Lauren Holiday recovery

My favorite soccer player is Lauren Holiday. Period. Full stop. I like a lot of other players, but Lauren is my favorite for a lot of reasons. Despite her immense talent, ability, and hard work, she may be one of the most under-rated players to go through the Women's National Team. That seemed to be a conscious decision to let many of her teammates take the spotlight, while she quietly and strongly did whatever the hell was needed to help the team win. That could just be my opinion though.

For the past year, she's had to deal with a brain tumor that became apparent while pregnant with her first child with Jrue Holiday. As if having a kid isn't hard enough... Not long after giving birth to Jrue Tyler, Lauren had surgery to remove the tumor; a surgery that was thankfully successful. While many new parents show off their kids, which is what Lauren has done from time to time, it was striking to me that I never saw Lauren in any of the photos. Turns out, that too was a conscious decision until yesterday's Mother's Day celebrations.

I have been hiding myself from a camera for the past 7 months. I didn't want anyone to see my paralyzed face, my eye that is now crossed, the bald spots from radiation & my half shaved head. Granted you can't see any of those things in this picture, just a patch...it's a huge step. Today reminded me just how incredibly strong women are. The resilience of our bodies, the power of our minds, the ability to put other humans fully before ourselves, our compassionate hearts but most of all our undying love for our families, our friends and our precious babies. I went through the day admiring women at church, at lunch and those just walking down the street. I am so proud to be a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a wife and most of all a mother. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mamas, Mamas-to-be and future mamas! You are beautiful. You are ridiculously strong. But most of all you are loved. So very loved. ❤️

A post shared by Lauren Cheney (@laurenholiday12) on May 14, 2017 at 7:19pm PDT

While most comments I have read after her post have been positive and are comments on how strong she is (which is true), I was surprised to read such a post from Lauren. It's such an indication of how fragile we can all be when faced with potentially life-threatening issues. Lauren is a World Cup Champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist, an NWSL Champion, a league MVP, a league final MVP, etc. and yet she's still self-conscious about the after-affects of brain surgery. She didn't feel comfortable letting people see her and that saddens me a bit.

Life is a messy business and sometimes it gets ridiculously messy. Being alive means that you've had to endure the ups and downs, the good and the bad, and the birth of a child and the affects of brain surgery within a month of each other. There's a lot that we can learn from Lauren's and Jrue's strength and relationship and her recent post reminded me that not only are people strong and compassionate, but that they are often going through a turmoil that you can't possibly fathom. Even the seemingly strongest people you know may be going through something that you can't understand because you're not in their position.

As a husband and a father of three very strong little girls (gymnasts), Lauren's post reminded me that no matter how physically strong they are and how strong headed they may seem, doubt and a lack of confidence is something that can affect anybody, at any time. It's those with whom we surround ourselves that help us get through those moments and that can make us even stronger.

I'm thankful that Lauren survived her surgery and has a beautiful daughter and a loving husband. The soccer stuff is just a bonus for the rest of us to have been able to witness, but it's not the most important part...

Lauren Holiday

You don't have to read this blog much to be able to determine my favorite USWNT player. Two days after winning the Women's World Cup, that player announced she would be retiring from the National Team at the ripe old age of 27. While I appreciate Lauren Holiday's desire to devote more time to her family, I'm certainly going to miss watching her play in the biggest soccer games on the world's stage. I've talked about her in the past on some of my other blogs, so I thought I would take the opportunity to include portions of them here and update and expand on them.

Lauren attended the same high school that I attended, though more than a decade behind me. I'm proud of my high school soccer program and its recent successes that were built on the foundation that was laid during the time frame around my high school career. There wasn't even a girls team until my sophomore year and the boys team was basically a club team until my freshman year.
The program has come a long way since those days. They have been ranked in the state, they have had regional, sectional, and county success, and are starting to get players recruited by major universities. They have a game field and a usable practice field, a concession stand, a press box, team locker rooms, and lights (mere pipe dreams when I attended; our practice field had the occasional 2- to 3-inch diameter rocks and definitely none of those other items).

By far, the most decorated soccer player to ever come out of my high school has been Lauren ('05), who I was fortunate to watch a couple of times when she was there. I had heard the talk about her and I have to say, she was good even back then.  In high school, there are wide gaps between the good players and every one else and she clearly stuck out.  That gap narrows at the college level, and it narrows even further at the international level.  Yet, every time I see her with the ball, I think she has the ability to do good things with it.  She seems to make good decisions most of the time and doesn't force too much. Obviously, I can see a much more mature player in her now than when I saw here over a decade ago.  By the time Lauren graduated, she had helped take the girls' team to semi state, was all-everything locally, was a Consensus #1 recruit, Parade All-American, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, and the NSCAA/Adidas National Youth and High School Player of the Year. Not bad.

We've all grown accustomed to seeing her become one of the best midfielders in the world. Routinely described as the best #10 on the United States team, and by extension, the world.  Yeah, that's not just my opinion. Just 9 months ago, the Soccer Gods 25 placed her at #11, saying, "Lauren Holiday may be the best women’s soccer player in the world."  Adding later:

Unfortunately for Holiday, versatility comes with a price: neglect from a public eye that has little time for a more nuanced talent. Coming out of college, she looked like a target striker. At Germany 2011, Pia Sundhage used her on the left wing. Since, she’s often playing in central midfield for her country, though she’s now being cast as a regista — as if playing the world’s best number 10 out of position is something that makes sense on any level.

