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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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) ** Smal ...

for the

United States 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 governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

from 2007 to 2015. She is a two-time

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

ist and

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

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 champio ...

in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) and the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

in the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

(WPS). She played collegiate soccer for the

UCLA Bruins 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 Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. 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 officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, 2012 London Summer Olympics, 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 f ...

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 List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

where the U.S. were the runners-up 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 Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

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 f ...

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 ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

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, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

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 ...

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 The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior women's national team. The team most recentl ...

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 biennially. ...

UCLA Bruins, 2006–2009

In the fall of 2006, Holiday enrolled at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where she was named a first-team All-American and

Freshman of the Year. She led the

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

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 th ...

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 Cups.

Playing career

Club

Pali Blues, 2009

During the summer of 2009, Holiday joined Southern California team

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Western ...

, in the W-League. Throughout the entire

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

, 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

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 association football, 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 ...

. 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 The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. 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 during the playoff semifinal.

FC Kansas City, 2013–2015

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

Becky Sauerbrunn Rebecca Elizabeth Sauerbrunn (born June 6, 1985) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a center back. She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team wi ...

and

Nicole Barnhart Nicole Renee Barnhart (born October 10, 1981) is an American retired soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. She played professionally for FC Gold Pride and Philadelphia Independence in Women's Professional Soccer, and FC Kansas City, Utah ...

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 National Women's Soccer League were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were co ...

. 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 Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

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 Socc ...

, 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 (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 particular competition, or ...

(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 soccer coach and retired professional player who most recently served as head coach of Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). During a career that spanned 1 ...

'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 Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

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 on January 26, 2007, against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She earned her second cap and scored her first goals against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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 officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing after

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, 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 ...

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.'s 2–1 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 pl ...

in March, she scored a goal against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

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 North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

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 primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Cheney served the assist to

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

'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, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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 a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

where they faced

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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 In association football, a penalty shoot-out (previously known as kicks from the penalty mark) is a tie-breaking method 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 ...

. During the semi-final match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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 is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament, 2012 Summer Olympics. It ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

including four assists during the U.S.'s 14–0 rout of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. 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, were 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 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 Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament:

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Four Nations Tournament:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual

* Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award (

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

) * FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team: 2011 * WPS All-Star: 2010 * NWSL Best XI: 2013, 2014 *

NWSL Most Valuable Player The NWSL Most Valuable Player award is presented annually to the best player in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Lauren Holiday (2013) won the first MVP award in the NWSL's inaugural season. Lindsey Horan (2018) was the first winner no ...

: 2013 *

NWSL Golden Boot The NWSL Golden Boot is awarded annually to the highest goal scorer in the regular season of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Lauren Holiday (2013) won the first Golden Boot in the NWSL's inaugural season. Temwa Chawinga holds the rec ...

: 2013 *

NWSL Championship Most Valuable Player The NWSL Championship Most Valuable Player award is presented to the best player in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) NWSL Championship, Championship Game. Tobin Heath received the first NWSL championship MVP award in 2013; she scored th ...

: 2014 * U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year: 2007 *

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

First-Team: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

Player of the Year: 2007 *

Soccer America Player of the Year Award The Soccer America Player of the Year Award was an award issued by ''Soccer America'' magazine naming the best men's and women's college soccer players of the year. The award was given from 1984 until 2019. Men's * 2019 — Joe Bell, Virginia * ...

: 2007 * U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year: 2014 *

Sagamore of the Wabash The Governor of Indiana, Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana can bestow five types of awards: the Sagamore of the Wabash, the Circle of Corydon, the Distinguished Hoosier, the Honorary Hoosier, and the Sachem Award. Given at the Governor's dis ...

: 2015 *

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

: 2023

Team

;with FC Kansas City: *

NWSL championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

: 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 Jrue Randall Holiday ( ; born June 12, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins before being selecte ...

, fellow former UCLA Bruin and

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

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

. Holiday is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. On September 4, 2016, it was announced that Holiday had previously been diagnosed with a brain

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

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 a daughter, Jrue Tyler Holiday, 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 Under Armour, Inc. is an American sportswear company that manufactures footwear and clothing, apparel headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. History 20th century Under Armour was founded on September 25, 1996, by Kevin Plank, a ...

and

Chobani Chobani is an American food company specializing in strained yogurt. The company was founded in 2005 by Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish businessman of Kurds, Kurdish origin. Chobani sells thick, Greek yogurt with a higher protein content than traditional ...

. In 2020, Holiday joined the ownership group for

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

of the NWSL. In April 2025, it was announced that Holiday, after divesting from Angel City, had invested in the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

through the Holiday Family Trust. Holiday will serve as an ambassador and advisor for the club.

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 g ...

'', 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 A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

. In October of the same year, the team was honored by

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

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 American women's soccer players Pali Blues players Soccer players from Indianapolis Boston Breakers 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 Women's Century Club FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players People with congenital heart defects Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards United States women's under-20 international soccer players Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in football Women's Professional Soccer players National Soccer Hall of Fame members United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen

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