Rowdies defender growing the game in his California hometown

Rowdies player starts non-profit, youth program in hometown

Robert Castellanos may be in his first full season with the Rowdies, but the 27-year-old defender has already made an impression. Sean Barie reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Robert Castellanos may be in his first full season with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but the 27-year-old defender has already made an impression.

"He's a fantastic teammate, a really good human being and cares a lot about his mates in the football club," said Rowdies assistant head coach Steve Coleman. 

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Off the pitch, however, Castellanos cares about so much more. 

"It's motivation. You're playing for something bigger than yourself sometimes," the defender said. 

While Castellanos plays for the badge above his heart, that heart will always have a soft spot for his hometown of Palmdale, California. 

"It's a small city on the outskirts of LA," Castellanos said. "I don't think we have that many resources sometimes, so I think at this time in my career to do something that was a little bit bigger than soccer itself."

What Castellanos decided to do was to create a training program called Project Rooted, along with a non-profit called Dreamers, to make sure young soccer players back home get the resources Castellanos and his friends didn't have growing up. 

"We want to show the next generation that you don't need to leave Palmdale," Castellanos said. "You can get the professional environment there as well. And we'll prep you so whenever the opportunity comes to go DI, DII, or go into any professional environment, you're ready. Because I, for sure, wasn't ready when I made the jump."

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Castellanos is hoping to grow the game he loves for generations to come in his hometown. 

"The whole point of them is to not get to where we're at but go further and push the standard. Then, hopefully, it can motivate the next generation behind them," Castellanos said. 

"Give the kids a better chance. Give them the resources that we have now," Castellanos said.