WESTWOOD — Geffen Academy at UCLA is proud to announce new leadership for its soccer programs, with Gary Truman taking over as Boys Varsity Soccer Head Coach and Camille “Cam” Altschuld transitioning to Girls Varsity Soccer Head Coach.

The leadership change brings two experienced coaches into new roles within the Geffen Academy soccer community. Altschuld takes charge of the girls varsity team after serving as a varsity assistant coach and head coach of the school’s middle school girls team since the 2024-25 season, while Truman moves to the boys program following a successful stretch leading Geffen Academy’s girls program.

“We’re incredibly excited about this next chapter for Geffen Academy soccer,” Athletic Director David Collicutt said. “Gary and Cam both understand what we want our programs to represent — development, competitiveness, commitment and a positive experience for our student-athletes. Gary has done an outstanding job building the girls program, and Cam has already made a tremendous impact on our players and our community. This transition allows both of them to bring their strengths to new opportunities, and we believe our soccer programs are in an excellent position moving forward.”

Altschuld continues a coaching career that has spanned the club, middle school, high school and collegiate levels.

In addition to her work at Geffen Academy, she has coached club soccer locally with LA Breakers FC since 2021. Her previous experience includes serving as a middle school head coach and JV assistant at Harvard-Westlake in 2021, coaching with Challenger Sports in Alaska and Oregon, and working with Eugene Timbers. She spent four years with Davis Legacy from 2017-21 and coached the UC Davis Women’s Club Soccer team from 2017-19. Her coaching career began at The Mirman School in 2011.

A Southern California native, Altschuld played club soccer for Valley United Soccer Club and Camarillo Eagles and competed at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills. She went on to play for UC Davis’ Women’s Club Soccer from 2012-17, serving as a three-year captain and club president.

Her playing career included three CIF LA City Section championships at El Camino Real, where she was a senior captain, as well as a U15 State Cup championship with Valley United and three Coast Soccer League titles. At UC Davis, Altschuld was part of teams that captured NIRSA regional championships in 2014 and 2018, reached the national quarterfinals in 2014 and advanced to the NIRSA national final in 2018.

Her soccer journey has also been defined by resilience. Diagnosed with advanced-stage thyroid cancer in 2011, Altschuld battled the disease in 2015 while continuing to build an accomplished playing and coaching career.

She earned Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Environmental Design with a minor in Community and Regional Development from UC Davis in 2017 and holds a U.S. Soccer Federation “C” License.

Having already worked closely with Geffen Academy’s student-athletes at both the middle school and varsity levels, she brings continuity and familiarity to her new role while putting her own stamp on the future of the girls varsity program.

Truman steps into his new role after a highly successful tenure directing Geffen Academy’s middle school and high school girls soccer programs and serving as the girls varsity head coach.

Under Truman, Geffen Academy’s girls varsity program produced back-to-back undefeated Coastal League championship campaigns, finishing first in the league in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.

His coaching background extends throughout the Los Angeles soccer community. Truman has also coached with LA Breakers FC, served as Marymount High School’s JV head coach and previously worked at Palisades Charter High School as assistant head coach and JV head coach. Impressively, his 2019-20 Palisades JV boys team finished its league campaign with an 11-0 record. He also previously directed St. Bernard College Preparatory’s varsity team in Playa Del Rey.

At the club level, Truman helped guide the LA Breakers G2007 team through a significant rise over five seasons from 2017-22, progressing from Flight 3 to a top-two finish in Flight 1.

Truman also brings a deep playing background to his coaching. Hailing from Liverpool, England, he captained the Merseyside Youth Association from 1974-77 and earned County FA caps for Liverpool and Lancashire from 1975-77. He later became an apprentice with Tranmere Rovers FC, then competing in England’s Third Division. After moving to the United States, Truman played for Exiles FC and Fram FC.

His education includes St. Margaret Mary’s School, Hugh Baird College Liverpool and Riversdale College Liverpool. Truman has been coaching ECRL teams for the past three seasons along with the new SoCal league  N1, which is coming into play this fall.

As Truman begins his work with the boys program, he will be joined at the varsity level by Rogelio Santiago, who will return to serve as boys varsity assistant coach. Santiago brings years of soccer leadership experience to the staff having overseen LA Breakers FC’s B2012 SoCal and B2018 F3 teams. He also previously served as the Director of Coaching for Euro Star Academy and as head coach at Windward School in Mar Vista.

“We know our coaches care deeply about developing the whole student-athlete,” Collicutt added. “They understand our community, they understand our expectations, and most importantly, they understand that success is about much more than the scoreboard. We’re excited to see where they take these programs.”

Geffen Academy high school soccer tryouts begin the week of Monday October 19 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on the UCLA I.M. Field. For more information on Bruin soccer, visit: www.athletics.geffenacademy.ucla.edu