LA JOLLA, Calif. – With over 4,000 minutes of playing time for the Tritons across four years, Courtney Hilliard has become a fixture of the UC San Diego women's soccer program. However, her involvement dates long before her college years, back to her childhood days of tagging along to her mother Heather's frequent get-togethers with old teammates. 

"They had a picture of us 10 years prior … and Courtney, oh man, she would have been 11 years old, was sitting with us and she was just tucked in the corner," her mother, Heather, said.  

In these gatherings, both Heather and Courtney found a second family who embodied the exceptionally familial nature of the program, engendering within the latter a legacy to uphold once she donned her own Triton uniform. 
 

Taking after her mother, whose 70 career goals have remained at the top of the all-time goal scorers list for the better part of four decades, Courtney had a knack for the beautiful game. Her hunger for trophies, however, paled in comparison to her desire to cultivate friendships, as her mother once did with her Triton teammates. 

"I'd describe her as an incredibly loyal person," Heather said. "I would assume she probably picked that up for me because that's very much me and that's very much her." 

Indeed, this camaraderie was so vital that the absence of it during Courtney's top-flight club soccer days nearly threatened to end her Triton career before it began. 

"Seeing your peers that are literally committing when they're sophomores, you're like, 'Oh, my God, I'm so behind,'" Courtney said.  

A subsequent break in eighth grade, where she stayed active on the tennis courts, proved pivotal to the continuation of her soccer journey. Upon returning a year later, she enjoyed a more social club environment and flourished in the high school soccer arena.  

With her priorities staunchly set, Courtney's post-secondary decision was simple, albeit surprising for some.  

"She was such a phenomenal club player that I actually thought she was going to go somewhere different than UC San Diego, like a different caliber of program," said Triton head coach Kristin Jones '04.  

For Courtney, the decision came down to the program's familiar communal traditions, preserved by Jones through the university's move to Division I. Six years after this decision, ironically made as a sophomore, Courtney has assembled a life-long friend group of her own. 

"When we're older, we won't talk about the goals," Courtney said. "We'll talk about the funny plane rides that we took to the East Coast and the funny memories in the vans." 

Aside from the ones she gained along the way, Courtney's decision was ultimately grounded in the family she's had since birth. Her grandparents attended each of their daughter's matches, including in 1989 when a senior Heather scored an at-the-time record high 23 season goals on the Tritons' way to their first-ever NCAA Division III title.  

Over her four-year career, Heather accompanied her 70 career goals with 29 assists to earn the top spot on the all-time points list, an accolade made ever-more special with her parents in the bleachers. Now, Heather joins her parents in the stands for every one of Courtney's home games — and travels for road fixtures, just as her parents once did for her.  

"My God, if she coached, I'd be thrilled," Heather said. "That would give me excuses to keep going to her games because I don't know what I'm going to do with myself come next Friday when the season's over." 
 

Unsurprisingly, Courtney's play style mirrors her family values. Compared to her striker mother, who she playfully described as a "cherry picker" in front of goal, Courtney's central midfield background elicits a more supportive role. Her self-described "explosive, smart, clean" and "versatile" skill set has served up nine career assists, a record in the team's Division I era.  

Heather and Jones made sure to add "leader" to that list. The latter reminisced on a moment when Courtney, a freshman at the time, sat with her after a practice to articulate the team's shortcomings, particularly culturally. 

"It was just crazy to think that an 18-year-old kid could challenge us a little bit," Jones said.  

Two years after this conversation, Courtney received the captain's armband, the tangible pressure of which now reflected in the formalized burden of maintaining the culture that shaped her. To ensure the message was received, she created a slideshow presentation on the team's legacy. 

Such leadership qualities could be put to good use in Courtney's future endeavors. The senior gained some coaching experience at her alma mater La Costa Canyon High School during her college offseasons, and she may very well continue down this path. 

"Coaching is a grind for sure, starting at [a] club and working your way up," Courtney said. "[You] 100% have to learn how to be a good coach." 

To Jones, these concerns have much less footing than Courtney affords them: 

"She has those innate qualities that are the difference between being a good coach and a great coach," Jones said. "How effective she can communicate and drive standards, while also relating to people, I think is something that you can't really teach … it's part of who she is." 

Fittingly, these attributes were the very same exemplified by her mother and her friends, who shaped Courtney Hilliard into the player and individual she is today. In true circularity, the family-first approach of the UC San Diego women's soccer program, first cultivated decades ago, has now been embodied by another one of their own. 
 

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.