Gina Castañeda, who founded Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy, received this year’s Kim Crabbe Game Changers Award from the U.S. Soccer Federation.
She received the award in Atlanta, Georgia Saturday for creating Aztecas in 2008 and for being a driving force behind a wealth of local youth sports programs that aim to help underserved communities.
“They called me early one morning to tell me and I was just speechless,” she said. She added that she was “so honored and humbled to receive the Kim Crabbe Award. This recognition means so much to me because it represents service, leadership, and giving back to the game and our community. I’m incredibly grateful to the people who walk this journey with me, our athletes, families, fellow coaches, mentors, and the entire soccer community who show up every day with heart and purpose.”
According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, Kim Crabbe is a pioneer in women’s soccer, becoming the first African American woman to play for the United States women’s national soccer team in 1986.
Following her two-year career with the National Team, Crabbe took up coaching and went on to serve as the Outreach Program Director for the Wilmington Hammerheads Youth Football Club, among other major accolades.
Castañeda also works as a Santa Cruz County probation officer. She has received multiple awards, including:
2007: County of Santa Cruz Probation Officer of the Year
2009: Jefferson Award for Santa Cruz County
2010 Aptos High School Hall of Fame for Outstanding Accomplishments
2011: California Assembly’s 28th District first Peace Award
2012 American Red Cross Lifetime Achievement Hero Award
2014: Tony Hill Award for Community Activism in Santa Cruz County
2015: Grand Marshall, Watsonville’s 4th of July Celebration
2015: Community Healer, California Health Report
2019: California State Deputy Probation Award
At a soccer match at Aptos High School Wednesday, junior Cassidy Lavesque described Castañeda as “a great coach. She not only keeps it interesting, she makes it fun.”
Based on her experience of being raised “in a gang family in Watsonville,” she experienced intervals of homelessness and domestic violence while witnessing most of her siblings become involved in the criminal justice system.
She says her involvement in soccer in high school helped steer her in a direction of helping others in similar situations, particularly Latino juvenile probationers who affiliate with both Norteño and Sureño gangs.
“This work has always been about the kids, the team, and creating opportunities,” she said.
