She has compared tattoos with David Beckham, exchanged the shaka with Kobe Bryant and has her own fan club.

And she's done it her own way the entire time.

Kahuku's Natasha Kai made a name for herself on the national soccer scene in a way that goes beyond the nearly 30 tattoos and multiple piercings and speaks more to her physical talents.

"She's endowed with extraordinary strength and power," said University of Hawai'i soccer coach Pinsoom Tenzing, who coached Kai to a record three all-Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year seasons. "She literally can power past any defenders that I know of, and that makes her unique."

Kai has been a part of the U.S. National team system since her sophomore year in college, the first from Hawai'i to accomplish the feat.

But the path she took to get there was different from most others. Instead of being on the radar throughout her youth career, it took an outstanding sophomore campaign at UH, when she led the nation in scoring, to finally be noticed. She was called in to the under-21 team camp, and eventually made it up to the full national team in 2006.

"What makes Tasha special is her entire approach to life," Leahi Soccer Club coach Michele Nagamine said. "She has an individuality and almost a (care-free) approach to things. She's going to do what makes her happy. She definitely moves to the beat of her own drum and it doesn't matter to her what anybody thinks. She did what she felt was right and she proved a lot of people wrong."

Kai's unconventional path to soccer stardom began at age 7 in Kahuku, where her father, Benny, learned to coach soccer by reading books and watching videos. In an area better known for football, Kai grew up thinking that track and field would be the sport that led her to college.

The multi-sport athlete (she also played basketball and volleyball) played in youth club soccer leagues, but it wasn't until high school when she made the decision to pursue soccer in college.

She would leave the University of Hawai'i with numerous accolades and school records, and became popular with young Hawai'i soccer players.

Tenzing said he still feels the after effects of Kai's time at UH.

"She's given us exposure, and she's let the rest of the nation know we have quality players in Hawai'i," he said. "It's not good for my recruiting, but it's good for the kids in Hawai'i. They are getting looked at by high-profile schools all over the nation.

"She gave us visibility in a big way, and she continues to do so. Whenever I go recruiting, people still talk about Tasha Kai. They and we are constantly making comparisons to her, in a good way."

It was in the transition period between college and the national team that Kai began to embrace her individuality.

"When I was at home I was looking through pictures and I found a picture of my sophomore year in college and I had absolutely no tattoos," Kai said. "I never meant to stand out or have people notice me for my tattoos. I'm here because I'm playing the game because I love it. The passion is there. Just because I have tattoos and piercings and I wear my emotions on my sleeve when I play ... (U.S. coach) Pia (Sundhage) told me it was OK to be different."

Nagamine believes it is Kai's willingness to be herself that helped free up her soccer game.

"She has an edgy look and edgy style of play, and she's embraced her individuality and it's helped her play better," Nagamine said.

National team teammate Abby Wambach said: "I think Tash brings a completely different energy to the game. It's the kind of energy I think all the Hawaiians should be proud of. Of course, she has a lot of tattoos, which get her a lot of attention on the Mainland, but they are a link to her culture and there's more pride there. She can score goals whenever she wants and she's always exciting to watch play.

"To be able to come from a place that is basically a small soccer state, it's just cool to have someone from such a tight-knit community make it so far in her sport. A lot of times Hawai'i gets overlooked in soccer, so it's nice to see Tash getting some recognition and helping to grow the sport in her home state."

Kai, who is taking a break from the national team to prepare for shoulder surgery for an ongoing injury, scored 24 goals with the team, good for 16th all-time on the U.S. goal-scoring list, in 67 games. She is playing for the Sky Blue FC of the Women's Professional Soccer League. She leads the team in scoring with seven goals in 19 games. There's a fan club called the "Kai's Krazies", and the club even produces T-shirts with the name and has a special seating section for the "Krazies."

Kai is aware of her status, and is careful to be a positive role model.

"People look up to me so much, every day I try to better myself and be more professional and at the same time I don't want to change myself because people like me the way I am," she said.

Nagamine said Kai's presence on the biggest stages in soccer gives "hope" to Hawai'i soccer players.

"When I was growing up, I had Joe Montana on my wall. I had football and basketball players to look up to, but didn't have any women's soccer players," Nagamine said. "But I see the way kids look up to her and they'll stand in line for 45 minutes to get her autograph. When you look at how giddy they are and they are smiling and giggling and they don't want to approach her because they don't know if it's OK. She's spearheaded a movement where kids say they want to be like that.

"Someone came up to me and told me Tasha signed a shirt for her and her daughter sleeps with it every night. Those things are really special for women's soccer."

Kai's status was cemented when she helped lead the United States to a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics.

"I still kind of trip out; I was at home the other day and I was like, 'I still can't believe we won the gold medal.' We did it. I still look at it and I'm like, 'holy crap.'

"Especially coming from Hawai'i. I remember when I was 6 and 7 and playing AYSO and dreaming to grow up to be where I am today and I never thought it would happen."