To her credit, Holiday is up for the challenge. Unfortunately, that willingness will keep her from getting the attention she deserves. She won’t put up Wambach’s numbers. She doesn’t get the celebrating camera time of Morgan. She has too far to go to catch Marta’s celebrity. She may be the best in the world, but that world leaves her overshadowed.

Not by us, though. Greatness is great, no matter the guise, and while U.S. head coach Jill Ellis may miss the virtues Vlatko Andonovski has leveraged in Kansas City, Holiday is the same player, regardless.

"Coming out of college, she looked like a target striker..."  Holiday went to UCLA and in the words of her bio on the UCLA site, "enjoyed one of the finest freshman seasons in UCLA history". She earned individual honors of first-team NSCAA/Adidas All-America, first team Pac-10, Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, and SoccerBuzz Freshman of the Year. Then she proceeded in her sophomore season to be named SoccerBuzz Player of the Year as UCLA went to the semi-finals of the college cup, Pac-10 Player of the Year, Soccer America's National Player of the Year, U.S. Soccer's Young Female Athlete of the Year, finalist (one of four) for that year's Honda Award recognizing the top soccer player in the nation, one of three finalists for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, and NSCAA/Adidas All-American. The accolades didn't stop there either as Holiday finished her college career as UCLA's:

1. All-time points leader (a record she still holds)
2. All-time leader in goals (a record she still holds)
3. 2nd all-time in assists
4. All-time leader in game-winning goals
5. 2nd all-time in shots
6. 2nd all-time in multiple goal games
7. 2nd in NCAA tournament points
8. 2nd in NCAA tournament goals
9. All-time leader in NCAA tournament assists, and
10. UCLA's only four-time first-team All-American

Her professional career has been just as stellar.  For her two assist effort in the game, Holiday was awarded last year's NWSL championship game MVP. Which should look nicely beside her league Golden Boot and MVP trophies from the 2013 season, as well as her back-to-back Best XI awards. Through the first two seasons of the NWSL "(and, for Holiday, 39 games), but she is the league’s all-time leader in both goals (19) and assists (16). She is the player you’d want to build your team around…"

Oh, and she's been a part of two Olympic gold medal winning teams for good measure.

I'm going to miss all of that, but I'm also going to miss watching her be the first one to celebrate with teammates after they score.  Catching them in her arms and embracing their triumphs. Sydney Leroux's reaction and sprint to Lauren after her goal in the 2012 Olympics is just one of dozens of times she's been the first one there to revel in their success.

I'm going to miss these three together...

I'm going to miss this.

I'm going to miss celebrating the best player to ever come out of my high school.

Lauren Holiday - FCKCvSRFC

I think she's one of the best playmakers in the World, but on Sunday Lauren Holiday showed that she also has the ability to dribble the ball in tight spaces with the best.  Don't believe me?  Watch this display that lead to FC Kansas City's second goal by Amy Rodriguez in the NWSL Championship game.



For her two assist effort in the game, Holiday was awarded the game's MVP.  Which should go nicely with her league Golden Boot and MVP trophies from last year, as well as her back-to-back Best XI awards.

Holiday Olimpico

This is Lauren Holiday taking a corner kick for FC Kansas City this past weekend:

 

That was Lauren Holiday putting a corner kick directly into the side netting.

For those that don't know (and I can honestly say that I didn't know that an actual name was given to a kick that went in directly from a corner kick), is called an Olimpico.

It is possible to score direct from a corner kick (as a corner kick is a direct free kick) if sufficient swerve is given to the kick, and/or there is a strong enough wind blowing in the goalward direction. However, it was illegal until the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting of 15 June 1924 authorised it for the following season. This type of goal is called an Olympic goal or Olympic kick, or olimpico in Latin America. The name dates from 2 October 1924, when Argentina's Cesáreo Onzari scored against Uruguay, who had just won the 1924 Olympic title. (The first such goal was thought to have been scored by Billy Alston in Scotland on 21 August 1924, but further research showed that match had been played on 23 August 1923, and the goal was actually a header.) The first in England was by Huddersfield Town's Billy Smith on 11 October 1924. The world record holder is Massimo Palanca with 13 goals. It remains a rare occurrence, often accomplished by fluke rather than intent, and with the goalkeeper usually blamed for an error.
Megan Rapinoe of the United States women's national soccer team scored an Olympic goal direct from a corner kick in the semifinal match between the United States and Canada in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London becoming the first player ever to score an "Olympic Goal" during an Olympic match. The only Olympic goal in the World Cup was scored for Colombia by Marcos Coll, beating goalkeeper Lev Yashin in a 4–4 draw with the Soviet Union in 1962.

I'm not sure if Lauren was aiming for the goal, but given that she is normally pretty good with her placement on corner kicks, I think she was at least giving it a try.  Regardless, it placed her at #3 for ESPN's Plays of the Day.