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Tony Sanneh focuses on charity after retiring from professional soccer
Tony Sanneh, a St. Paul native, was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame for his impact on U.S. soccer. Sanneh played every minute for the U.S. men’s team during their 2002 World Cup run to the quarterfinals. FOX 9's Leah Beno caught up with him to talk about his soccer career, the World Cup and the Sanneh Foundation.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Tony Sanneh's soccer career took him to the World Cup and eventually earned him a place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. But since retiring, the St. Paul native has focused on giving back through the Sanneh Foundation, investing in local sports facilities and youth programs.
From St. Paul to the World Cup
The backstory:
Tony Sanneh’s earliest soccer memory goes back to his childhood visit with his father’s family in West Africa. "My very first soccer memory.... I was visiting my dad's family in West Africa, and they were like, you want to go play with the kids out on the street, and it was like this little sort of orange ball, and somebody just rolled it to me, and like I couldn't do anything with it," said Tony Sanneh.
Sanneh’s passion for soccer grew from those early days, propelling him to a professional career that started in Milwaukee and eventually took him around the globe. At his recent National Soccer Hall of Fame induction, he was introduced as "the best player, on the best team, in the history of U.S. Men’s soccer."
Sanneh’s performance at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea stands out as a career highlight. The U.S. men’s team, with Sanneh—nicknamed "Big Cat"—playing every minute of every match, made it to the quarterfinals for the first and only time.
"Big Cat played in every minute of every match of that World Cup run. 450 minutes over five matches," says Adam Gislason, of the Sanneh Foundation. "He never subbed out."
What they're saying:
Sanneh reflected on the moment he realized he had reached his dream: "I was very confident, but it wasn't until the national anthem. I tell people the story like... You're doing the national anthem and U.S. soccer did a great job. They got us our own personalized T-shirt, so you know you looked up in the crowd and everyone was turned around, so you saw the swarm of 22's, and you knew right where your family was, and you just realized that so many people had helped you reach your goal, and you were there, and you know as long as you didn't run during this song you were going to reach your dream," said Sanneh.
Giving back to the community
Local perspective:
After retiring from professional soccer, Sanneh turned his focus to philanthropy, inspired by his mother’s more than 40 years as a social worker. The Sanneh Foundation has spent decades supporting St. Paul’s East Side and beyond with free food distribution, after-school programs, summer camps and building community infrastructure.
Several years ago, Sanneh invested $10 million to build a 300,000-square-foot turf field and dome at the Conway Rec Center. This fall, the foundation will break ground on an $11 million women’s athletic center, another community first.
Sanneh explained the foundation’s ongoing commitment: "It belongs to the city, but we manage and run it, so we also staff it so $500,000 plus a year in managing it and running programs that are all free to the public, including free after-school programs and sports teams. We do a free winter league for the city for soccer in the dome in the winter. And so it's a great private-public partnership, if you want to call it private, but working with the city to just add more resources to the community," said Sanneh.
Sanneh’s legacy continues as he prepares to cheer on the U.S. team in this year’s World Cup on home soil. But for him, the impact he has on the world off the field is just as meaningful.
Why you should care:
Sanneh’s story is about more than sports. His journey from a St. Paul neighborhood to the world’s biggest stage—and back again—shows the power of giving back and building opportunities for others.
Sanneh summed up his philosophy at his Hall of Fame induction: "Live with intention. So let's continue to change the world. Thank you very much."
For more information about the Sanneh Foundation, and the free summer camps available, click here.