_023.jpg) O'Hara withGotham FC in 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kelley Maureen O'Hara[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1988-08-04)August 4, 1988 (age 36) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Peachtree City,Georgia, U.S.[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Wingback,winger[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Peachtree City Lazers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Lightning Soccer Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Starr's Mill High School | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Concorde Fire Soccer Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2009 | Stanford Cardinal | 87[3] | (57) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Pali Blues | 6 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | FC Gold Pride | 18 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Boston Breakers | 13 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Sky Blue FC | 75 | (15) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Utah Royals | 12[4] | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Washington Spirit | 24 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Gotham FC | 16 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | United States U-16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | United States U-17 | (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | United States U-20 | 35 | (24) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | United States U-21 | 1 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | United States U-23 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2023 | United States | 160 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 20, 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 6, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kelley Maureen O'Hara (born August 4, 1988) is an American former professionalsoccer player. She represented theUnited States national team on 160 occasions, winning twoFIFA Women's World Cups and anOlympic gold medal. She spent most of her club career withNational Women's Soccer League clubNJ/NY Gotham FC. Known for her intensity, she played primarily as awingback but played as aforward in college and occasionally played an attacking role in her professional career.[5][6]
O'Hara was awarded theHermann Trophy while playing for theStanford Cardinal in 2009. She then played forFC Gold Pride and theBoston Breakers inWomen's Professional Soccer. When the NWSL was formed in 2013, she joined Gotham FC (then known as Sky Blue FC). She later played forUtah Royals FC and theWashington Spirit, with whom she scored the winning goal in theNWSL Championship in 2021. She returned to Gotham and won her second NWSL Championship in 2023. She was named to theFIFA FIFPRO Women's World 11 in 2019.
O'Hara played internationally for the United States from 2010 to 2023. She appeared at four Women's World Cups in2011;2015, helping the team win the title;2019, defending the title; and2023. She appeared at three Olympic Games, including at the2012 Olympics, where she was one of three U.S. players that played every minute of the tournament as they won gold;2016; and2020, where she won bronze.
O'Hara announced that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the2024 NWSL season. On September 21, 2024, she was put on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, thus effectively ending her career.
O'Hara was born inFayetteville, Georgia, nearAtlanta[2] to parents Dan and Karen O'Hara.[7] She has a brother named Jerry and a sister named Erin.[8] O'Hara has Irish heritage.[9] O'Hara grew up inPeachtree City, Georgia and graduated fromStarr's Mill High School inFayette County where she played four years on thevarsity soccer team and captained the team during herjunior andsenior years. O'Hara helped lead the Panthers to the5A state title in 2006 with 20 goals and 16 assists. The team finished second in the state championships during hersophomore year. O'Hara was namedParade All-American as a junior and a senior and All-League, All-County and All-State all four years. In 2006, she was named the 2006Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) Player of the Year and Gatorade Georgia State Player of the Year. She was also named NSCAA All-American.[10]
O'Hara played for club teams, the Peachtree City Lazers and AFC Lightning before playing for the U.S. U-16s in 2004 and then joining theU-17 youth women's national team of that same year.[11][12] She played on the Concorde Fire South '88 Elite that went on to win the 2007 GA U19G State Cup and advance to the Semi Finals of Regionals.[13]
A two-timeParade All-American coming into her freshman year atStanford University, O'Hara led theCardinal in scoring in 2006 with nine goals. She repeated that feat during her sophomore year, helping the Cardinal to the third round of theNCAA Tournament.
