Arin Hadley Wright (born Arin Hadley Walton Gilliland; December 25, 1992) is an American soccer player who currently plays for the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

in the National Women's Soccer League. Wright was also recently loaned to Australian club

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

for the

2018–19 W-League The 2018–19 W-League season was the eleventh season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players Th ...

season. Gilliland played her collegiate soccer for

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

. On January 16, 2015, the

selected Gilliland as the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft.

College

In 2014, while at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, Gilliland was awarded the Honda Inspiration Award which is given to a collegiate athlete "who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level". She overcame a serious injury and the loss of her mother to cancer as a freshman, but rebounded to become one of the top soccer players in the country.

Club career

Youth career

Arin Gilliland attended and played for

West Jessamine High School West Jessamine High School is a public high school in Nicholasville, Kentucky Nicholasville is a home rule city in and the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 31,490 during the 2020 U.S. Census, makin ...

where she was named All-American, as well as

's Miss Soccer. Gilliland played club soccer for Ohio Elite. In 2007 was named second team All-State, and in 2008 was named Underclassman Athlete of the Year of Jessamine County, and Academic First Team Region 14. In 2009 was named Central Kentucky Soccer Conference Most Valuable Player. Gilliland was named to Kentucky First team All-State in 2009 and 2010.

Kentucky Wildcats

Gilliland played for

from 2011 to 2014 during which she was named First Team All-American, ESPNW Female Athlete of the Year finalist, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-SEC, 2014 HONDA Award winner, and MAC Hermann Award finalist. During her four years playing for Wildcats Gilliland played over 7,000 minutes, scored 30 goals and provided 25 assists. Gilliland set a new Wildcat record of eight career game-winning goals.

Chicago Red Stars

Gilliland was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft by the

. The Red Stars had acquired the pick along with an international roster spot for the 2014 and 2015 seasons from FC Kansas City in exchange for defender

Amy LePeilbet Amy Elizabeth LePeilbet (born March 12, 1982) is an American soccer coach and former player who was most recently the interim head coach of defunct team Utah Royals FC, formerly of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). As a player, LePeilbe ...

. In her first season, Gilliland played 19 games for the Red Stars, starting in 17, for a total of 1533 minutes and provided 2 assists. In 2016, she was named to the NWSL Best XI for the season and nominated for the Defender of the Year award. In 2017, Wright appeared in all 24 regular season matches for the Red Stars and their single post-season appearance. Wright started in 24 of those games, resulting in a combined total of 2,130 minutes on the field and 4 assists.

Loan to Newcastle Jets

On November 1, 2016, Gilliland joined

on loan. In October 2017 she extended her loan for another season. On November 26, 2018, Wright returned to Newcastle for the remainder of the 2018-19 W-League season, marking her third consecutive year with the team.

International career

Arin Gilliland competed with United States youth national teams at various age-groups:under-15, under-18, under-20, under-23, Gilliland received her first international call up to the senior team on October 6, 2016. Wright's call-up marks the first time a University of Kentucky player has been chosen to play for the USWNT.

Personal

Arin Wright is the daughter of Letita () and Bruce Gilliland, and has a sibling Saylor. Her mother had great influence on her soccer career. She married her husband Evan Wright in October 2018. In October 2019, the two announced they were expecting a baby in April 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Arin 1992 births Living people American women's soccer players Kentucky Wildcats women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars players Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) players National Women's Soccer League players A-League Women players Women's association football defenders Soccer players from Kentucky Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Chicago Red Stars (NWSL) draft picks Ottawa Fury (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Expatriate women's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Australia