 Rachel with theGold Pride in September 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke | ||
| Birth name | Rachel Marie Buehler[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-08-26)August 26, 1985 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Del Mar, California, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2007 | Stanford Cardinal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | San Diego WFC SeaLions | ||
| 2009–2010 | FC Gold Pride | 39 | (2) |
| 2011 | Boston Breakers | 10 | (1) |
| 2012 | Atlanta Beat | ||
| 2013–2015 | Portland Thorns FC | 45 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| United States U-19 | 30 | (3) | |
| United States U-21 | 17 | ||
| United States U-23 | |||
| 2008–2015 | United States | 113 | (5) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of July 23, 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals as of March 10, 2015 | |||
Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke (/ˈhɒləbɛk/HOL-ə-bek;[2]née Buehler; born August 26, 1985) is an American formersoccer player who last played as adefender for thePortland Thorns FC and theUnited States women's national soccer team. In 2015, Van Hollebeke retired from playing professional soccer, and soon after began attending medical school atUC San Diego School of Medicine.
In 2020, Van Hollebeke joined the ownership group ofAngel City FC of theNational Women's Soccer League.[3]
Van Hollebeke attendedStanford University, where she was named by the NCAA Honors Committee as a recipient of theNCAA Top VIII Award, and completed her senior year in 2007, majoring in human biology/pre-medicine. A three-year captain for theCardinal, Van Hollebeke was an All-Pac-10 Conference First-Team selection, an NSCAA First-Team All-American Scholar Athlete, and was chosen as theESPN Academic All-American of the Year.[4] As a redshirt junior in 2006, she was one of two players in the conference to be selected in the All-Pac-10 First Team and the Pac-10 All-Academic First Team.[4]
On September 16, 2008, Van Hollebeke was one of three members of the 2008 Beijing gold medal team allocated to the brand newSanta Clara, California, clubFC Gold Pride, along withNicole Barnhart andLeslie Osborne. FC Gold Pride, coached by formerSan Jose Clash midfielderAlbertin Montoya, was the seventh and final club named in 2008 to compete in the inaugural season ofWomen's Professional Soccer (WPS) the following year.
On January 11, 2013, Van Hollebeke was one of three members from the United States women's national team that was allocated to the newNWSL clubPortland Thorns FC, along withAlex Morgan andTobin Heath.[5]
On August 23, 2015, Van Hollebeke announced her retirement from international and professional soccer at the conclusion of the2015 National Women's Soccer League season. During her three seasons with Portland Thorns FC, she won the 2013 NWSL Championship, 2013 Portland Thorns FC Defender of the Year, and 2013NWSL Second XI honors. Additionally, Van Hollebeke played an active role in community events through the club's Stand Together community platform and was named 2014 Community Player of the Year for all of her efforts.[6]
Van Hollebeke has played on several U.S. national youth teams, including U-16 and U-17, and was a member of the first place2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada and the third place team at the2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand. She joined the national team training camp in July 2006 and debuted for the full team in March 2008 at theAlgarve Cup in Portugal. Van Hollebeke was named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic women's soccer team on June 23, 2008. She appeared in two matches, chipping in with one assist.[7] She was also chosen for the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup squad and scored on the USA's opening game againstNorth Korea. Van Hollebeke was part of the team that won the gold medal at the2012 London Olympics. Van Hollebeke appeared in all six matches and played all but 35 minutes of the United States gold medal campaign.
On March 6, 2013, in the opening game of the Algarve Cup, Van Hollebeke became only the 29th female to play 100 times for theUnited States. Van Hollebeke's very first appearance with the national team was in 2008 at the very same tournament. During her 100th cap against Iceland, Van Hollebeke scored a goal, making her only the 4th U.S. woman next toTiffeny Milbrett,Shannon MacMillan, andAbby Wambach to score in their 100th appearance.
Rachel Van Hollebeke scored 5 goals in international competition; one each in World Cup final tournament, Olympic qualification, World Cup qualification, the Algarve Cup, and a friendly match.
Rachel married Bobby Van Hollebeke on November 17, 2012, atBalboa Park in San Diego. She announced that she would be using her husband's last name professionally from 2014 on.[8]
Van Hollebeke's maiden name and tough playing style earned her the nickname "The Buehldozer".[9]
Van Hollebeke prepared for medical school while still an active player, with fellow players helping her study for entrance exams. She retired from soccer at the end of the 2015NWSL season and began medical school at theUniversity of California, San Diego School of Medicine the next day.[6][10] She graduated as anM.D. in 2019 and now practices medicine in theSan Diego area.[11]
In 2020, Van Hollebeke joined the ownership group of NWSL teamAngel City FC. The owners, led by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, include former teammates from the USWNT as well as some Hollywood stars.[3]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs[a] | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Gold Pride | 2009 | WPS | 17 | 1 | — | 17 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
| Boston Breakers | 2011 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| Portland Thorns FC | 2013 | NWSL | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 2014 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 13 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 94 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 99 | 3 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2008 | 23 | 0 |
| 2009 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 19 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 31 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 113 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 28, 2010 | Cancún, Mexico |  Haiti | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying | [m 1] |
| 2 | June 28, 2011 | Dresden, Germany |  North Korea | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup | [m 2] |
| 3 | January 20, 2012 | Vancouver, Canada |  Dominican Republic | 3–0 | 14–0 | 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament | [m 3] |
| 4 | March 6, 2013 | Albufeira, Portugal |  Iceland | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2013 Algarve Cup | [m 4] |
| 5 | September 3, 2013 | Washington, D.C. |  Mexico | 6–0 | 7–0 | Friendly | [m 5] |
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