Carli Lloyd Reveals How Soccer Ambitions Led To A Family Fall Out

When one wants something more than anything in the world, one has to make sacrifices. This is especially the case for professional athletes.

Carli Lloyd came close to giving up her dream as a professional soccer player according to an excerpt from her autobiography, When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey To The Top Of The Soccer World, published in Sports Illustrated. She wrote that she almost dropped the game and continued her life as a college student working toward a normal career.

Even though her father was her first coach and introduced her to the game when she was young, soccer is also to blame for their eventual falling-out. Lloyd devoted her life to soccer and became so busy with training, practices and traveling around the world that when she returned to her hometown she mainly spent time with friends or her boyfriend, Brian Hollis.

Her family falling-out continued as she began making independent decisions that the family didn't agree with (such as standing by controversial U.S. teammate Hope Solo at the 2007 World Cup). This caused the family to separate themselves from their daughter. 

“When my father had open-heart surgery, nobody told me until well afterward. When my sister got married, I was not invited.” Lloyd wrote.

Her family dynamic got worse following a heated dinner table conversation. Lloyd’s father kicked her out of the family’s home, causing her to move in with her boyfriend.

“I walk in the house and head straight upstairs. This is the saddest day of my life. I begin picking up all my belongings. My mother and sister come into my room and we all start crying. I am overwhelmed. I can’t even believe this is happening,” Lloyd wrote. 

The affirmation for all Lloyd's hard work came, she wrote, when she scored the winner in extra time in the 2008 Olympic gold medal game against Brazil.

Later in the excerpt, she wrote: “I love my family and would like nothing more than to reconcile with them. Nobody has done more for me than my parents, who devoted untold amounts of time and money that allowed me to play the game I love. It’s no exaggeration to say I never would have gotten anywhere near a World Cup, an Olympics or even the U.S. National Team without them. I have never forgotten that, and I never will.”

(H/T Sports Illustrated)