Lauren Cheney Holiday (born Lauren Nicole Cheney; September 30, 1987) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a midfielder and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for the United States women's national football team from 2007 to 2015. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

champion. Holiday played professionally for

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL) and the Boston Breakers in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She played collegiate soccer for the UCLA Bruins. Holiday won gold with the national team at the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

2012 London Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competi ...

, and the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

in Canada. She played for the team at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

where the U.S. finished in second place and Holiday was named to the tournament's All-Star team. In 2007, she was named U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. She earned U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year honors in 2014. She was the first player in NWSL history to have her jersey retired after retiring from the league.

Early life

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Rita and George Cheney, Holiday began playing soccer as a youth after watching her brother play the sport. She played on boys' teams until age 12. She attended

Ben Davis High School Ben Davis High School (BDHS) is a three-year high school in Indianapolis, Indiana. History Ben Davis was first established in 1892. The current school building was constructed in 1965. The school underwent extensive construction and renovation fr ...

in Indianapolis where she was named the school's most valuable offensive player in 2004–05. In 2004, she was named Metro Player of the Year by the Indianapolis Star. In 2006, she was named Parade All-American and was

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

in addition to receiving numerous regional awards including first-team All-Conference, All-County and All-State, and Indianapolis Star Super Team Player of the Year. She earned Indiana All-State selection honors each year of her high school career and was named

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...

All-American three times. Holiday finished her high school career having scored 118 goals and served 67 assists. She graduated mid-year in 2006 to train full-time with the United States U-20 women's national soccer team for the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

UCLA Bruins, 2006–2009

In the fall of 2006, Holiday enrolled at UCLA, where she was named a first-team All-American and

Freshman of the Year. She led the Pac-10 Conference with 19 goals, which also set a new UCLA freshman record with a goals-per-game percentage of .95. As a sophomore in 2007, she was the runner-up for the women's

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. She led the conference again in goals scored with 23 and broke the UCLA single-season school records for points (57) and goals (23). Holiday became the first player in UCLA history to earn NSCAA/adidas First-Team All-America honors all four years of her career. At UCLA, she set new school records for points (173) and game-winning goals (28); and tied the career school record in goals with 71. She had 31 career assists, second place in the record book. During her four years, the Bruins played in consecutive

NCAA College Cup The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champ ...

Playing career

Club

Pali Blues, 2009

During the summer of 2009, Holiday joined Southern California team Pali Blues, in the W-League. Throughout the entire regular season, the Blues did not lose a match and finished first in the Western Conference with a 9–0–3 record. After defeating the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 4–0 in the championship semi-final in which Holiday scored a goal in the 65th minute, the Pali Blues clinched the championship title in a 2–1 defeat of the Washington Freedom Reserves on August 7, 2009.

Boston Breakers, 2010–2011

On January 15, 2010, Holiday was selected by the Boston Breakers as the second overall pick in the WPS Draft. She played in 23 games for Boston during the 2010 season, starting in 21 matches and scoring five goals with two assists. After Boston finished in second place during the regular season with a , the team advanced to the playoffs. Holiday scored the team's lone goal in the 2–1 playoff loss against the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at West ...

. Holiday was named as a starter in the 2010 WPS All-Star Game and scored in the 79th minute. During the

2011 WPS season The 2011 Women's Professional Soccer season is the third season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The season started with the opening match on April 9, with the 2011 WPS Championship scheduled for ...

, Holiday made ten appearances for the club. After returning to Boston following the

, Holiday's brace during the team's final regular season match helped the Breakers clinch the last remaining spot in the playoffs. She was subsequently named WPS Player of the Week for week 18 of the season. The Breakers finished the regular season in fourth place with a The team was defeated 3–1 by

magicJack MagicJack is an Internet-based telephone service (VoIP) provider in the United States and Canada. It offers nationwide VoIP and cellphone services. MagicJack VOIP service is a computer peripheral that, in combination with telephony service ...

during the playoff semifinal.

FC Kansas City, 2013–2015

In 2013, Holiday was one of three national team players along with Becky Sauerbrunn and

Nicole Barnhart Nicole Renee Barnhart (born October 10, 1981) is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for FC Gold Pride and Philadelphia Independence in Wo ...

to be allocated to

for the inaugural season of the

as part of the

NWSL Player Allocation The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the NWSL were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were contracted to the United Sta ...

. In June 2013, she was named NWSL Player of the Month after scoring six times in five games and becoming the league's leading scorer with eight goals. FC Kansas City finished second during the regular season with an 11–6–5 record. The team advanced to the playoffs but were defeated 2–3 by Portland Thorns FC during the semi-finals. Following the

2013 NWSL season The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Socce ...

, Holiday was awarded the Golden Boot, an award given to the player who scores the most goals (12) and was named the league's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP). In 2014 NWSL season, FC Kansas City finished the regular season in second place, with Holiday providing a team-leading 7 assists, and finished second in goals scored with 8 behind

Amy Rodriguez Amy Joy Rodriguez Shilling (; born February 17, 1987) is an American retired professional soccer player who last played as a forward for North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for NWSL teams Ut ...

's 13. In the post-season playoffs, Holiday scored the second goal in a 2–0 victory over the Portland Thorns FC in the semi final, and provided both the assists for Rodriguez's two goals, as they beat Seattle Reign FC 2–1 in the 2014 Championship game, to clinch the club's first NWSL title. Holiday was voted the match's MVP. As of 2015, Holiday was the leading goal scorer (20) and assist leader (12) all-time in the NWSL. She retired from the NWSL at the end of the 2015 season as Kansas City repeated as champions, allowing Holiday to retire holding world and league titles. Her number 12 jersey was retired in her honour.