During O'Hara's junior year, Stanford advanced to theCollege Cup for the first time since 1993, defeating 2005 national championPortland, 1–0.[14] The Cardinal would fall in the semi-final, 0–1, toNotre Dame.[15]
As a senior, she had one of the best seasons in Division I history, scoring 26 goals with 13 assists.[16] O'Hara's senior year ended in the 2009College Cup, where the Cardinal lost toNorth Carolina. O'Hara received two yellow cards in the second half, ejecting her from the game, forcing the Cardinal to finish the game a woman down. The game ended with a score of 1–0, thus marking North Carolina's twentieth National Championship.[17] She finished her college career at Stanford with 57 goals and 32 assists, both school records at the time.[16]
O'Hara was awarded the 2009Hermann Trophy as collegiate soccer's top player. She had been on the MACHermann Trophy watch list for three consecutive seasons.[18] O'Hara was also a member of theKappa Kappa Gamma sorority during her time at Stanford.[19]
Prior to graduating fromStanford, O'Hara played for thePali Blues of theUSL W-League (semi-pro) in the summer of 2009, scoring four goals during her tenure with the club.
O'Hara was drafted third overall byFC Gold Pride at the2010 WPS Draft. In addition to the close proximity of home stadiumPioneer Stadium to O'Hara's alma materStanford University, O'Hara had previously worked withFC Gold Pride head coachAlbertin Montoya when he served as an assistant coach atStanford University in 2008.[20]
The team dominated the season[21] finishing first during the regular season after defeating thePhiladelphia Independence 4–1 with goals from O'Hara,Christine Sinclair andMarta.[22] As the regular season champion, the team earned a direct route to the championship playoff game where they faced the Philadelphia Independence.[23][24] During the final, FC Gold Pride defeated the Independence 4–0 to clinch the WPS Championship.[25] Despite their successful season, the club ceased operations on November 16, 2010, due to not meeting the league's financial reserve requirement.[21]
AfterFC Gold Pride folded in November 2010, O'Hara was signed by theBoston Breakers. She scored 10 goals during her two seasons in the WPS playing primarily as an outside midfielder.[16] On January 5, 2012, it was announced O'Hara would be going back to her hometown because she had signed with theAtlanta Beat. However, the league folded just before the 2012 season began.
On January 11, 2013, O'Hara joinedSky Blue FC in the newNational Women's Soccer League.[26] Because the club's head coach,Jim Gabarra, played O'Hara as a forward, she reverted to a role she filled with success in college.[27][28]
Over her career at Sky Blue, O'Hara has been played in several roles including forward, winger, right-back, and central midfielder.[citation needed]
On December 29, 2017, O'Hara was traded toUtah Royals FC.[29] Due to a hamstring injury, O'Hara only appeared in 8 games for Utah in 2018.[30] O'Hara contributed to Utah's first-ever franchise win, scoring a goal in the team's 2–0 victory over the Washington Spirit in May 2018.[31]
Utah finished theseason in 5th place, just 2 points shy of making the playoffs. O'Hara underwent ankle surgery after the 2018 season.[32]
In 2019, she made only 2 starts in 4 appearances for Utah due to injuries andWorld Cup duties. She was still recuperating from an off-season ankle injury at the start of theNWSL season and saw limited minutes as a substitute in two late-April games. Following her World Cup win, O'Hara started in two games for Utah at the end of July, notching an assist in the team's 2–2 draw against Portland.[30][33] She was named to the2019 NWSL second XI.
