Lauren Holiday

Lauren Nicole Holiday (née Cheney; born September 30, 1987) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder and forward. She played for FC Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team. Holiday is a two-time Olympic gold medalist winning gold with the national team at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. She also played in the 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. She previously played for the Boston Breakers in the WPS and collegiate soccer for the UCLA Bruins.

Early life

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Rita and George Cheney, Lauren Nicole Cheney 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 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 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 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.