Soccer improves lives of Latino youth in San Diego County

<figure id="attachment_7217" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7217" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a class="highslide" onclick="return vz.expand(this)" href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CastleParkSocce… loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-7217" title="CastleParkSoccer" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CastleParkSocce…; alt="" width="300" height="180" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CastleP… 300w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CastleP… 1024w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/CastleP… 1640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7217" class="wp-caption-text">Supervisor Greg Cox (in back, center) with the team, Coach Hector Sanchez and the school’s assistant principal, Abraham Jimenez. </figcaption></figure>
   The World Cup is coming to an end this weekend, but the soccer fever will continue alive and well throughout San Diego County.
   As proof, a Chula Vista high school team recently won a championship of the popular sport.
   In March, Chula Vista’s Castle Park High School boys’ soccer team won the CIF San Diego Section Division III boys championship, the school’s first such championship.
   As further recognition, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, under the request of Supervisor Greg Cox, declared June 29 as Castle Park High School Trojan Day to honor the team for bringing “great pride and recognition to our region… Castle Park High School Boys’ Soccer team is such worthy team.”
   The team and some parents came down to the meeting and Supervisor Cox presented them with a proclamation.
   “The U.S. and Mexico may be out of the World Cup, but we in San Diego can be proud of our own local champions – the Castle Park High School boys’ soccer team,” Supervisor Cox said.  “I was honored and excited to present Coach Sanchez and the team with a proclamation honoring Castle Park’s championship. It was great to see the team and several of the boys’ parents at the Board of Supervisors meeting to receive the honor they so richly deserved.”
   The proclamation further states that “Castle Park High School has a strong history in athletics and the boys’ soccer team has won three league titles since head coach, Hector Sanchez’s career start four years ago.”
   For Coach Sanchez, this championship is the result of the combination of the students’ talents and tenacity.
   “I think this recognition is valuable to the students more than anyone else,” he said. “It serves as an example to other youth that with hard work and discipline, one can accomplish many things.”
   Sanchez said that the season “wasn’t as hard, because these student athletes are very talented, they were born with this special talent to play soccer.”
   The coach added that the team was champion of the South Bay League from 2007 through 2009.
   “Every year, we would advance a step further in the CIF championship, until we reached the top,” Sanchez said.
   Castle Park High School Assistant Principal Abraham Jimenez, who was present during the proclamation, said that this championship was really a team effort.
   “Our team received the support of the entire school: staff and students wanted our student athletes to be successful,” he said, adding that the school bused more than 1,000 students to the different game sites to root for the Trojan team. “Our team really felt supported.”
   Jimenez said that “this championship means our students understand that success is only achieved with hard work.”
   The assistant principal said that Castle Park High is home to one of the top players in all of San Diego County, Alfredo “Alfredito” Rodriguez, who next year will be a senior.
   Jimenez said that the school will continue to support all of its sports team, including soccer, but the main focus will always be academics.
   “Here at Castle Park High we always strive to be the best in everything we do, starting in the classroom,” he said. “You get students who are great people in and outside the classroom into the field and they become great athletes. The lessons they learn in the soccer field will help them with their lives after they graduate.”
   To watch a video of the championship game, visit <a href="http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/cph">www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/cph</a>, and click on “2010 CIF Soccer Champions,” under “Announcements.”