Central's Bradley-Leon,
Naperville soccer have history
By Matt Le Cren
Hundreds of star soccer players have come out of Naperville over the past three decades, but few can trace their family lineage back to the beginning like Hannah Bradley-Leon.
The Naperville Central senior midfielder said she was born to play soccer. Her DNA backs up the claim.
Bradley-Leon’s grandfather, Jeff Bradley, was a co-founder of the Naperville Soccer Association, the club that birthed the Naperville soccer boom. He created it mainly as an outlet for his daughters Sarah, Rachel and Clare, who were among the pioneers in the early years of competitive girls’ soccer in the area.
Sarah Bradley and Ed Leon, who are Hannah’s parents, ran the NSA for many years and are both veteran coaches. Bradley-Leon played for NSA growing up before switching to Team Chicago, where her father now coaches.
All three Bradley sisters played at Naperville North under Hall of Fame coach Al Harris. Sarah was a four-year varsity player who began her career in 1982, the team’s second season. Clare was a member of the Huskies’ first two state championship teams in 1987 and 1988, the latter being the first IHSA-sanctioned title.
“I would say since Day 1, growing up around that, I was meant to play soccer,” Bradley-Leon said. “I think that really helped my game, playing around with my older siblings, and my mom coached. It’s always around me every day.”
Bradley-Leon, an Illinois State recruit, will be the third sibling in her family to play college soccer. Brother Colin, 22, played three seasons at Augustana, where her sister, Grace, 20, will be a senior defender in the fall.
But Hannah’s skills surpass both. The 5-foot dynamo is a wizard with the ball, able to connect passes with ease and cause havoc for defenses.
“You look at her and you see a small individual but the size of her play just jumps out of her body,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “Physically she was willing to go up against bigger kids and never back down. She plays at an incredibly quick pace, and that’s what makes her special.
“She doesn’t need to slow the game down to be dangerous. She speeds the game up and is dangerous.”
Bradley-Leon proved that in her first season with the Redhawks. After playing club as a freshman, Bradley-Leon made her high school debut as a sophomore and recorded four goals and seven assists, proving her mettle against bigger and older players.
“I think a lot of people, before they see me play, will probably underestimate me and then when they see me, they’ll say, ‘Oh, she’s not weak, she can’t be pushed off the ball so easily,’” Bradley-Leon said. “That’s been one of my advantages growing up. Like I knew I had to work harder than the other kids to stay above them and stay ahead of them in my game.
“I know how to deal with those players. If I see a 6-foot girl, I’m not going to be like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I know how to defend all sizes.”
Watson can attest to that.
“There are all different-sized kids but it’s all about how hard you are willing to work,” Watson said. “Her work ethic is fantastic, and she enjoys playing with her teammates.”
That’s why the 2019 season was so tough for Bradley-Leon, who suffered a torn ACL during a club game on September 26, 2018 and had surgery two weeks later. Despite enduring a grueling rehabilitation schedule, she missed her entire junior year.
“I was close to some of the seniors,” Bradley-Leon said. “I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to get to play with them again.
“It was really hard sitting on the bench and not being able to help my team at all. Yeah, you can be a leader and you can try to be vocal and encourage your team, but it’s really not the same when you can’t show it on the field and lead by example.”
Yet Watson said Bradley-Leon did set a great example despite not being able to play.
“She was there at every practice,” Watson said. “The only time she missed was when she had a physical therapy appointment.
“She sat out on the bench and watched her teammates play in the spring in the miserable weather. Her teammates would come over to get water, and she was there for them.
“It was truly impressive that the game was so important to her that she still found a way to be there for her teammates even though she couldn’t physically be out on the field. That’s very impressive for a junior in high school to be able to think about others when so many kids are thinking about themselves.
“She loved that senior group last year. She really wanted to play with them one last time and that really drove her through her rehab.”
Indeed, Bradley-Leon never gave up hope of playing last season, which began only five months after her surgery.
“The only thing I had motivating me was I just wanted to get back as soon as I could,” Bradley-Leon said. “I thought I was going to make the end of season, but in the end my physical therapists held me out to make sure that I was completely healed and nothing was going to happen again.”
Bradley-Leon finally returned to action during the club season, 11 months after her injury. She was fully healthy and in top form during preseason training in March when the coronavirus pandemic hit, bringing school and the sports world to a halt.
After all that work, Bradley-Leon faces the possibility that her high school career is over.
