To say Lauren Holiday had a good last few years would be an understatement.
In the summer of 2012, the soccer star brought home her second Olympic gold medal from London. In 2013, she married college sweetheart and NBA player Jrue Holiday. Then, she was named the first-ever Most Valuable Player of the newly formed National Women's Soccer League after scoring 12 goals for FC Kansas City and winning the league's Golden Boot award.
In 2014, Holiday and Kansas City won the NWSL championship before repeating as back-to-back champions in 2015. And to top it all off, she helped the U.S. Women's national team capture the Women's World Cup championship.
Holiday has enjoyed more success over the last three years than most athletes can hope for from an entire career, which is why it came as somewhat of a surprise when she announced her retirement . At just 28 years old, the longtime USWNT player cited the desire to focus on family as the reason behind her decision.
More: 5 Helpful Digital Tools for Team Parents
Holiday was recently in the Dallas area for a free youth soccer clinic presented by Smoothie King. The clinic started out with the celebrity speaking to children about her journey.
Speaking to a crowd of excited children, Holiday said playing sports helped her become stronger after having open-heart surgery when she was just three years old. Having played multiple sports growing up, she said she believes kids should try more than one sport to find the game they love.
After, the World Cup champion led some soccer drills on the field. ACTIVEkids.com got the chance to interview Holiday about soccer, her decision to retire and getting the chance to give back.
ACTIVEkids.com: Talk about your decision to retire and focus on family at such a young age.
Holiday: As much as I love playing the sport of soccer, I also know that it's not my identity. I know that I was called to do other things and I'm not the type of person that can focus on multiple things at once. When I'm in soccer, I'm so focused on it that I feel guilty if I go a day without working out or trying to better my game. For me, it just came to the point that I wanted to do other things and I was ready. I've accomplished all that I wanted in soccer.
- 1
- of
- 2
About the Author
Discuss This Article