O'Hara played only 65 minutes for the Royals in the abbreviated2020 NWSL season. She was still recovering from an injury at the start of theChallenge Cup and did not dress for the first few games. She saw limited minutes in Utah's July 13 game against Chicago and the July 18 game against Houston.[30][34]
Starting in August 2020, rumors of a O'Hara trade to theWashington Spirit began to circulate and O'Hara announced in August that she would opt out of the 2020 NWSL Fall Series, set to begin in early September.[34][35][36]
O'Hara's trade to the Spirit was officially announced on December 2, 2020. The deal sent $75,000 in allocation money to the Utah Royals and a 2022 first round draft pick.[37] O'Hara stated that she requested the move to Spirit so that she could live, work in a same city with her partner.[38]The Spirit won their first NWSL Championship on November 20, 2021, when they defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2–1 in extra time at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. O'Hara scored the winning goal in the 97th minute of the game.[39]
After the 2022 season, O'Hara announced on November 15 that she would sign withNJ/NY Gotham FC, returning to the club she formerly played for when it was called Sky Blue.[40] The move made her the first NWSL player to sign with a new team infree agency.[41] Gotham FC officially announced her signing on January 25, 2023.[42] O'Hara won her second NWSL championship with Gotham in 2023.[43]
O'Hara announced on May 2, 2024, that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the season.[43] On September 21, 2024, O'Hara was put on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, thus effectively ending her career.[44]
O'Hara represented the United States in various youth national teams from 2005 through 2010.[10] She scored 24 goals in her 35 under-20 caps, the third-most ever for a U.S. player in the U-20 age group.[16] She was a member of the fourth-placeUnited States U-20 women's national soccer team that competed in the2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship inRussia. O'Hara scored two goals in the tournament: one against theCongo (for which game she was namedFIFA's player of the match) and one againstGermany. She was also the first player in the tournament to be ejected from a game, having picked up twoyellow cards in the game againstArgentina.[45]
O'Hara rejoined the U-20 national team at the2007 Pan American Games. She scored four goals in thewomen's football tournament, againstParaguay,Panama, andMexico.[46] The United States, which only sent theirU-20 women to the tournament, would fall in the final game, 0–5, to a full-strengthBrazilian senior team featuring Brazilian powerhouse,Marta.
In February 2008, O'Hara returned to theU-20 women's national team to play in the U-20 Four Nations Tournament inChile. Her last appearance for the U-20 team occurred in July 2008, at the2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship inPuebla, Mexico.[47] O'Hara helped the U-20 team qualify for the2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup inChile. She did not play in the U-20 World Cup, instead remaining with her college team in itsNCAA postseason campaign.
She was called into thesenior national team's training camp in December 2009 and attended the January 2010 training camp in the lead-up to the 2010Algarve Cup. O'Hara earned her first senior national team cap in March 2010, coming in as a substitute during a friendly match againstMexico.
After falling short of making the 21 player World Cup roster, O'Hara was called up to replaceLindsay Tarpley who tore herACL in a send-off match againstJapan on May 14, 2011.[48] O'Hara earned just one cap atright midfield in the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in the finalgroup stage game againstSweden. The United States went on to win the silver medal in that tournament.
Throughout her national U-20s, collegiate, and club career, O'Hara was one of the top young offensive players in the United States, but under head coachPia Sundhage, O'Hara was converted to play outside back in 2012 after teammateAli Krieger went down with anACL injury in the2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Against Guatemala on January 22, 2012, in the Olympic Qualifiers, she made her first start at left back and registered three assists.[16] O'Hara started at right back againstCosta Rica in the match that qualified the United States for the2012 Summer Olympics in London. O'Hara played in every minute of the United States' gold medal run, one of three American players to do so.[49]
In theUnited States' first four games of the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, O'Hara did not see any playing time. O'Hara made her first start of thetournament in the quarter-final game againstChina PR. She was replaced byChristen Press in the 61st minute.[50] O'Hara scored her first career international goal in theUnited States' 2–0 victory overGermany in the semi-final.[51] In the final againstJapan, O'Hara entered the game in the 61st minute to replaceMegan Rapinoe.[52] The United States went on to defeatJapan 5–2, winning the first World Cup title since1999 and the third overall World Cup title for the United States since the inaugural Women's World Cup in1991.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2024) |
