For Littleton, Colorado soccer siblings Danielle and Zack Foxhoven, rivalry really isn't part of their relationship.

Well maybe it is just a little bit

Actually you might call the internal competition the two have pretty intense, despite it being in a loving sister-brother context.

Let's let younger brother Zack decide.

"We're each other's best fans," he recently told TopDrawerSoccer.com "When I was younger it was everything you can do I can do better. She was my best role model. I had to match her pace so I could be as good as she is."

If some friendly competition pushed the duo to where they are now, it was a very good thing. Danielle is beginning her freshman year at Portland after being one of the most highly-sought players in the country of the 2008 graduating class. She has played with the U20 and U17 Women's National Teams and led her Colorado Rush team to the U.S. Youth Soccer U18 Girls National Championship last summer with a six-goal outburst.

Zack has also been in the mix for various youth national teams and was recently a goalscorer in the adidas ESP All-Star game in Denver. He has two more years of high school but is already in the sights of most top colleges in the country.

One area where the two were able to spur one another on in their development was regular games of soccer tennis.

"That's where the rivalry really is, when we play soccer tennis," Danielle said. "We have had some intense soccer games and fights over that since we were little. That's just something we could always do together to get better."

Parents Brian and Bunny Foxhoven were able to see a lot of these games played on a basketball court in the family yard.

"They would play that for hours and hours," Bunny said. "I think Zack saw her getting awarded for her hard work and getting attention for what she would accomplish, and he would also have a sense of ‘I can do that too. I think I can do that better.' She would see that from him and it would push both of them to try harder and achieve what the other has accomplished. It was competitive, but they were behind each other all the way."

Danielle concurs.

"He's my best friend and he's amazing and I'm proud of him for everything he's accomplished, and he's the same way with me. We're totally 100 percent behind each other," she said. "We get good feedback from each other and we are always watching Fox Soccer Channel together and talking about games at the professional level.  His favorite is Man United. I like Liverpool."

Brian Foxhoven said soccer has served as a bonding agent for the entire family.

"Because they were both involved from early on, when one of them would be taking a trip to say a competitive tournament, the other would kind of be on vacation with us," he said. "In our experience, we've literally gotten to see the world on soccer trips. If one  was playing in Spain then the other would be with us experiencing the culture – and vis versa with the other kid. With my daughter entering college and my son coming closer to the end of his youth career, it's almost bittersweet because we've had so much fun. It's been a joy for us."

Both players employ a lot of creativity and skill to go with their athletic ability. Danielle in particular is outspoken about the importance of playing the game the right way.

"I don't think the kick and run show is soccer," she said. "I don't think it's how it's supposed to be. That's more like (American) football. The creativity and being smart and passing is more the way it should be for sure."  

Zack has a passion for penalty box play, and is a refreshing exception to the dearth of American finishers.

"I'm very attack-minded. My job is to score goals," he said, noting that the timing of runs and positioning of the body vis a vis defenders are two big areas he works on. "With Rush we do a lot of work on finishing. In the summer I'll call Erik Bushey (Rush technical director). and we'll get some balls and go practice finishing."

Zack added he is a great admirer of Fernando Torres and tries to study his form along with that of several other top players.

One thing they won't be able to watch as much this coming year is each other's games, with Danielle in Portland and Zack back in Denver.

"Sometimes as parents we've had to go back and forth, but a lot of times we would drag one kid to the other's games," she said. "But rather than be angry, they would be on the sideline cheering each other on or even coaching. It just became what they did."

While a trip or two to Oregon are likely for the rest of the family, the dynamic brother-sister pair will have to rely on the spiritual connection formed through all those times playing together and watching one another. However long it will be until they can spend some quality time together again, you can count on it involving some soccer tennis and watching EPL.

It's the stuff the best sibling rivalries are made of, after all.