INDIANAPOLIS — Carmel coach John Simmonds and Jared Cameron stood next to each other after an Indy Eleven practice in May and discussed whether Adalyn Cameron planned to play high school soccer her senior year.
“If you get Adalyn, she’s going to score you 30 goals this year if you let her be free,” Jared told Simmonds.
“I believe she could get the team 20 goals, but not 30,” Simmonds retorted.
Cameron returned to Carmel in her senior year and proved Simmonds and her dad wrong. She scored 40.
Cameron excelled in a silent but dominant fashion. The 2025 Carmel team embraced Cameron’s reserved personality and “let her be free.” In return, she led them to the state title game and became the Greyhounds’ all-time single-season leading scorer. Cameron’s historic season earned her IndyStar Player of the Year honors.
Carmel returned to Carmel because she felt welcomed
Cameron sat outside and played video games on her phone before games this season. Inside the Carmel locker room, the rest of her teammates played music and sang songs. Cameron kept to herself.
“The players respected that, and that led to us having a great relationship in the team,” Simmonds said. “They allowed her to be her.”
Cameron’s first two years at Carmel were different. Cameron alleged an upperclassman called her “disrespectful” in front of other teammates for holding the ball in a scrimmage during her freshman year.
Cameron admitted she felt “picked on” because of her age and early success. Cameron led Carmel in goals her sophomore year and perceived a sense of jealousy when interacting with upperclassmen. Avon coach Frank Dixon was coaching Carmel at the time. He said he did not “notice if something was going on.” Dixon added he would’ve “stepped in” if he had been aware.
“When upperclassmen are rude, it sucks because you’re a freshman and you don’t really know what you’re doing. It makes it hard for you to come back,” Cameron said. “I felt like they wanted me because I scored and did everything. It felt like they liked me, but at the same time didn’t.”
Cameron left Carmel in the spring of her sophomore year. She was homeschooled until returning to Carmel in 2025. Cameron’s mom, Naomi, cited Cameron’s experience with the team as one of the reasons she transitioned to homeschool.
Cameron continued to play with Indy Eleven in spring 2024, but did not perform well due to lingering calf knots. “It was a low point,” Cameron admitted. Ahead of the high school season, then-Carmel seniors Olivia Cebalo and Rosie Martin, along with teammate Emma Ehret, called Cameron and asked her to rejoin the Greyhounds.
Cameron elected to remain in homeschool but was surprised when her former teammates expressed interest despite her recent poor play and injuries. Cameron trained with the Indy Eleven MLS Next boys soccer team two to three times a week during her junior year to regain confidence and improve. Ehret called Cameron again in early 2025 and encouraged her to return for a final season.
Ehret’s second effort worked.
“I felt good about returning because I felt welcomed,” Cameron said
“We knew coming in she’d be a great asset,” Ehret added. “Getting along with her was a priority.”
‘I came to appreciate the discovery of who she is’
Readjusting to Carmel was a slow process at the beginning of the season. Cameron left as an underclassman; now she was a senior. Cameron remembered her early days at Carmel and noticed the environment Simmonds promoted, in which underclassmen were pivotal pieces in games and practices.
She began to open up as she became comfortable. As teammates recognized Cameron’s work ethic, they did the same. Teammates invited Cameron to different gatherings throughout the season. Cameron does not favor big groups, but the invite mattered.
“It just wasn’t toxic,” Cameron said. “They didn’t judge me and go behind my back and do things. It was more welcoming.”
Similar to her teammates, Simmonds embraced Cameron. When she was outside playing games on her phone, Simmonds was there. He used the time to connect with his star player.
“I came to appreciate the discovery of who she is — from the dry, but funny humor she possesses to her desire to be better,” Simmonds said. “She’d come off at halftime scoring two goals and wants to score two more. We’re 3-0, and she wants the game to be 6-0.”
To the casual eye, “you think she’s a lazy player,” Simmonds said. But as Cameron saunters around the field, she’s contemplating her next step, observing before she pounces.
“She’s smart because she picks and chooses when she wants to work. She sees the opportunity before they happen and the open space before anyone does,” Simmonds said. “People say she doesn’t play defense. No, she does. She knows when she’s wasting energy playing defense and when she has an actual chance to win the ball.
“She has a love and passion for the game unlike many I’ve seen.”
When a 6-year-old Cameron was playing in a league relative to her age, Jared said, “Every time I looked, she scored.” Jared and Naomi decided to let Cameron play in the 9-year-old league. A parent whose child followed the same route informed Jared and Naomi, “Don’t worry if they struggle, they probably won’t score at all.”
Cameron scored 47 goals in 11 games. After dominating her opponents, Cameron wore her cleats and shinguards the rest of the day, especially when her older brother Braylen had a football game after matches.
“I just liked playing soccer and wanted people to know,” Cameron said with a laugh.
Cameron is the middle child of four siblings. Cameron played with her older brother Braylen’s friends growing up. She was part of a boys team until age 12 and was the “alpha on that team,” Jared said. “She loved getting rough and tough with the boys and was the toughest of the boys,” Naomi added.
Cameron’s experience made her a protector. Cameron fights often with her 12-year-old sister, Hadley. But when a boy took Hadley’s scooter away from her, an 8-year-old Cameron knocked him off and warned the boy not to trouble her sister again.
“Even though she may not want to talk to you, she has your back,” Jared said.
Beneath the silence and introverted demeanor is a considerate heart.
During her year and a half of homeschooling, Cameron saw the effort required to maintain a home from her mother’s perspective. She started doing more chores, including washing dishes, yard work and doing the laundry. Cameron’s parents said she began to “consider others better” while at home. Cameron displayed her growth when she returned to high school.
The 17-year-old missed a few easy chances during an early September game and unloaded her anger on her teammates as they walked off the field at halftime. Cameron realized she made a mistake “right as she sat down,” Simmonds recalled. Cameron texted the team group chat after the game and apologized.
“It showed a maturity and leadership skills I hadn’t seen yet,” Simmonds said. “It showed she truly cared.”
Experience over time. It’s how one finds out who, as Simmonds put it, the star soccer player “truly” is.
’Inside, she’s proud’
Observe closely and one will notice Cameron does not like to receive praise. Mention her stats and Cameron smiles faintly with a stiffened body.
“We like to see her get recognized because she is so quiet and doesn’t really care for it as much,” Jared said. “I think she does but she doesn’t always show it emotionally.”
“She gets that from her dad,” Naomi followed. “She’s quiet about her accomplishments. She’s really shy but inside she’s proud.”
Adalyn, are you proud about winning player of the year?
”Yes, I am,” she says with a laugh.
Cameron will tell close family and friends. Only they will see the emotion.
”I won’t blab about it,” she said.
That’s Cameron.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls soccer: Adalyn Cameron named IndyStar player of the year
