Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy held one of its week-long soccer camps that brought out nearly 150 youngsters to the pitch at Freedom Elementary School on July 21-25 for drills and a World Cup-style tournament.
Program founder Gina Castañeda said providing the camp for at-risk youth has been amazing for several reasons, starting with the low-cost price tag of $20, or free for families with Medi-Cal.
“But it’s a true soccer camp,” she said. “The kids are going to get the t-shirt, the water bottle, the soccer bag and a soccer ball, breakfast and lunch every day.”
The Aztecas received a $33,000 grant from the 1440 Foundation to help keep the event running, including a pay increase for camp instructors who volunteered their free time.
Castañeda, who is a Santa Cruz County juvenile probation officer, said the camp also gives back to the community by allowing children a chance to interact with current high school or college soccer stars they call team leaders.
“Some of them were campers, then they came back as high school volunteers,” Castañeda said. “Now they’re in paid positions, and it’s their way of actually giving back to the community.”
The 1440 Foundation grant helped fund salaries for the volunteers such as Anahi Macias, a former Aptos High girls’ soccer star and the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2024-25 winter campaign.
Castañeda said the college students use the money to pay for fees and books, while the high schoolers buy clothing and supplies they need for the upcoming school year.
“It’s a win-win for them, but we’re very fortunate,” Castañeda said.
The Aztecas program mainly targets children below the poverty rate. They also focus on youths in the dependency system such as foster care and the juvenile justice system, especially probation involving families.
“Parents that are really struggling and maybe need a summer camp for their kids, and they can’t afford it,” Castañeda said. “Summer camps cost you anywhere from $250 up per week, and that’s maybe just two hours a day. We target system-involving families to give them an opportunity to have a place, a safe place for their kids to be.”
It’s been a decade since the first camp was held at Pajaro Park on San Juan Road. The Aztecas couldn’t host it there this year because of ongoing repairs to the field.
Instead, they moved the camp to Freedom Elementary School for two weeks. But one of the issues with that was kids from Pajaro and South Watsonville such as Main Street, Riverside Drive and Second Street weren’t able to receive those services.
“They might not have transportation to get up to it,” Castañeda said.
Castañeda planned and coordinated the three-day event as usual, but she couldn’t attend the actual camp due to an injury she suffered on the job.
So, she passed the reins to her daughter, Jazmine, another former Aptos star and camper, who was hired to run the show along with probation officer Jose Rocha.
“It’s impressive to see kids who were campers and grew up in this community, and now they’ve just stepped in,” Castañeda said. “They’re like, ‘I got this, we’re gonna do this.’ We just love what we’re doing.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the Aztecas Academy soccer camp was three days long, which is incorrect. The camp was a week-long event. The story also stated the Aztecas received a grant from the Central California Alliance for Health, which is incorrect.
Teaching kids how to win. Awesome!