International

Holiday made her first appearance and start for the

U.S. women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

on January 26, 2007, against Germany. She earned her second cap and scored her first goals against Mexico on April 14, 2007. The same year, she was named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Holiday was named to the U.S. roster for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing after

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...

was forced to withdraw with a broken leg. She appeared in three games as a substitute helping the U.S. win gold at the tournament. In 2010, Holiday was the second-leading scorer on the team with seven goals in 13 total matches, starting seven.

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

2011 saw the U.S. team making preparations for the

and training starting with the Four Nations Tournament in January. Holiday scored her 12th international goal during the U.S.' 2–1 win over Canada. The U.S. defeated China 2–0 in the final to clinch the tournament title. At the

2011 Algarve Cup The 2011 Algarve Cup was the eighteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 2–9 March 2011. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that p ...

in March, she scored a goal against Iceland during the final helping the U.S. win 4–2 and clinch their 8th title at the tournament. Holiday started in all six

matches, scoring two goals and leading the team with three assists. Her performance earned a spot on the Women's World Cup All-Star Team. Holiday scored the first tournament goal for the U.S. during the team's first group stage against North Korea on June 28 helping the U.S. win 2–0. During the team's next group stage match against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, Cheney served the assist to Megan Rapinoe's first World Cup goal who had just subbed into the match. It was the quickest goal for a U.S. substitute in history of the tournament. Despite losing to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

2–1 during the team's third group stage match, the U.S. advanced to the

knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

where they faced Brazil on July 10. The U.S. won the dramatic match after equalizing the match in the 120th minute and winning 5–3 in the resulting

penalty kick shootout A penalty shoot-out (officially kicks from the penalty mark) is a tie-breaking method in association football to determine which team is awarded victory in a match that cannot end in a draw, when the score is tied after the normal time as well ...

. During the semi-final match against France on July 13, Holiday scored the game-opening goal in the ninth minute. In the 79th minute, her cross to

lifted the score to 2–1 and an eventual 3–1 win to advance to the World Cup final against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In front of a sell-out crowd of 48,817, the United States tied Japan 1–1 during regulation time and 2–2 in overtime advancing to a penalty kick shootout where they were defeated. Despite spraining an ankle early in the first half of the match, Holiday continued playing until being subbed off at the start of the second half.

2012 London Olympics

Holiday led the United States team with seven assists in five games at the

2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament was an association football competition used to determine the two participants who would compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. It was held at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia including four assists during the U.S.' 14–0 rout of the Dominican Republic. She played in all six games at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, starting five. She came off the bench in the gold medal match to play the final 23 minutes after suffering a minor injury in the semifinal.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

In 2015, Holiday scored the third goal of the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final was a women's soccer match that took place on 5 July 2015 at BC Place, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to determine the winner of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. It was played between Japan and the U ...

in the 14th minute of the game helping the U.S. defeat previous World Cup champions

5–2. On July 7, 2015, following the

, Holiday announced her retirement from her international career.

Career statistics

International goals

Honors and awards

International

* Olympic Gold Medal:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Algarve Cup:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament:

* CONCACAF Women's Championship:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Four Nations Tournament:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Individual

* FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team: 2011 * WPS All-Star: 2010 * NWSL Best XI: 2013, 2014 * NWSL Most Valuable Player: 2013 * NWSL Golden Boot: 2013 * NWSL Championship Game MVP: 2014 * U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year: 2007 * NCAA All-American First-Team: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 * Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year: 2007 * Soccer America Player of the Year Award: 2007 * U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year: 2014 * Sagamore of the Wabash: 2015 *

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

: 2023

Team

;with FC Kansas City: * NWSL championship: 2014, 2015

Personal life

At the age of three, Holiday had open heart surgery to correct a heart defect. She married professional basketball player Jrue Holiday, fellow former

UCLA Bruin The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

point guard, on July 7, 2013. The two first met and began dating in 2008 while they were both attending UCLA. Holiday is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. On September 4, 2016, it was announced that Holiday had previously been diagnosed with a brain tumor during her pregnancy. Her husband chose to take a leave of absence to care for her. The tumor, which was benign, was found on the right side of her brain in late June 2016. Holiday gave birth to Jrue Tyler Holiday, a baby girl in September 2016, and the tumor was successfully removed in October. She gave birth to a son, Hendrix, in 2020. Holiday has signed endorsement deals with Under Armour and

Chobani Chobani is an American food company specializing in strained yogurt. The company was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish businessman. Chobani sells thick, Greek-style yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional yogurt and is one ...

In popular culture

Video games

Holiday was featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in ''

FIFA 16 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The gam ...

'', the first time women players were included in the game.

Ticker tape parade and White House honor

Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Holiday and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.

References

;Match reports

External links

*
US Soccer player profile

FC Kansas City player profile

UCLA player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday, Lauren Living people 1987 births United States women's international soccer players UCLA Bruins women's soccer players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States American women's soccer players Pali Blues players Soccer players from Indianapolis Boston Breakers (WPS) players Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players National Women's Soccer League players FC Kansas City players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics FIFA Century Club FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players People with congenital heart defects Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States United States women's under-20 international soccer players Pan American Games medalists in football Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Women's Professional Soccer players

Early life

UCLA Bruins, 2006–2009

Playing career

Club

Pali Blues, 2009

Boston Breakers, 2010–2011

FC Kansas City, 2013–2015

International

2008 Beijing Olympics

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

2012 London Olympics

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

Career statistics

International goals

Honors and awards

International

Individual

Team

Personal life

In popular culture

Video games

Ticker tape parade and White House honor

See also

References

Further reading

External links