By Jim Seimas
Santa Cruz Sentinel
WATSONVILLE — When Aztecas soccer coach Gina Castaneda spoke at a TEDx Santa Cruz event in 2011, she repeated one sentence throughout her presentation: “This is not just a soccer team.”
She finished by inviting her players on stage to a thunderous applause. Some of the players smiled, others were stoic.
It was a glowing reception for players with a history of gang participation, drug use and violence.
They were applauded because it’s a history the players are trying to put behind them.
Another step in their lengthy journey takes place at Soccer Central on Sunday, when the Aztecas take on law enforcement and probation officers from throughout Santa Cruz County in a fundraiser for the successful program.
The sixth-year Aztecas are comprised of high-risk youth ages 14-18, including members of rival gangs. A few older players have remained on board and continue to rehabilitate.
“We always hear about the negatives,” Castaneda said. “It’s time for the community to see these kids shine. All they need is the right support and guidance.”
With the help of eight mentors and a handful of counselors -- all volunteers -- the Aztecas’ mission is to reform these youth and help them realize that goals aren’t just something to shoot for on the soccer pitch, but in everyday life.
‘I want to help them’
Castaneda’s job is to get these troubled youth to eliminate poor decision making and begin to take the proper steps toward enriching their lives. An emphasis is placed on gaining an education.
The former Aptos High soccer standout is not only the Aztecas’ coach, she’s a deputy probation officer for Santa Cruz County.
Just before Castaneda joined the department, she told one future co-worker: “I don’t want to arrest kids, I want to help them.”
And she has.
Many of the players have quit or are in the process of severing gang ties. They have also worked on breaking addiction, eliminating aggressive behavior and improving their academic standing.
This Sunday marks the third such fundraiser with law enforcement officials. In the program’s first year, the Aztecas featured just one high school graduate. The next year, two players received their diplomas. And, this year, after the program added a second team, four players graduated.
More than a diploma, Castaneda’s goal is to get the prospective athletes to re-evaluate their priorities, stray from gang activity and drug use and focus on life-enhancing goals.
The Aztecas program provides its troubled youth with an opportunity to turn things around.
“Without Aztecas, I wouldn’t be here,” said Yoni Hernandez, 19, a member of Watsonville High’s Central Coast Section Division I championship team in 2012. “Aztecas saved my life.”
ONE SUCCESS
Hernandez said one day he was about to be jumped -- likely heavily beaten and possibly killed -- by a rival gang, which included an Aztecas teammate. But the group backed off when his teammate recognized him.
“He told them I didn’t have no color and to leave me alone,” Hernandez said.
They did.
That’s just one example of how the club team is allowing one-time enemies to re-evaluate previous perspectives and affiliations.
“These kids are all the same,” Castaneda said. “The only difference is a color and number.”
It’s no coincidence the Aztecas’ uniforms are purple. It’s the color that results from mixing red and blue, which are associated with the Nortenos and Surenos gangs, respectively.
Hernandez toiled in a Sureno gang for three years before he finally got his mission: Kill someone.
“For a variety of reasons, I decided not to do it,” Hernandez said. “That’s when I left the state. "... My life was in danger. But it was time to change.”
When Hernandez returned to Watsonville, he made academics a priority, thanks to Castaneda, who pushed him to earn a 3.0 grade-point average rather than the minimum 2.0 required to play in high school.
With the help of Aztecas’ mentors and Watsonville’s Breakaway College Access Project, Hernandez met his academic goals.
“Having that support, it makes you have a dream,” said Hernandez, who played goalie for three years for the Wildcatz varsity team and currently attends Cabrillo College.
He is the first high school graduate in his family.
The aspiring firefighter plans to transfer to Sacramento State next year. He also wants to play soccer in college, but said he’ll play on the club team if he falls short of making the NCAA squad.
At Cabrillo, Hernandez said he has run into two members of his former gang.
“They’re still my friends,” he said. “They’re trying to get out, too.”
In addition to his parents, who spend most of their time working to provide for the family, Hernandez said he has a new family now. He points to the Aztecas and, specifically, Castaneda.
“She’s like a mother to me,” Hernandez said. “I have a mother, but she’s busy working 12 hours a day in the fields trying to provide shelter and food. She doesn’t have time for other things that Gina has been able to provide. Even when I messed up so many times, she never gave up on me.”
CASTANEDA’S FIGHT
Though Castaneda was never in a gang, she has turned her life around, too.
Now 38 and married with three daughters, Castaneda is busy with family and work as a probation officer and public speaker. She makes presentations at eight to 12 conferences nationwide each year.
She was awarded a city proclamation from Watsonville Mayor Daniel Dodge in 2011, the same year her success story was featured in an ESPN and ABC segment titled “HERoics” during the Women’s World Cup.
Castaneda, previously Casares, grew up in a family entrenched in gang activity and drug use. Three of her brothers have been incarcerated and her younger sister has had five of her children taken away by Child Protective Services.
