Think it’s hard to be both a mom and at the top of the corporate ladder at the same time?  Try being a mom and one of the top athletes in the world. While the number of women who are both a high-ranking athlete and a mom is a relatively small and exclusive group—it’s important to note that some of the moms on this list are at the very top of their game athletically. Other moms have made their contribution to sports by being a coach, referee or sports team owner. So how did we choose workingmother.com’s list of Most Powerful Moms in Sports? First, they must be a major player in the sports world and active (retirees were not included) and they must have at least one child at home under 18 years old. The women on this list are among the top-ranked women in their respective sport or are trailblazers in sports who are not athletes. All of these powerful moms compete or work for a US team (with the exception of Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters who resides in New Jersey and is married to an American).

In Pictures: Most Powerful Moms in Sports

Several women on our list have proven that being mother doesn’t mean you can’t be an Olympic powerhouse. Swimmer Dara Torres became the Olympic mom poster child after winning two silver medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics following the birth of her daughter. Christie Rampone is the ultimate soccer mom with a gold medal to prove it.  As captain of the US women's Olympic soccer team, she led the team to a gold medal victory in the Beijing games—all while having her young daughter by her side. Meanwhile, mother of three and weightlifter Melanie Roach competed in the Beijing games realizing a lifelong dream. She placed sixth, and is currently the top-ranking woman weightlifter in America.

It’s clear that while motherhood is a top priority for the highest-ranking moms in sports, it isn’t preventing them from being vehement competitors. Kim Clijsters, who once ranked number one in the world for tennis, came back to the game stronger than ever after the birth of her daughter Jada. In 2009, she won the US Open beating out the top-ranked Williams sisters when her daughter was less than a year old. Beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh, who has been called the greatest volleyball player of all time, has an infant son and another child on the way. That hasn’t stopped this power mom athlete from competing with the US AVP tour and the FIVB world tour. Walsh already has two gold Olympic medals, and is planning on competing in the 2012 games in London. Basketball player Candace Parker, a star player for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks recently gave birth to her daughter Lailaa, and jumped right back into playing for her team a few months later.

The Boys' Club

While women are making great strides in athletics it’s still very much a boys’ club in the ownership circle of sports teams. Denver-based Linda Alvarado hopes to see that change in her lifetime. Alvarado, a mom of three teens and CEO of the construction firm, is also the co-owner of the baseball team the Colorado Rockies. She was the first woman to become a a pro-sports team owner who did not inherit a stake from a family member. Alvarado has developed a reputation among her colleagues for mentoring younger women and encouraging them to pursue the business side of sports.

Coaching is another field where women are sparse but basketball is one area where moms are making strides on the sidelines and off the court as well. Kristy Curry is the current head coach of Texas Tech’s Women’s Basketball team and the former head coach of the Purdue Women’s Basketball team. She has made it just a little bit easier for the next woman who wants to be an athletic coach. With over 225 wins under her belt, Curry, mom of two, has become a basketball coaching star.

Women are few and far between on the management side of teams and there are almost no women occupying the top spots. Former basketball star, and mom to three, Ann Meyers Drysdale is an exception. Drysdale played basketball in the Olympics and for the WNBA, and now she is the General Manager for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and vice president of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

Perhaps the one area in sports where the glass ceiling remains fully intact is with National Football League (NFL) referees where there are no women among the ranks.  But one mom hopes to be closing in. Sarah Thomas, mother of two, who is one of a handful of women referees in college football, is said to be on a shortlist with the NFL.

Many of the Most Powerful Moms in Sports were impacted by the effects of Title lX which requires schools to provide equal athletic training to girls. The power of moms in the sports arena may help make an even greater commitment to the next generation.

Most Powerful Moms in Sports in pictures

Why Working Mother chooses the Most Powerful Moms. Read Editor's Daily Bread