Lauren Hoh Ruyi

Lauren Hoh Ruyi (born 27 January 2006) is a Malaysian footballer who plays as a right-back or winger for the Trinity Bantams and represents the Malaysia women's national football team. She can also play at centre-back, in defensive midfield and as a forward. Lauren captained Malaysia at the 2025 ASEAN U-19 Women's Championship, played for Kelana United in the Malaysia National Women's League, joined Women's Premier Soccer League club Chicago KICS FC in 2026, and was part of the Selangor team that won the women's football gold medal at the 2026 Malaysia Games.

Early life and youth career

Lauren was born in Kuala Lumpur and began playing organised football at the age of eight. With relatively few girls' teams available to her, she initially played in a boys' team at Goal Elite Football Academy.

From 2016 to 2019, Lauren played for FC Kuala Lumpur (FCKL), continuing to compete in boys' teams. In 2017, she was named FCKL's under-10 Player of the Year and its overall Club Player of the Year across the boys' age groups. The move required her to live away from her family in Malaysia as a full-time boarding student while combining her education with the academy's high-performance football programme.

Lauren remained at BISP until graduating in 2024. Her period in Phuket coincided with her progression through Malaysia's youth national teams and culminated in her senior international debut at the 2023 SEA Games. She was subsequently associated with the Young Tigress development side in 2025.

Trinity College

Lauren enrolled at Trinity College in 2024 and joined its NCAA Division III women's soccer team, the Trinity Bantams.

Chicago KICS

In May 2026, Chicago KICS FC announced Lauren as a member of its squad for the 2026 Women's Premier Soccer League season.

Selangor and SUKMA

Lauren represented Selangor in the women's football competition at the 2026 Malaysia Games (SUKMA). Selangor retained the gold medal after defeating Sabah 2–0 in the final at Selayang Stadium on 19 August 2026.

International career

Youth teams

Lauren received her first Malaysia youth-team call-up at 13 and played at the 2019 AFF U-15 Girls' Championship. Malaysia played five group matches, recording victories over Singapore and Cambodia. Playing in midfield, she started as captain in Malaysia's 4–0 opening victory over Cambodia.

In August 2025, Lauren was selected for Malaysia's squad for the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualification tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia recorded a 2–0 victory over Guam during the qualifying campaign.

Senior team

Lauren was named in Malaysia's squad for the women's football tournament at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia. She made her senior international debut against Myanmar in May 2023 and also featured during Malaysia's group-stage campaign against Vietnam and the hosts Cambodia.

In October 2025, Lauren was recalled to the senior squad for two Tier 1 international friendlies against Hong Kong on 22 and 25 October. She appeared in the second match at the Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground on 25 October.

Since moving to the United States, Lauren has balanced her international career with the academic calendar and collegiate soccer commitments at Trinity College. The timing of Malaysian training camps and international windows, together with the long-distance travel involved, has at times affected her availability for national-team call-ups.

International tournament record

Year Team Competition Malaysia matches Result/record 2019 Malaysia U15 AFF U-15 Girls' Championship 5 Group stage 2019 Malaysia U15 UEFA U-15 development tournament 3 Three matches 2022 Malaysia U18 AFF U-18 Women's Championship 3 Group stage 2023 Malaysia senior Southeast Asian Games 3 Group stage 2025 Malaysia U19 ASEAN U-19 Women's Championship 3 Captain; group stage 2025 Malaysia U20 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualification 3 Qualifying campaign 2025 Malaysia senior Friendlies against Hong Kong 2 Selected for both; appearance confirmed in second match

The tournament table records Malaysia's matches in each event and should not be read as an exact cap total unless Lauren's participation in every match is confirmed by an official line-up. Publicly accessible databases do not presently provide a complete match-by-match record for all Malaysian youth internationals.

Honours

Selangor Sukma Games women's football: gold medal, 2026

Media appearances and advocacy

In 2018, Lauren appeared as a girl footballer in a Superkids segment associated with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and broadcast on Playhouse Disney.

In June 2025, Lauren wrote a first-person article, "The Game That Raised Me", for Malaysian women's football platform The Pitch Invaders. The article reflected on her childhood, development through boys' football in Malaysia, move to BISP in Thailand, national-team career and transition to college soccer in the United States.

Lauren appeared twice on Malaysian radio station BFM 89.9 in August 2025. She was interviewed on the 11 August season premiere of Just For Kicks, and was subsequently the subject of the 42-minute feature interview "Lauren Ruyi – The Best Is Yet To Come" on 15 August.

In 2025, Lauren participated in a panel organised by the Embassy of Belgium in Malaysia, the All Women's Action Society and the United Nations Population Fund on sexual harassment in sport. She spoke about the experiences of young women athletes and barriers to reporting misconduct.