FEATURED PLAYER: HOLLY GAULT

July 17, 2007 - Playing summer soccer in the Lower Mainland has given Vancouver Whitecaps defender Holly Gault a chance to experience a new environment.

The 22-year-old is one of several new recruits brought in by head coach Bob Birarda for the current W-League season, having traveled from her familiar surroundings of the American Midwest to be part of the 2006 W-League champions. “I absolutely love Vancouver, as it is a beautiful city,” Gault told whitecapsfc.com. “I’ve loved playing for this club, as it is professionally run. We have a ton of support staff and, if you have a problem, the coaches are always available. I played with the Minnesota Lightning last year and in the WPSL with FC Indiana. Both clubs were very talented, but until you get here and see how the Whitecaps have the support of the community, you realize that it is on a completely different level to other teams.”

Gault’s rookie season with the Whitecaps has seen her contribute at both ends of the pitch, with the youngster having found the scoresheet on more then one occasion. Though Birarda has mainly used her in a right-sided position during the campaign, she is no stranger to being in more forward roles. “I’ve always been an attacking player that got converted into playing defence,” admitted Gault. “My senior year at the University of Kansas, I was moved up to forward after spending three previous years playing outside back. I like to be involved in the attack, and with the formations that Bob likes to play, it allows me to get involved in the attack from an outside back position.”

Like many of Birarda’s new recruits, Gault came to the Whitecaps with an impressive resume of personal achievement in the game. Though her high school in Spring Hill did not offer a soccer program, the defender/midfielder flourished in the local club system with KCFC Alliance Metro Blues. Between 2003 and 2006, Gault enjoyed a successful college career at the University of Kansas, where she helped the Jayhawks to the Big 12 championship in 2004.

Last summer, Gault was a member of then W-League expansion club Minnesota Lightning, where she was named the club’s defender of the year and was chosen the 2006 W-League All-League team. “The Lightning was a completely different environment to the one I’ve experience here in Vancouver, as the players that played for them basically came from the same club team,” Gault said. “At Minnesota, I got to play at centre back, so I had a chance to learn how to build my leadership skills that season.”

Gault’s abilities have not gone unnoticed with the US national team program, as the youngster participated in recent tours to the UK and Europe with her country’s Under-21 team. She hopes further opportunities to represent the USA will come in the future. “I want to continue to try and get into that player pool,” she said. “I feel I have everything to play at that level and I’m hoping that performing well with the Whitecaps will get my name back in the frame.”

Like many aspiring soccer players, Gault has been an admirer of the game’s greats, with former Juventus, Real Madrid and France midfielder Zinedine Zidane being at the top of her list. “He was so intense as a player,” Gault said of Zidane. “He loved the game so much and was a very smart player. I think one of my biggest strengths is my intensity and my heart and determination on the field, and I feel he brought so many of those characteristics to the game.”

Gault knows a career in soccer cannot last forever, as the defender/midfielder has aspirations to pursue a career in medicine. “I have yet to take the MCAT exams, and I’m kind of waiting to see what the status of a new women’s professional league is and if one will start up again, because I still want to try and play a couple more years of soccer,” she said. “However, with me wanting to go to medical school, I can’t wait four or five years for it to come around. Depending on if a new WUSA league starts up in the near future, my goal would be to get into medical school as early as next year.”

Though she seemingly has no ties to the glitzy environment of southern California, Gault is known to many by her nickname ‘Hollywood’. “My dad gave me that nickname,” admits Gault. “I played softball up until my senior year of high school and I was always the person who showed up for games with 15 different pairs of sunglasses that matched every uniform we had, so that is how I got that nickname.”

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