Girls’ soccer season arrives for local Larchmont athletes
Here’s an impressive stat: At Immaculate Heart, a local prep school for girls grades six to 12, 100% of the Class of 2025 graduates matriculated to college. Astounding, and yet Immaculate Heart is far from being an academics-only institute.
This Los Angeles school, tucked up against the Ferndell Nature Trail in Griffith Park, was founded in 1906 by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Catholic religious order of women who trace their origin to Olot, Spain.
Azalea Bruns
Azalea Bruns’ favorite professional soccer player—Lamine Yamal—happens to be from Spain.
“When he came onto the scene, he was named the youngest player of the 2024 Euro Cup at just 16 years old,” said Bruns. “Because of our proximity in age, he’s shown me, and countless other young athletes, the possibilities of what comes when you aim higher.”
Bruns, a senior at Immaculate Heart, plays varsity center back on the Pandas’ soccer team. She was named the team’s defensive MVP last season. She’s been involved with the sport nearly her entire life, beginning when she was 5, playing AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) soccer at Pan Pacific Park. When she was 14, she joined L.A. Surf, an off-season club team that happens to be coached by Kevin Cadenas, who is also the head soccer coach at Immaculate Heart. Cadenas, who is the Pandas’ athletic director, has been at the school 18 years and coaches multiple sports, including equestrian and flag football.
Cameron Palmer, a junior at Immaculate Heart, is a midfielder.
Cameron Palmer
“I love to experiment playing different positions,” said Palmer. “I’ve also played goalie, defense, and forward.”
Like her teammate Bruns, Palmer’s been playing since she was 5. She is not on a club soccer team and doesn’t plan to play in college unless it’s at the intramural level. She attended GALA (Girls Academic Leadership Academy) from sixth through eighth grade, though athletics were not offered to students in the middle school.
“I played outside school,” she said.
Soccer is the only sport she plays at Immaculate Heart.
Hazel Speer
Josie Green
Hazel Speer and Josie Green are sophomores. Green is a left winger for the Pandas. She doesn’t play any other high school sport, but she does ski during the winter.
Green began playing soccer when she was 4.
“I started because I loved watching my older brother play,” she said. “If I get an opportunity, I think it would be super fun to play soccer in college.”
Green is still undecided on where she’ll attend college after Immaculate Heart.
Unlike her teammates, Hazel Speer is a relative newcomer to soccer. She began playing in eighth grade.
“I thought soccer would make me faster for the upcoming track season,” she explained.
Speer, who plays left back on defense for the Pandas, enjoyed the sport so much that she continued playing in high school. She also joined a club team and competes off-season.
“My club team practices three days a week, and we have a game every weekend.”
Speer is a multisport athlete at Immaculate Heart. In addition to soccer, she runs cross country and track, which means she participates in sports year-round; cross country is run during the fall, soccer is a winter sport, and track and field takes place during the spring. But clearly, running is her passion, and at Immaculate Heart, the cross country program has experienced success. Since 2003, they’ve been named the Angeles League champions eight times.
“My favorite pro athlete is Parker Valby,” said Speer. Valby is an American long distance runner and is the current NCAA record holder for the women’s indoor 5,000 meters and outdoor 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter races.
“Parker is who I aspire to be somewhat like,” she said.
Not a bad goal at all.
Category: People
