Lauren Holiday is a retired American soccer player. She’s 36 years-old. She played for the American soccer teams Pali Blues, Boston Breakers, and FC Kansas City. She played college soccer at UCLA. Holiday had a decorated career with the United States National Soccer Team, which included two Olympic Gold Medals. Holiday is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Lauren Holiday was born September 30, 1987 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She played soccer at Ben Davis High School. She was voted Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006. Holiday scored a total of 118 goals and 67 assists in her high school career. She graduated high school in 2006. Holiday committed to play soccer at UCLA.
Lauren Holiday began her collegiate career in 2006 competing for the UCLA soccer team. During her freshman season, Holiday was named First-Team All-American and won the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Freshman of the Year Award. During the 2006 season, Holiday led the Pac-10 Conference in goals scored with 19. It was a UCLA freshman record. During her sophomore season, Holiday won the 2007 Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year Award, again leading the conference in goals scored with 23. She became the 1st player in UCLA history to win NSCAA/Adidas First-Team All-America Honors all four years of her college career. Holiday finished her career at UCLA with 28 game-winning goals, a school record. She finished tied for a school record 71 career goals scored and second in assists with 31. Holiday graduated from UCLA in 2009.
Lauren Holiday began her professional career playing for the Pali Blues in the original USL W-League in 2009. She played 10 games and scored 2 goals. Holiday then played for the Boston Breakers in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS) in 2010 and 2011. She played in 32 games and scored 8 goals. The WPS ceased operations in 2012. Holiday played for FC Kansas City from 2013 to 2015 in the newly-formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). She played in 48 games and scored 22 goals. Holiday won the NWSL MVP in 2013. Kansas City won the NWSL championship in 2014 and 2015. Holiday retired following the conclusion of the 2015 NWSL season.
Lauren Holiday began representing the United States in international competitions in 2007. The United States won Silver at the 2007 Pan-American Games. They won Gold at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Holiday played in two World Cups in 2011 and 2015. The United States finished second in 2011 and won the World Cup in 2015. It was the United States’ 3rd World Cup title, having previously won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999. Holiday announced her retirement following the 2015 World Cup triumph. She finished her international career with 133 games played and 24 goals scored.
Lauren Holiday is married to professional basketball player Jrue Holiday. They have a daughter named Jrue Tyler, and a son named Hendrix.
Lauren Holiday was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2023. She was joined by former U.S. Soccer teammate Hope Solo and former U.S. Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jill Ellis. Others that got inducted as part of the 2023 National Soccer Hall of Fame Class include U.S. Men’s Soccer Legends Landon Donovan and his former teammate Damarcus Beasley, Yugoslav Soccer player Steve Zungul, and U.S. Women’s Soccer player Kate Markgraf.
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