Thousands of girls throughout the United States play soccer with the dream of one day playing for the U.S. National Team.  Thousands more play ice hockey with the hopes of eventually playing for the U.S. Olympic Team.

The conventional wisdom is you can't do both. 

Alev Kelter-Perusse does both.  Currently a member of the U17 Girls National team and a player on the U.S. National Ice Hockey team, Kelter-Perusse is proving an exception to the rule.

She began playing soccer at the young age of four.  With both parents in the Air Force, Kelter-Perusse has moved several times in her life.  She currently resides in Eagle River, Alaska, a small town just 15 minutes north of Anchorage with her parents, two brothers and twin sister.

"We have lived in Alaska the longest, about nine years, so it is definitely what I call home," she said.

Among the constant movement and change soccer has been one thing that has remained a consistent part of her life.  After moving to Alaska, Kelter-Perusse decided to give ice hockey a shot.  Never in her life did she think it would lead to where she is now.

As a national-level player at both soccer and ice hockey, Kelter-Perusse is forced to split her time between the two sports.  Playing soccer for about four to five months in the summer and ice hockey the remainder of the year, it defies the odds how she manages to excel at both, especially in our age of specialization.

In addition to the national teams, she plays for the Alaska Rush '91 premier soccer team (a top ranked team in the nation), her Chugiak high school soccer team (State Champions 2007) and the Chugiak high school boys varsity ice hockey team.  This year she also began playing for the Anchorage North Stars U19, a girls hockey club team, after playing several years on a boys club team.  In addition, she plays on her high school flag football team (State Champions 2007).

"I'm not intimidated at all playing hockey on the Boys Varsity team," she said. "I play defense, which is one of the more physical positions."

"The sports compliment each other well," Kelter-Perusse said, "the fitness for soccer helps in hockey.  The build that hockey players have has helped my soccer physical play. When we play boys we're allowed to check.  We still have triangles, we still have supporting players."

Consistently busy traveling with her soccer and ice hockey teams, Kelter-Perusse has learned how to keep the plates spinning.

"It's a lot of time management," she said, "it's obviously hard ,but your social life becomes your teams, going places and meeting other people.  I have a social life at home but it's always go, go, go."

It is inevitable that sometimes the sports conflict.  In order to continue to excel in both sports she has had to make several sacrifices in the past few years.

She was invited to attend the USA Hockey Girls' Select 16 Player Development Camp, but was unable to attend due to selection to the U17 Women's National Soccer Team.

In January she was invited to participate in the U17 Women's National Camp, but declined the invitation to travel with the National Hockey team to play in a World Championship.

"I love soccer so it was tough to say ‘no' to the camp knowing that later on that camp was something I might need to go to the FIFA U17 World Cup in New Zealand."

Her club soccer team trains year round and Kelter-Perusse must miss practices in the winter for hockey. 

"We train 4 to 5 days a week in the winter and she doesn't participate in all that," Mike Montgomery, her club coach on the Alaska Rush '91, explained.  "Players on the team may question why Alev gets more playing time then them come the season, but she scores goals and life is not fair.  Sometimes I wonder how good she could have been if she trained year round."

Kelter-Perusse is a natural athlete.  She was brought up playing sports with her older brother and twin sister and as a result has developed into a strong competitor.

Montgomery described how he learned about Alev and her sister.

"I was coaching a U19 team at the time and saw an article in the Anchorage Daily News about two little girls in youth soccer that parents wanted banned from the league," he said,  "The article stated that they were slide tackling and playing too aggressive.  I thought to myself, those are girls I want on my team."

Much of Kelter-Perusse's competitive drive comes from playing with her sister, Derya.  Derya described how they have a soccer net in the backyard where they practice and play with the neighborhood boys.

"I love playing with her," Derya said, "It gets very competitive.  We train to be the best, it's a big deal to us, and whoever makes it furthest helps the other."

"She's my biggest competitor," Kelter-Perusse explained, "we've been competitors since we were born.  Having her to go out and practice with has helped a lot."

Kelter-Perusse's aggressive nature and presence in the air are apparent on the soccer field.

"She is physically imposing," said Montgomery, "she has incredible strength, dominates in the air and wins all head balls in the box.  She's only about 5'7" but she has great timing and instincts."

Derya summed Alev's soccer ability up when she stated, "She is not afraid to put her head where other players are afraid to put their feet."

Kelter-Perusee doesn't limit herself to one position and has experience playing all over the field.

"When she's at national camp she plays outside back," Montgomery said, "On Alaska Rush she has played center midfield and forward.  She's not a bad goalie either!"

In her college search, Kelter-Perusse is looking for a college where she can play both hockey and soccer competitively.  She is willing to travel to anywhere in the country that she feels is the right fit, but her top choices are still up in the air.

"The seasons would overlap a couple games but most colleges I have looked at have said they would put together training for a dual athlete," she said.  "It will be tough but that is what is pushing me to do it."

Her passion is to eventually play professional soccer and make it to the Olympics but for now she is going to continue to play on both national teams as far as she can. 

"If an Olympic opportunity comes in either sport I will take it.  I don't want to shut any doors."

With the mix of her hard work and natural athletic ability, it is no surprise that she has earned numerous awards for herself over the past few years, being named the Anchorage Daily News Player of the Year and Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year 2008 in addition to All-State and First Team All-Conference accolades in high school soccer.

Just imagine if she played soccer fulltime.