U.S. Women's Soccer: Lauren Holiday on Her Final Victory Tour

"I am a member of the U.S. Soccer Women's National Team and I am a follower of Jesus Christ ... I am playing the game that God gave me the talent to play." 

"We (national team members) play for those little girls who come to watch us play because we were them once. It's fun to meet the little girls who have the same passion for the sport as I did at their age."

 -- World Cup and Olympic Gold Medalist Lauren Holiday 

 

World Cup and Olympic soccer gold medalist Lauren  Holiday has good hands as well as great feet.

The nine-year midfield veteran of the U.S. Women's National Team has the aforementioned gold medals, a 108-6-18 team record since she joined the national team in 2007 and was selected as the 2014 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.

Her good hands came into play as a high school senior at Ben Davis HS in her hometown of Indianapolis and her college choices came down to UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia.

"All three are great schools with great soccer programs so I wrote each school name on a piece of paper put them in a hat and drew out the paper with "UCLA" on it," said Holiday with a smile. "I did tell the schools how I made my decision after the fact, but not before."

She parlayed her prep talents - 2005 Parade Magazine All-American, Gatorade Girls's High School Player of the Year and NSCAA High School Player of the Year - into a four-year All-American career for the Bruins and upon graduation was the program's all-time leading scorer in points (173) and match-winning goals (28).

U.S. vs. Costa Rica Tonight at Finley Stadium: She and her U.S. teammates are in Chattanooga for tonight's match against Costa Rica at a sold-out Finley Stadium as the match will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Tonight's match is the second of a 10-city Victory Tour as the U.S. team opened the tour Sunday with an 8-0 win against Costa Rica in Pittsburgh .

"I played several sports growing up, whether it was a pick up baseball game in the neighborhood with my brother and his friends or a one-on-one competitive basketball game with my brother in the backyard  or organized league basketball and soccer contests," said Holiday who also plays for FC Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and will retire at the end of the current pro season.

"I had a successful basketball career in high school (all conference and all county as a junior), but once I was selected for the U.S. Soccer U-20 national team I decided to graduate early from high school (Dec. 2005) and also knew soccer was my ticket to a college scholarship."

Playing for Others: "Since I was a little girl I wanted to play in the Olympics and play at the highest level possible," said Holiday in a video produced by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

"We (national team members) play for those little girls who come to watch us play because we were them once. It's fun to meet to little girls who have the same passion for the sport as I did at their age."

Giving Back: Holiday, born Lauren Nicole Cheney in Sept 1987, was detected with a congenital heart defect at the age of three, had successful surgery and several soccer memorabilia items signed by Holiday will be auctioned off at a FC Kansas City match (August 27) with proceeds going to the local CHD Babies chapter in Kansas City. A congenital heart defects is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels which is present at birth.

So whether on the field for a few more matches with her teammates inspiring young girls to reach for their own dreams before hanging up her cleats for good or giving her name to support of CHD Babies, Holiday is not sure what the future holds but as the old adage states she knows who holds the future.

"I plan to take a year off and spend time with my family and see what the Lord has in store for me next," stated Holiday.

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net