“It was very disappointing to hear, especially not being able to play last year,” Bradley-Leon said. “I was just training so much last year, working so hard, having the goal, thinking, ‘OK, this is not my senior year, I have one more shot.’
“That is one of the biggest disappointments that I’m facing right now. But I’m still holding on to a little bit of hope that we’ll go back at the end and we’ll have at least a shortened version of the season.”
It was a season Watson was looking forward to because he thought the Redhawks had the makings of their best offensive team in years, with a healthy Bradley-Leon meshing with several talented newcomers.
“To see how she was playing in those two weeks we had (of training) was so much fun,” Watson said. “I was really excited to watch her play with the group of girls we had this year. I think we had a nice core to work with her.”
Even if the season is cancelled, Watson will always remember Bradley-Leon’s work ethic, particularly during her rehab.
“She was just was a beast in terms of her rehab,” Watson said. “The work that she put in was amazing and everybody was so impressed where she had gotten herself to, to the point where she was actually cleared to knock the ball around (in practice).
“She was ready physically but there was really no reason to (activate her). It would have been too much risk and not nearly enough reward.
“Her soccer aspirations go beyond just one year of high school soccer.”
Indeed, Bradley-Leon hopes to make an immediate impact at Illinois State. Though she cannot work out with her teammates, she is finding ways to stay in shape.
“I’ve been training every day,” Bradley-Leon said. “I have a fitness packet from one of my strength and conditioning coaches, so that’s what I’ve been focusing on – trying to get better.
“I’ve been training with my dad every day so if the season does be back, we’ll be ready to go.”
Being the daughter of a coach helps that process.
“In the garage we have a whole set-up that he’s made for me with everything we can use for anything, so that is really beneficial,” Bradley-Leon said. “Also, my dad is a soccer coach, that’s also really helpful for me that I have my own private trainer and we can go out whenever and do soccer.
“I’m very lucky to have that. I have an advantage over most kids, so I want to use that whenever I can.”
Bradley-Leon, who plans to major in accounting, knows she can never stop working if she wants her stats to add up.
“I definitely have to improve my game in all aspects,” she said. “I’m training try to be as physically strong as I can be, always putting in extra time trying to up my technical game, because that’s really what’s going to set me apart.”
Naperville soccer have history
By Matt Le Cren
Hundreds of star soccer players have come out of Naperville over the past three decades, but few can trace their family lineage back to the beginning like Hannah Bradley-Leon.
The Naperville Central senior midfielder said she was born to play soccer. Her DNA backs up the claim.
Bradley-Leon’s grandfather, Jeff Bradley, was a co-founder of the Naperville Soccer Association, the club that birthed the Naperville soccer boom. He created it mainly as an outlet for his daughters Sarah, Rachel and Clare, who were among the pioneers in the early years of competitive girls’ soccer in the area.
Sarah Bradley and Ed Leon, who are Hannah’s parents, ran the NSA for many years and are both veteran coaches. Bradley-Leon played for NSA growing up before switching to Team Chicago, where her father now coaches.
All three Bradley sisters played at Naperville North under Hall of Fame coach Al Harris. Sarah was a four-year varsity player who began her career in 1982, the team’s second season. Clare was a member of the Huskies’ first two state championship teams in 1987 and 1988, the latter being the first IHSA-sanctioned title.
“I would say since Day 1, growing up around that, I was meant to play soccer,” Bradley-Leon said. “I think that really helped my game, playing around with my older siblings, and my mom coached. It’s always around me every day.”
Bradley-Leon, an Illinois State recruit, will be the third sibling in her family to play college soccer. Brother Colin, 22, played three seasons at Augustana, where her sister, Grace, 20, will be a senior defender in the fall.
But Hannah’s skills surpass both. The 5-foot dynamo is a wizard with the ball, able to connect passes with ease and cause havoc for defenses.
“You look at her and you see a small individual but the size of her play just jumps out of her body,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “Physically she was willing to go up against bigger kids and never back down. She plays at an incredibly quick pace, and that’s what makes her special.
“She doesn’t need to slow the game down to be dangerous. She speeds the game up and is dangerous.”
Bradley-Leon proved that in her first season with the Redhawks. After playing club as a freshman, Bradley-Leon made her high school debut as a sophomore and recorded four goals and seven assists, proving her mettle against bigger and older players.
