Christina Jo Ellertson (; born May 20, 1982) is an American former professional soccer defender and former member of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

Early life

Ellertson was born and grew up in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. The daughter of a Nigerian mother and a Ghanaian father who migrated to the U.S., she played soccer throughout her childhood.

University of Washington

Ellertson originally signed to attend Santa Clara University but instead went to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. The decision was hard since, at age 18, she gave birth to her daughter, MacKenzie. She competed in soccer throughout college to become one of UW's most respected forwards. She was named Pacific-10 Conference co-player of the year in 2003 and player of the year in 2004.

Playing career

Club

On September 16, 2008, Ellertson was one of the three players drafted for

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte S ...

in the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

allocation of national team members, with the new league starting in April 2009. Ellertson was a consistently solid presence in the Athletica back line, logging 1748 minutes for the season, the most on the team. She played as team captain whenever Lori Chalupny was not on the field, made the All-Star team and was nominated for WPS's Defender of the Year award. When Saint Louis folded in May 2010, Ellertson moved to Atlanta Beat alongside teammates

Hope Solo Hope Amelia Stevens (; born July 30, 1981) is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Afte ...

and

Eniola Aluko Eniola Aluko (born 21 February 1987) is a football executive, commentator, and former professional player. She is the first Sporting Director for Angel City FC of the American National women's soccer league and formerly held the position of Spor ...

. After 16 games and two goals for the Beat, Ellertson left by mutual consent in February 2011. She moved to a new franchise, magicJack, and quickly became a cornerstone of the team's defense, producing notable performances against Marta and

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionall ...

. Ellertson has also played previously for the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

of the W-League. Ellertson moves

In February 2013, she was chosen in the first round of the National Women's Soccer League's

supplemental draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

, despite having stated that she would not be playing in the league. Nevertheless, she ultimately joined the

Thorns Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

a few months later, on July 31, after being repeatedly approached by Coach Cindy Parlow Cone. Ellertson made five appearances for the Thorns, including an appearance as a substitute during the team's victory in the inaugural NWSL Championship match. In February 2014, Ellertson announced that she was retiring from the Thorns to focus on coaching and her family.

International

After

April Heinrichs April Dawn Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever ...

's reign as coach, Ellertson tried out for the women's national soccer team, and earned her first cap against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on July 10, 2005. New coach

Greg Ryan Mark Gregory Ryan (born January 21, 1957) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. He was the head coach of the United States women's national s ...

moved her to defender. She was named to the U.S. roster for the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

and competed against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

during group stage, against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the infamous semi-final in which

was benched in favor of more experienced

Briana Scurry Briana Collette Scurry (born September 7, 1971) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper, and assistant coach of the Washington Spirit . Scurry was the starting goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cu ...

, and against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in a 4–1 win in the third-place playoff match. On December 13, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, Ellertson scored her only international goal against China in her final USWNT game, and in her only start at forward; a 1–0 game winner.

Personal life

Ellertson married Brad Ellertson, with whom she had two daughters, Mackenzie (born 2000) and Mya (born 2007), and a son Mason (born 2015). Before her marriage, she played under her maiden name, Frimpong. Her twin sister, Crystal Frimpong, played soccer at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

References

External links

* *
US Soccer player profile

Saint Louis Athletica player profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellertson, Tina 1982 births Living people American sportspeople of Ghanaian descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Seattle Sounders Women players Soccer players from Washington (state) United States women's international soccer players Washington Huskies women's soccer players Saint Louis Athletica players Atlanta Beat (WPS) players MagicJack (WPS) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players American women's soccer players Portland Thorns FC players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Women's association football defenders National Women's Soccer League players African-American women's soccer players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Women's Professional Soccer players Twin sportspeople