| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kamani Helekunihi Hill | ||
| Date of birth | December 28, 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Berkeley, California, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Marin United | |||
| 2004–2006 | UCLA Bruins | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005 | Orange County Blue Star | 7 | (1) |
| 2006 | San Fernando Valley Quakes | 10 | (1) |
| 2006–2009 | VfL Wolfsburg | 9 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | VfL Wolfsburg II | 6 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Vitória Guimarães | 0 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Aves (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2007– | United States | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 19, 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Kamani Helekunihi Hill (born December 28, 1985 in Berkeley, California) is an American professional soccer player.
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Hill was born in Berkeley, California to a Trinidadian father and an American mother of Hawaiian origin. He grew up playing in various Bay Area youth leagues and attended Berkeley High School, where he was a star forward on their soccer team.[1] He then attended UCLA, where he played in 40 games (32 starts), scored nine goals, and assisted on 13 more in his two seasons with the team.[2] During his college years he also played with Orange County Blue Star and San Fernando Valley Quakes in the USL Premier Development League.
At the beginning of October 2006, Hill went to Germany for a trial with Bundesliga team VfL Wolfsburg, and in November he signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the team.[2] He made his first-team debut on January 27, 2007 as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat away at Hertha Berlin.[3] However, after a promising start, the arrival of coach Felix Magath at the club saw Hill relegated to the second team, where he spent most of his time at Wolfsburg. During November 2008, he trained with Norwegian club FK Bodø/Glimt. However, he was not offered a contract. In April 2009, he began a ten-day trial with Vitoria Guimaraes upon the recommendation of his Wolfsburg teammate Alex, and on May 8 the club announced his signing to a three-year contract.[4]
Hill was released by Vitória Guimarães in July 2010 and returned to the United States to train with Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes.[5]
Hill played for the United States U-20 men's national soccer team in the Suwon Youth Tournament in South Korea in 2005, where he scored a game-winning goal against Argentina.
He later made his debut for the senior United States men's national soccer team on June 2, 2007 as a substitute in a 4–1 friendly match victory over China in San Jose, California.