Julie Ertz gears up to lead United States women’s national soccer team

Julie Ertz has won a lot of awards in her soccer career. But teammate Crystal Dunn says she’s more than just a good player; Dunn says she’s royalty.

“She is thesweatpants queen.”

With a laugh, Dunn adds, “Like we’re going to the beach, it’s hot out and (she’s in) sweatpants, and I’m like, ‘Really, that’s what you’re going to choose?’ Like okay, whatever you want!”

It’s not for lack of fashion; Ertz just oozes coolness. Teammates and former roommates are all quick to point out her laid-back nature. She’s genuine, kind and calm — unless of course, you’re facing her on the pitch.

“(She has) kind of that old-school mentality in our current center back midfielder role, she’ll get stuck into hard tackles and aggressive, but I think what’s interesting is she’s not really that personality off the field,” said Alyssa Naeher, the U.S. women’s national team goalie. “She’s actually a very mild-mannered and sweet person off the field. So, I think it’s kind of cool to have that kind of juxtaposition a little bit.”

A Mesa native, Ertz (née Johnston) will once again take the field with the U.S. women’s national soccer team this week in the SheBelieves Cup.

Named after the USWNT’s SheBelieves movement, the SheBelieves Cup seeks to empower young girls to achieve at the highest level. It does so by showcasing some of the best teams in the world with matches in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Florida, beginning Wednesday.

The elite four-team, round-robin international tournament will serve as a solid tune-up for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. All participating teams — USA, Japan, France and Brazil — have already punched their tickets to this summer’s biggest tournament.

With her signature ponytail and blue pre-wrap headband, Ertz has cemented her identity on the team, even as her role has changed.

She now plays defensive midfield for both country and club, the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League, after previously playing center back. It’s helped that she played multiple positions in college at Santa Clara University. And it helped that she didn’t have much time to think about it — when the switch came first with Chicago, it came in the middle of a game.

“My coach in Chicago asked me, ‘Hey, can you play in the middle for a little bit?’ ” Ertz said. “And of course, I’m not going to turn that down. I was really excited to be able to do that.”

Eventually, it followed with the national team, too, in August 2017. The switch did more than just help her two squads. In 73 caps for the USWNT, Ertz has 18 goals, with 10 since 2017.

She was thrilled about the new position, partially due to her versatility. She had no idea the recognition that would follow.

For the laid-back Ertz, it started like any other night. She and her husband, Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, were hanging out on the couch, watching a movie.

Her phone rang.

“I just remember seeing my phone, and I answered it, and Zach was like, ‘What was it?’ and I just was like, just looked at him, and I wasn’t crying, but my eyes definitely watered up for sure,” she recalled.

Ertz had been named the 2017 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.

“I just still can’t even put it into words,” she said. “More than I guess at the time I needed, I felt like I was a little lost in my career and what I could do for this team. And it kind of just proved that I could help the team, and it’s just knowing that I’ve made an impact to help the team was just really special.”

Since the award was announced in December 2017, Ertz and her teammates have kept rolling. The USWNT team went undefeated in 2018. As the U.S. gears up for its next round of international competition, those wins haven’t masked everything.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the U.S. women suffered a shocking loss to Sweden and were eliminated in the quarterfinals. It was the first time the USWNT failed to medal at the Olympics. More than two years later, Ertz still feels the sting.

“Coming off of the Olympics and having such a horrible loss and getting knocked out so early, which was just such an awakening experience for me, it was really, really hard for a long time to kind of just feel back to normal from it,” Ertz said. “And I think just having that as my last memory of a big tournament is super motivating.”

Of course, Ertz certainly has had positive memories of major tournaments to drive her, too. She knows what it’s like to stand on the podium, having won it all at the World Cup four years ago.

In the USWNT’s 2015 World Cup campaign, Ertz was the second-youngest player on the team at 23. And yet, she played every minute for the U.S., including in the decisive 5-2 win over Japan in the finals. The ensuing stateside victory tour brought the team back through Glendale.

While Ertz and Dunn are now both just 26, Dunn jokes that they’re basically “middle-aged” for athletes. With that added experience, Ertz has grown more comfortable in her vocal leadership role on the field. 

“She loves exactly where she is in her career,” said Dunn, who plays for the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage. “She’s in the middle where she can bring, the veteran voice to the younger girls as well. … I would say she’s definitely a veteran in my eyes.”

Dunn and Ertz got to know each other at a young age, playing together before they were both called up to the senior team for the same friendly in 2013. Now, they’re inseparable.

“This is going to sound bad, but me and her spend like 98 percent of the day together when we’re not in camp,” Dunn said, laughing.

The two have supported each other through highs and lows: injuries, excitement, wedding preps, and even Dunn’s first sunburn in 2014 when the team played in Brazil. 

“I was like, ‘Julie, I need you to sort this — whatever is going on with my body right now,’” Dunn said.

And away from those international matches and training time on the field? It’s a lot of exploring coffee shops in new cities and pickle-ball tournaments when Ertz can get back to Arizona.

But it’s not all relaxation. Ertz has poured what little extra time she has into the Ertz Family Foundation since its launch last year.

The mission of the organization, started by Ertz and her husband, is to “empower others by sharing faith, learning through sports and advancing education to build supportive communities.” Her friends see it as a natural combination of passions. 

“She likes organizing things, she likes planing things,” Naeher said. “I lived with her when she was planning a wedding, so I saw the time and energy and attention to detail that she put into that.

“And I can only imagine if you put, which I know she will, that same energy into making this foundation continue to grow and all that. I’m really excited to see where they can take it.”

Ertz can alreadysee some of the impact she’s had on the fans in the stands while playing for the national team. Each Christmas is a reminder, as parents tweet her videos of fervent daughters shrieking as they unwrap her jersey.