By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Rapper and entertainment mogul Snoop Dogg has joined Team USA as its first-ever honorary coach, a role the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee hopes will sprinkle a little West Coast cool on the American team at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
The USOPC said on Thursday that "Coach Snoop" would be part of the "Team Behind the Team" – the staff, coaches, medical experts, administrators and partners who support athletes as they chase medals in Italy.
"Team USA athletes are the real stars - I'm just here to cheer, uplift and maybe drop a little wisdom from the sidelines," Snoop said in a statement.
"This team represents the best of what sport can be: talent, heart and hustle. If I can bring a little more love and motivation to that, that's a win for me."
USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland said Snoop's first encounter with Team USA athletes looked less like a corporate partnership and more like a locker-room fit.
"From the moment Snoop met Team USA athletes, there was an instant connection - mutual respect, genuine curiosity and a lot of laughter," she said.
"His enthusiasm for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement is contagious, and we're thrilled to officially welcome him as a member of the Team Behind the Team."
Snoop, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., was a ubiquitous presence at the Paris Olympics, serving as a hype-man for Team USA and performing at a beach party in his native Long Beach during the handover ceremony for Los Angeles 2028.
"From the moment I rolled into Paris, I was instantly welcomed into the USOPC family," he said.
"I felt the energy, the pride and the love of sport that makes this team special. The way the staff lifts up the athletes... the way the athletes inspire the world... it had me hooked from day one."
The 54-year-old Californian has a long history in grassroots sport through the Snoop Youth Football League, which the USOPC says has supported more than 15,000 young athletes, including youngsters with disabilities.
The honorary coaching gig adds to Snoop's previously announced role with Olympic broadcaster NBCUniversal during February's Milano Cortina Games, further cementing his status as an unlikely but increasingly permanent character in the Olympic universe.
"This is just the beginning," he said. "Let's fire up Team USA together."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)
