-of-its-kind Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center outside Atlanta solidifying a home-base for soccer in the country. She helped oversee the hiring of Sporting Director Matt Crocker, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, and USWNT head coach Emma Hayes – world-class leaders in the sport who will help ensure the U.S. is developing winning teams at every level of the sport.

The Memphis, Tennessee, native was a star for the U.S. Women’s National Team during a career that spanned 1996-2004, earning 158 caps while scoring 75 goals, which still stands as 8th on the USA’s all-time goals list. Her seven career hat tricks are still second all-time behind Mia Hamm and Carli Lloyd. She also had 35 career assists. In 1998, she won U.S. Soccer’s inaugural Young Female Player of the Year Award.

At 5-foot-11, she was a towering presence on the USA’s forward line. During her career she was a two-time Olympic gold medal winner (1996 & 2004) and a member of the historic 1999 Women’s World Cup winning side, scoring two goals in that tournament including a diving header against Nigeria in group play and the crucial opening score in the 2-0 semifinal victory against Brazil.

She is the youngest player ever to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Women's World Cup title. In total, she played in nine Olympic matches and 11 World Cup matches. In 2000, she led the USA with 19 goals, which was her career high in a calendar year. She had four hat tricks that year, one shy of a U.S. record for a single year.

She also played for U.S. Youth National Teams and played three seasons in the WUSA, the USA’s first women’s pro league, advancing to two championship games with the Atlanta Beat.

Inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2018, Cone was a four-time All-American at the University of North Carolina, scoring 68 goals and completing 53 assists on teams that won two NCAA titles. She won the Hermann Trophy and the M.A.C. Player of the Year awards as the consensus college soccer player of the year as a junior and a senior, which at the time, paired her with Mia Hamm as the only two-time winners of both awards. Cone was a pioneer for college soccer, joining the team at UNC after only three years of high school. She earned a B.A. in Education from UNC.

Cone is a title-winning coach at the grassroots, collegiate and professional levels and holds a USSF “A” coaching license. After graduating, she served as an assistant coach at UNC, winning four NCAA titles, including in 2012 when she served as interim head coach. She was also the first head coach to win a National Women's Soccer League championship, guiding Portland Thorns FC to the title in 2013 during the league's inaugural season.

Over the past 20 years, she has served on numerous committees, including the FIFA Steering Committee, the U.S. Soccer Medical Advisory Committee, Appeals Committee, and the Athletes’ Council.

Cone is on the board for the non-profit Goals for Girls, an organization that empowers young women through soccer, developing leadership skills and fostering change in themselves and their communities. She is currently the Girls’ Director for North Carolina FC Youth in the Durham-Chapel Hill area.

Cone and her husband John live in Chapel Hill. She has a street – Cindy Parlow Drive – named after her in her hometown of Memphis, Tenn.