Girls soccer: DuPage County All-Area captain Tumilty returns from injury, sets goals record for 20-2 Naperville Central
Suffering a serious injury can significantly alter an athlete’s ability to continue to play the game they love.
For Naperville Central senior Callie Tumilty, a knee injury during her junior year club season altered her way of thinking as she rehabilitated to compete for her high school.
Playing in her lone season for the Redhawks this spring, Tumilty set a school record for goals in a single year (23) and tied for most points in a season (61). She also had the eighth-most assists (15) during a campaign.
Her individual numbers helped the program earn their best regular season record (18-1-1), collect the most consecutive wins in the regular season (12) and overall (14) as well as score the most goals (80) in a season.
Tumilty, who will now play at Ohio State, has been named the captain of the 2025 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area girls soccer team.
“If I’m 100% honest, I took a lot of it for granted before I got hurt,” she said. “Before I got hurt, I didn’t have as much drive as I do now. I no longer take it for granted.”
Recovery also introduced her to the weight room.
“I had never been hurt before so I didn’t realize how much work it would be,” she said. “You can’t do much at first anyway and I wasn’t doing anything to help me the first three months. I had never touched weights before I got hurt so that was new for me, too. So I worked from ground zero back and I want to keep getting stronger. I want to grow in that part of my game.”
Overcoming the trauma of such a horrific injury, Tumilty was inspired to push her teammates with her drive.
“I have a passion to play where I hate losing as much as I love winning,” she said. “I will push the teams I play on, and I really started coming out of my shell and pushing everyone toward the back half of the season. I really bring passion and hope. If we’re down one (goal), it doesn’t phase me. There’s always another ball to win.”
Watching the Redhawks win a sectional title while sidelined on the bench last year, Tumilty was already formulating ways she could most help her team once she healed.
“They were super talented and I did notice that I could work out of (senior forward) Bella (Brozek) who was playing up top and had a fantastic year,” Tumilty said. “I could see that I could bring stuff to the front line, especially having a senior (Lauren Thorne) and that they needed a girl to fill her shoes. A big thing for me with playing high school was I wanted to impact the team and raise the hopes of us having a successful season like last year while hoping to be more successful.”
Few players possess Tumilty’s talents.
“Obviously the things you see are the speed, the physical control of the ball and the way she strikes the ball,” Redhawks coach Troy Adams said. “She brought the technical things and she brought up the intensity and desire to win that you don’t always see. She’s one of those kids who hates losing.”
Star athletes like Tumilty garner a lot of attention from the players and the fans.
“She would do something that made people go, ‘Huh, I haven’t see someone do something like that in a move or hitting a ball off center or tracking it 60 yards down field to win it,’” Adams said. “She’s always doing something that makes you sit up and pay attention.”