Tina Ellertson is, in the truest sense of the term, a soccer mom, and not just any soccer mom. As a player, she is among the nation's elite, a member of the national team player pool, a starter for St. Louis Athletica and a veteran of the U.S. team at the 2007 Women's World Cup. As a mother, she has two children, little Mya, who lives with her in St. Louis, and MacKenzie, 8, who is in the family's year-round home in Vancouver, Washington, with her father until her school year ends next month.

"After practice, I go home and take a nap," said Athletica teammate Lori Chalupny, who shares her condo with Ellertson. "I'm done for the day. Her day's just beginning. We come home and she gets Mya ready to go and she's always got some kind of an outing. She's up early, up all night, and still it doesn't affect her play or her attitude. It's pretty amazing to watch, really."