Castaneda, physically and mentally abused by her mother during her youth, endured stretches of homelessness that began at age 11. She said that when her mother’s welfare support evaporated, her home became abandoned cars and included a train car in Ramsey Park.
“My childhood was horrible,” she said. “The only time I felt safe was when (my mom) was asleep or high. "... I could see the destruction of meth and drugs on our family, see (siblings) get incarcerated. I didn’t want that as my future.”
By 16, Castaneda escaped her mother and began raising her younger sister Ernestina Medina, who was 12.
While attending Aptos High, Castaneda often stayed with a friend or with her step-father Ernesto Medina, who taught her the game of soccer and co-created the Watsonville Men’s Adult League.
Castaneda adored Medina, who played professionally in Mexico. He also played on a local team -- the Aztecas, which inspired her program’s name. While in elementary school, she attended every practice and game and did laundry for the players.
A short while later, she began practicing with the men, honing her skills that made her a high school star.
But the relationship with her step-father was eventually severed.
“When her step-dad remarried, he had to cut ties with her,” said Aptos High athletic director Mark Dorfman, who remains close friends with Castaneda. “I remember late in her senior year, I gave her a ride home. It was, literally, a shack in the middle of the field. Literally, it was a shack. "...
“Gina is a remarkable person. All she needed was a friend, someone she could rely on. She’s so strong, motivated and determined and bright. She just needed to know someone was on her side. We made one hell of a team.”
Castaneda is steady-voiced in detailing her youth -- opting to leave out her family members’ names and gang affiliations since she has received two death threats -- but she breaks down briefly when recalling Dorfman’s guidance and support.
“If it wasn’t for people like Dorfman, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she said. “He was such a positive influence. "... This is my way to reach out to kids and guide them.”
Castaneda was inducted into Aptos’ Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. She was an all-league player on varsity for four seasons. The forward and midfielder earned Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League offensive player of the year honors as a junior and was named team captain and MVP as a senior. She also shined in track and field in the discus and shot put.
“She scored one of the best goals I’ve ever seen,” Dorfman said. “I still remember it. She took a scissor-kick from midfield that went in. It was a rocket.”
A knee injury caused her to miss out on an athletic scholarship to play soccer at San Francisco State.
With one door closed, Castaneda opened another and continued her education at Cabrillo.
THE TEAM
For now, the Aztecas play indoors -- for the players’ safety since rival gang members are teammates. But the team is discussing playing on a bigger pitch outside with a police presence.
The team practices one day a week and has one game a week. And it’s quite good. The Aztecas play in the third and fourth divisions against bigger and more physical adults.
“They’re good players,” said Fernando Giraldo, an assistant chief for the Santa Cruz County Probation Department. “We’re 0-2.”
More than the outcome, Giraldo said he and fellow officers have noticed a difference in the youth in their interactions with police on the streets since the games began. It has improved greatly, he said, noting it wasn’t uncommon to have the kids give officers “the finger” on the streets before they joined Aztecas.
“It’s a unique approach to engaging these youth,” he said.
Earlier this week, Castaneda, who was participating in a seminar in Chicago, received good news from one of her assistants. One of her players with a fiery demeanor was fouled hard in a game, but he showed self-restraint and didn’t retaliate.
It’s just one step, but Castaneda beams over the transcendence.
“Gina’s a genuine girl,” Giraldo said. “She’s not doing this for the attention and she’s not making millions of dollars. She feels for these kids deep down in her heart. To her, they aren’t the forgotten youth. She’s a true hero. She’d do this for free. The ESPN segment she was in was called ‘The Save.’ I think she’s saving lives.”
Hernandez, and several of his teammates, can attest to that. The player said he has also kicked an alcohol addiction.
“This means a lot to me,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been playing soccer since seventh grade. When I play soccer, it makes my problems disappear.”
Sunday’s fundraiser will help the Aztecas raise money for league fees, equipment and uniforms.
Previous games have been well-attended with friends and family members. And Castaneda has invited police and probation officers, judges and district attorneys from throughout the county. She wants community leaders to see kids who are buying into a structured program for self-improvement.
She wants them to recognize, “This is not just a soccer team.”
It’s a team and a coach who are trying to put the past behind them and look toward new goals. It’s an effort worthy of hearty applause.
Follow Jim Seimas on his blog, Airing It Out, at www.santacruzsentinel.com or via Twitter @AiringItOut
IF YOU GO
AZTECAS FUNDRAISER
WHAT: Soccer game pitting the Aztecas, a team of high-risk youths, against Santa Cruz County law enforcement and probation officers
WHERE: Soccer Central, 34 Harkin Slough, Watsonville
SCHEDULE: Opening remarks and introductions, 2 p.m.; First game, 2:30 p.m.; Introduction to second team, 3:20 p.m.; Second game, 3:30 p.m.; Closing remarks, 4:20 p.m.
ADMISSION: Minimum $5 donation