Christina Jo Frimpong Ellertson (; born May 20, 1982) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach and former professional player who played as a defender for 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 governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

Early life

Frimpong 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 (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. The daughter of Eka, a Nigerian mother and Joe, a Ghanaian father who migrated to the United States, Frimpong Ellertson played soccer throughout her childhood.

Collegiate career

As a striker for the Huskies, Frimpong Ellertson was one of the best players in school history. She was twice named

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, led the team to its first ever Elite Eight, and remains its all-time leading scorer. Frimpong Ellertson was inducted into the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Hall of Fame in 2022.

Playing career

Club

On September 16, 2008, Frimpong 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 ...

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 ...

allocation of national team members, with the new league starting in April 2009. Frimpong 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 An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team and was nominated for WPS's Defender of the Year award. When Saint Louis folded in May 2010, Frimpong 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. Aft ...

and

Eniola Aluko Eniola Aluko (born 21 February 1987) is a British football executive, football broadcaster and former professional player who played as a winger and striker. Aluko has been a regular broadcaster for live football on ITV, BT Sport, Amazon Prim ...

. After 16 games and two goals for the Beat, Frimpong 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 Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

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. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally with ...

. Frimpong Ellertson has also played previously for the Seattle Sounders of the W-League. Ellertson moves

In February 2013, Frimpong Ellertson was chosen in the first round of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

's supplemental draft by

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

, despite having stated that she would not be playing in the league. Nevertheless, she ultimately joined the Thorns a few months later, on July 31, after being repeatedly approached by Coach

Cindy Parlow Cone Cynthia Marie Parlow Cone (; born May 8, 1978) is an American soccer executive and president of the United States Soccer Federation. A former professional soccer player, she is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup cha ...

. Frimpong 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, Frimpong 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, Frimpong Ellertson tried out for the women's national soccer team, and earned her first cap against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

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 ...

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 football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...

and competed against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

during group stage, against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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. Scurry was the starting goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cup (3rd place), 1996 Summer Olympics (gold medal) ...

, and against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in a 4–1 win in the third-place playoff match. On December 13, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, Frimpong Ellertson scored her only international goal against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in her final USWNT game, and in her only start at forward; a 1–0 game winner.

Coaching career

Frimpong Ellertson began coaching while she was still playing. She was most recently an assistant coach at her alma mater

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

from 2020 to 2023.

Personal life

Frimpong Ellertson married Brad Ellertson, with whom she had two daughters, Frimpong Ellertson's eldest daughter, MacKenzie Frimpong-Ellertson, plays at the University of Portland.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Frimpong Ellertson goal.''

Honors

Portland Thorns FC *

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Individual *

Women's Soccer Player of the Year: 2003, 2004

References

External links

* *
US Soccer player profile

Saint Louis Athletica player profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frimpong Ellertson, Tina 1982 births Living people American sportspeople of Ghanaian descent African-American soccer players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Seattle Sounders Women players Soccer players from Vancouver, Washington 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 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen Women's Professional Soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players