Aztecas Youth Soccer Camp

Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy offers soccer training and mentoring for at-risk youth on probation for gang or violent offenses. The program combines consistent soccer training with mentoring as part of its regular activities.

The Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy was started in 2008 by life-long Pajaro Valley resident Gina Castañeda. Gina Castañeda is described as a community organizer, probation officer, and soccer player. The program’s mission states that the Azteca’s Youth Soccer Academy reclaims the lives of at-risk youth that struggle with gangs, violence, poverty, and drugs in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Santa Cruz County’s Probation Department has been the incubator for the Aztecas program and continues to be its foremost supporter, and the department serves as a Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI) model site for the United States. The Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy is described as a major success story in Santa Cruz County Probation’s efforts to provide alternative pro-social programming for youth in lieu of incarceration and to address the disproportionate number of Latino youth in custody. The program has also been described in an ESPN documentary titled “The Save.”

Last updated April 8, 2026.