“I think a lot of people, before they see me play, will probably underestimate me and then when they see me, they’ll say, ‘Oh, she’s not weak, she can’t be pushed off the ball so easily,’” Bradley-Leon said. “That’s been one of my advantages growing up. Like I knew I had to work harder than the other kids to stay above them and stay ahead of them in my game.
“I know how to deal with those players. If I see a 6-foot girl, I’m not going to be like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ I know how to defend all sizes.”
Watson can attest to that.
“There are all different-sized kids but it’s all about how hard you are willing to work,” Watson said. “Her work ethic is fantastic, and she enjoys playing with her teammates.”
That’s why the 2019 season was so tough for Bradley-Leon, who suffered a torn ACL during a club game on September 26, 2018 and had surgery two weeks later. Despite enduring a grueling rehabilitation schedule, she missed her entire junior year.
“I was close to some of the seniors,” Bradley-Leon said. “I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to get to play with them again.
“It was really hard sitting on the bench and not being able to help my team at all. Yeah, you can be a leader and you can try to be vocal and encourage your team, but it’s really not the same when you can’t show it on the field and lead by example.”
Yet Watson said Bradley-Leon did set a great example despite not being able to play.
“She was there at every practice,” Watson said. “The only time she missed was when she had a physical therapy appointment.
“She sat out on the bench and watched her teammates play in the spring in the miserable weather. Her teammates would come over to get water, and she was there for them.
“It was truly impressive that the game was so important to her that she still found a way to be there for her teammates even though she couldn’t physically be out on the field. That’s very impressive for a junior in high school to be able to think about others when so many kids are thinking about themselves.
“She loved that senior group last year. She really wanted to play with them one last time and that really drove her through her rehab.”
Indeed, Bradley-Leon never gave up hope of playing last season, which began only five months after her surgery.
“The only thing I had motivating me was I just wanted to get back as soon as I could,” Bradley-Leon said. “I thought I was going to make the end of season, but in the end my physical therapists held me out to make sure that I was completely healed and nothing was going to happen again.”
Bradley-Leon finally returned to action during the club season, 11 months after her injury. She was fully healthy and in top form during preseason training in March when the coronavirus pandemic hit, bringing school and the sports world to a halt.
After all that work, Bradley-Leon faces the possibility that her high school career is over.
“It was very disappointing to hear, especially not being able to play last year,” Bradley-Leon said. “I was just training so much last year, working so hard, having the goal, thinking, ‘OK, this is not my senior year, I have one more shot.’
“That is one of the biggest disappointments that I’m facing right now. But I’m still holding on to a little bit of hope that we’ll go back at the end and we’ll have at least a shortened version of the season.”
It was a season Watson was looking forward to because he thought the Redhawks had the makings of their best offensive team in years, with a healthy Bradley-Leon meshing with several talented newcomers.
“To see how she was playing in those two weeks we had (of training) was so much fun,” Watson said. “I was really excited to watch her play with the group of girls we had this year. I think we had a nice core to work with her.”
Even if the season is cancelled, Watson will always remember Bradley-Leon’s work ethic, particularly during her rehab.
“She was just was a beast in terms of her rehab,” Watson said. “The work that she put in was amazing and everybody was so impressed where she had gotten herself to, to the point where she was actually cleared to knock the ball around (in practice).
“She was ready physically but there was really no reason to (activate her). It would have been too much risk and not nearly enough reward.
“Her soccer aspirations go beyond just one year of high school soccer.”
Indeed, Bradley-Leon hopes to make an immediate impact at Illinois State. Though she cannot work out with her teammates, she is finding ways to stay in shape.
“I’ve been training every day,” Bradley-Leon said. “I have a fitness packet from one of my strength and conditioning coaches, so that’s what I’ve been focusing on – trying to get better.
“I’ve been training with my dad every day so if the season does be back, we’ll be ready to go.”
Being the daughter of a coach helps that process.
“In the garage we have a whole set-up that he’s made for me with everything we can use for anything, so that is really beneficial,” Bradley-Leon said. “Also, my dad is a soccer coach, that’s also really helpful for me that I have my own private trainer and we can go out whenever and do soccer.
“I’m very lucky to have that. I have an advantage over most kids, so I want to use that whenever I can.”
Bradley-Leon, who plans to major in accounting, knows she can never stop working if she wants her stats to add up.
“I definitely have to improve my game in all aspects,” she said. “I’m training try to be as physically strong as I can be, always putting in extra time trying to up my technical game, because that’s really what’s going to set me apart.”