Former USWNT player Tina Frimpong Ellertson joins University of Portland coaching staff

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Pilots Women’s Soccer has added Tina Frimpong Ellertson as an assistant coach for the 2023 season, Head Coach Michelle French announced.

Frimpong Ellertson joins the Pilots after spending three years as an assistant at the University of Washington, helping guide her alma-mater to a 26-18-11 record over three seasons while developing five All-Pac-12 players during her tenure, including 2020-21 All-American Summer Yates and 2020-21 First Team All-Pac-12 performer Ameera Hussen. The Huskies also made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament her first season as a coach in the 2020-21 spring season.

Frimpong Ellertson’s coaching career extends beyond the collegiate level. Over the last ten years, she has been an assistant with several US Soccer youth national teams and has also worked as a talent identification scout for US Soccer. She was the coach for King’s Way High School for six years, earning Coach of the Year honors in 2017, and coached at Salmon Creek Soccer Club for more than a decade. Frimpong Ellertson served as the Portland Thorns Academy U17 coach as well for two seasons.

“Tina has an unwavering dedication and spirit that is not only inspiring but exceptionally contagious. Her energy is matched by her competitive nature as an athlete, which can easily be seen by the success and accolades she received as a player both collegiately and internationally,” said French, “We are not only adding an incredible coach and mentor in Tina; we are also adding an outstanding and humble human being that believes in supporting student-athletes in all facets of life.”

The Washington native is a legendary player in her own right, with experience at the collegiate, professional and international level. Playing for Washington collegiately, Frimpong Ellertson was a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 and is still the school’s all-time leading scorer in both points (99) and goals (43). She helped lead the Huskies as far as the Elite Eight and was inducted to the Pac-12 Conference Hall of Fame in 2022.

After college, Frimpong Ellertson played professionally in both the Women’s Professional Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League and was a part of the Portland Thorns squad that won the inaugural 2013 NWSL Championship. She also received 34 caps with the United States Women’s National Team. In coming to Portland, Frimpong Ellertson joins her daughter, MacKenzie Frimpong Ellertson, who is using her final year of eligibility here on The Bluff.

“I am humbled to have the remarkable opportunity to join the University of Portland women’s soccer coaching staff,” Frimpong Ellertson said. “Working alongside and being part of an incredibly hardworking staff in Frenchie, Maite and Logan is truly an opportunity of a lifetime.”

The program’s dedication to cultivating strong values, teamwork and a winning mentality has resulted in numerous conference championships, deep runs in national tournaments and the development of exceptional players who have gone on to succeed at the highest levels. I am honored to be part of this legacy, and I am eager to contribute to the ongoing tradition of excellence.

The Pilots are coming off a resurgent 2022 fall season that saw them go 12-5-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Portland qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 and advanced to the second round, posting their largest postseason victory since 2009 with a 3-0 win over Arizona State. The University of Portland extended the whole coaching staff – which was named the 2022 United Soccer Coaches West Region Staff of the Year – and also promoted Maite Zabala and Logan Emory to co-associate head coaches.