Just the other day, Natasha Kai went to the beach — home from one of her breaks from the national soccer team — when she noticed a young girl recognize her, turn to her father, and start whispering to him.

"I just started laughing," Kai said.

Kai, still unaccustomed to her newfound fame, rightfully receives it as one of the top soccer players to ever come out of Hawai'i.

"I never thought I would be like this," said Kai, who willingly signs autographs and poses for pictures for fans who often swarm her.

"To this day, it's weird," said the Kahuku High and University of Hawai'i alum. "It's good having Hawai'i people have a role model. It's good for them to have someone to look up to and know it's possible. I'm a living tale."

Hawai'i soccer fans will get their first chance to see Kai with a soccer ball in person since she became the first from the state to play for the national team.

Kai and her teammates, including Shannon Boxx, Heather Mitts, Leslie Osborne and Lindsay Tarpley, are holding clinics and making appearances as part of the inaugural Good Will Tour this week.

"It's good for my team to come here; some have never been here," Kai said. "It's good to come to my hometown and they can see why I don't like coming back (to the team) after a break. It's always depressing leaving home, and now they'll know why."

Osborne, a midfielder from Wisconsin who played soccer for Santa Clara, has been to Hawai'i five times and sometimes plays pick-up games at Kapi'olani Park.

"I think it's exciting for the kids, parents, everyone in Hawai'i," Osborne said of the clinics.

Those five helped the team move into the top ranking — the first time in 3 1/2 years — in the latest FIFA World Rankings.

"It's a young team, a fresh new team, and we're excited to prove ourselves," Mitts said. "We don't have the old faces who helped pave the way for so long. We just have to continue improving, and if we play to what we're capable of doing, it shouldn't be an issue. Hopefully, we continue to remain on top of the world."

Mitts, a defender from Ohio who played for the University of Florida, said most of what she knows about Hawai'i soccer comes from Kai, but understands what a "big deal" it is for Hawai'i youths to get a chance to meet elite soccer players.

"It's just inspiration," Mitts said. "The fact that we're going over there as a team, we're all very excited about it, and we're hoping we can do it year after year."

Fresh off helping the team to an Algarve Cup title, Kai arrived in Hawai'i from Portugal on Friday. She spends hours at the beach and will try to do so every day until Wednesday, when she leaves for California for a photo shoot with her sponsor Nike.

"I always dreamed it could happen, but did I ever think it was going to happen?" Kai said. "Noooo, not at all."

Kai made her national team debut in the Algarve Cup in February 2006, becoming the first Hawai'i women's soccer player to reach elite status. In 20 games she scored seven goals. She spends half the year in residency with the national team.

"For me, I've matured a lot more," said Kai, who was a third-team Soccer Buzz All-American and three-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. "Every time I come home, all my friends are like, 'You matured so much.' From high school to college, you have to mature. From college to U21s I had to grow because I was playing with the top up and comers. And from the 21s to the women's team, you have to mature in days.

"You have one chance. I had to change fast. For me, it's a good change."

Kai rode her success on the college level to the Under-21 national team, but took a brief break to recover from injuries. When she was invited to training camp in January of 2006, it was yet another momentous step for Hawai'i soccer.

When she was named to the team and to the travel squad to the Algarve Cup, it validated all of her hard work.

"The journey has been rocky," Kai said. "There were times I didn't think I could do it anymore. I wondered, 'Am I getting over it?' I just stuck with it. I went where life took me and it ended up in places I want to be."

Kai and the other national team members hope to take that message to Hawai'i's youngsters.

"Basically, the more kids we can talk to and see and be able to work with, the better," Osborne said. "It's more of an introduction of who we are, and why we're here. It's just to get people excited about soccer (in Hawai'i) and see the possibilities."

Kai wants them to know "one day, it could be any one of them.

"I think coming to Hawai'i, it's going to bring out more fans. Soccer community here is growing."

US Women's National Soccer Team Players' Association is hosting clinics at the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Boys and girls, ages 6 to 18, are invited on a first-come, first-served basis, with a 200-person limit per session. Four sessions, 75 minutes each, are offered Saturday, and four Sunday.

An autograph session from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. will run both days of the clinics.

Send questions to cjohnson@goehausen.com or call (860) 426-9729.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.