For a few months in 1972 Olga Korbut was my idol. I spent that summer doing cartwheels in the kitchen and flips on the living room couch. But my mother was more concerned about the furniture than my career as a gymnast, and my dreams of Olympic gold pretty much ended there. Later that year, I fell in love with Chris Evert., but I was equally untalented on the courts. And in 1972, that was pretty much it for female sports role models.

Today, we are living in an era of Sports Divas. Women are playing professional sports in record numbers. They’re getting their own Wheaties boxes, and making the cover of Sports Illustrated (not just the swimsuit issue). And more and more girls are heading to college on athletic scholarships.

Shannon Strodel just laughs when I tell her I am not sure what lacrosse is. “I get that a lot. People stop me in the airport and ask me what my lacrosse stick is all the time.” For the uninitiated, lacrosse is the oldest game on the North American continent, and has been described as a combination of football, hockey and basketball. “It’s an amazing game.” Shannon continues, persuading me. “And you can always, always increase your skill level. It’s just such an exciting sport.”

Shannon is a regular lacrosse evangelist. Three broken ribs her first year of playing didn’t deter her one bit. In her senior year, she applied to twelve schools with lacrosse programs, and was accepted at all twelve. She chose Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, because she felt the coach was as passionate about the game as she is. Not surprisingly, Shannon was elected team captain her freshman year. “I want to play at the international level, and I’d love to see the US have an Olympic team for women. I just want other people to know more about the sport, and love it as much as I do.

Shannon is majoring in business, and hopes to become a Nike representative. If she’s half as enthusiastic about Nike as she is about lacrosse, they’d be lucky to have her.

These girls are inspiring.

At age 17, an interview and photo shoot would have left me searching frantically for something to wear and something to say. Not Jessica Fahey. The Chattahoochee High School graduate met me dressed for soccer, not a glamour shot. “Sorry I only have a little time, I’ve got to go to practice.”Never mind the downpour outside and the tornado watch we were under.

Jessica has been playing soccer since she was five, but says she “got serious” about it at age 11. She has played for up to four teams at a time, including high school, club, Super-Y, and Olympic Development teams. Soccer is a year-round sport for her, and weekends are often spent traveling and playing in tournaments. Last year she was playing in a tournament in Florida the day after Christmas.

In the last four years at Chattahoochee, Jessica (who is a goalkeeper) has had 29 shut outs, 337 saves, and has a GAA (Goals Against Attempts) average of 0.62. Her dedication and skill are paying off. She’ll be attending Western North Carolina University this fall on a soccer scholarship.

You might expect Jessica to name Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain as her role models. When asked, without a second’s hesitation she answered “My family. My Mom, Dad and brother are all so successful in what they do – and they’ve always been there, encouraging me in whatever it was I chose to do.”

These girls are hard-working.

There was a lot of noise in the background when I spoke to Woodstock High School’s star-swimmer Adrienne Amador. She was calling me on her cell phone, from a meet. Adrienne started swimming lessons at 18 months, and has been swimming competitively for over 10 years. She’s qualified for the Georgia state swim meet in every event, and was a finalist eight times. She holds 13 records at both the county and school level. And she runs cross county. And she was Woodstock’s valedictorian.

Adrienne will be going to Kenyon College on an academic scholarship. Kenyon ranks third among Division III college swim teams. With a 4.2 GPA and a 1390 SAT score, Adrienne had her pick of schools. She said she her decision was based primarily on academic merits – but the school also had to have a strong women’s swimming program. (That eliminated Harvard from her short list.)

A recent Atlanta Journal Constitution feature profiling academically gifted athletes lists nine girls among the top 15. Like Lassiter High School’s tennis star Carine Davilah, who got a perfect score on her SAT and will be attending Princeton in the fall. She’ll have company there from Westminster’s Parker Henritze, an all-city volleyball player with a 96.13 average; who will also attend Princeton. Then there’s Sandy Creek’s Mellany Stanislaus, two-time state champ in the triple jump who has a 4.0 GPA and scored 1400 on her SATs.

These girls are role models.

In the very best sense of the word, these girls are role models. But none of the ones I talked to thought of themselves that way. “I don’t know.” Strodel hesitated. “Mostly, I’d like for girls to find a sport they love as much as I love lacrosse. “

“I’d like to think I was.” said Fahey, “Maybe younger girls could look at me and think that hard work pays off.

It certainly does.

So if your six-year old is doing flips on the living room couch – get her to a gym. She may not make the Olympics, but it might save you a bundle on college tuition.

And don’t be surprised if she ends up on a Wheaties box.