Despite injuries which kept her from playing regularly for the United States in the year leading up to the World Cup,[53] O'Hara was named toJill Ellis' roster for the2019 FIFA World Cup in France.[54] She played in five of the United States' seven games and appeared in all knockout stage games.[55] In the team'sopening gameagainstThailand, O'Hara crossed the ball toAlex Morgan in the 12th minute who converted O'Hara's service to notch the team's first goal of the tournament. The U.S. went on to beat Thailand 13–0.[56][57] O'Hara made her second assist of the tournament in thesemifinal againstEngland when she delivered a cross from the right flank toChristen Press whose 10th minute goal put the U.S. in the lead.[58]O'Hara started in thefinal against theNetherlands but was substituted at halftime due to a collision just before the break with the Dutch wingerLieke Martens. The U.S. won the match 2–0 and O'Hara won her second World Cup.[59]
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2024) |
On June 21, 2023,Vlatko Andonovski named O'Hara to the United States squad for the2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia, her fourth World Cup tournament.[60] She made her tournament debut in the 84th minute of the group-stage opener against Vietnam.[61] While she did not feature in the next two games against the Netherlands and Portugal, she made her next appearance during the game against Sweden, coming on in the last minute of extra time before the penalty shootout. O'Hara was the third U.S. player to miss her penalty shot, and Sweden advanced on penalties, eliminating the U.S. from the World Cup in the Round of 16.[62]
O'Hara has appeared in multiple commercials and advertisements forUnder Armour.[63] In 2015, she appeared in television commercials and promotional materials promoting chocolate milk on behalf of the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.[64]
In July 2020, O'Hara launched a podcast with sports websiteJust Women's Sports.[65] The podcast was rebranded asThe Players' Pod in April 2022.[66] Website founder Haley Rosen had asked O'Hara to join the advisory board.[67] O'Hara said that she instead asked to host their podcast because she'd "always thought hosting a podcast would be fun."[68] O'Hara says her goal is to generate "open, candid conversations" about the lives of athletes, particularly female athletes.[69] The podcast posted its last episode on August 9, 2023.[70]
O'Hara was one of many outLGBT athletes to compete in the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup inFrance.[71][72] As of 2019, during heroff-season, she resides with her partner, Kameryn Stanhouse, inWashington, D.C.[73] She got engaged to Stanhouse on New Year's Eve 2022, announcing it to fans via Instagram.[74][75] On April 23, 2024, O'Hara announced that she was one of the executive producers of "Ripe!," a queer short film in which two young women develop feelings for each other after a competitive moment in a pickup soccer game. "Ripe!," which celebrates the ripening of LGBTQIA+ identities and shedding queer shame, premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival on June 9, 2024.[76][77]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Playoffs[b] | Other | Total | Ref. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| Pali Blues | 2009 | USL W-League | 5 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 6 | 4 | [78][79] | |||
| FC Gold Pride | 2010 | WPS | 18 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 19 | 6 | [80] | |||
| Boston Breakers | 2011 | 12 | 4 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 13 | 4 | [81] | ||||
| Sky Blue FC | 2013 | NWSL | 12 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | [82] | |||
| 2014 | 22 | 7 | — | — | — | 22 | 7 | [83] | ||||||
| 2015 | 11 | 3 | — | — | — | 11 | 3 | [82] | ||||||
| 2016 | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | [84] | ||||||
| 2017 | 18 | 4 | — | — | — | 18 | 4 | [85] | ||||||
| Utah Royals FC | 2018 | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 1 | [86] | |||||
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | [87] | ||||||
| 2020 | —[c] | 2 | 0 | — | 0[d] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Washington Spirit | 2021 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 18 | 1 | ||||
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||||||
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2023 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||||
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| Career total | 159 | 29 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 180 | 31 | — | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2010 | 3 | 0 |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 26 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 22 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 16 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 160 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 30, 2015 | Olympic Stadium,Montreal |  Germany | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup | [m 1] |
| 2 | February 15, 2016 | Toyota Stadium,Frisco, Texas |  Puerto Rico | 4–0 | 10–0 | 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying | [m 2] |
| 3 | June 28, 2022 | Rio Tinto Stadium,Sandy, Utah |  Colombia | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly | [m 3] |
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