Javier Castro Gonzalez (born August 15, 1991) is a Mexican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

currently with Moreno Valley FC in the United Premier Soccer League.

Early life and education

Castro was born August 15, 1991, in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He played youth soccer in Southern California and attended

International Polytechnic High School International Polytechnic High School, commonly abbreviated merely as iPoly, is a public college-preparatory demonstration high school (9-12) located on the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) campus and operated by ...

. He was a finalist for

Sueño MLS The Sueño MLS program is a Major League Soccer scouting program that looks for undiscovered talent. This program gives players the opportunity to be selected to join the elite Youth Academy System of a host Major League Soccer club. Synopsis S ...

in 2010. Castro attended

Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in southern California, located in Walnut in eastern Los Angeles County. It offers more than 260 degree and certificate programs, 25 support programs, and more than 50 studen ...

and played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

from 2010 to 2011. He scored 23 goals and assisted on 21 others over his two seasons with the team. He transferred to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

and played with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team in 2012, appearing in 16 games and scoring 3 goals with 1 assist.

Playing career

While attending college, Castro appeared for

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

club OC Blues Strikers FC in 2013. He appeared in 6 games for the club, scoring 4 goals. Castro skipped his senior year at UC Santa Barbara and would appear in 2013 and 2014 for the U-23 side of

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

. Later in 2014, he spent time with

Los Angeles Misioneros LA Laguna FC was an American soccer team based in the Los Angeles area, United States. Founded in 2010, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL) (now USL League Two), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southw ...

and appeared in 7 games, scoring 7 goals with 3 assists. Castro signed professional terms with USL Pro club Oklahoma City Energy FC in July 2014. He was not retained by the club and joined Ventura County Fusion in 2015. He appeared in 8 games for the Fusion, scoring one goal. Castro went on trial with Segunda División de México side

Real Cuautitlán Club de Fútbol Real Cuautitlán was a Mexican football club that played in the Segunda División Profesional. The club was based in Cuautitlán, State of Mexico. History The club was founded in 1996 joining the Tercera División de México tha ...

in 2016, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. He would later trial with

Kitsap Pumas Kitsap SC Pumas was an American soccer team based in Bremerton, Washington, United States. The team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. From its foundation in 2009 to 2016, the clu ...

successfully and was announced as a signing by the club in April 2016.

References

External links

Kitsap Pumas player profile

PDL player profile

UC Santa Barbara player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Javier 1991 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Men's association football forwards Mexican footballers UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players OC Pateadores Blues players LA Laguna FC players OKC Energy FC players Ventura County Fusion players Kitsap Pumas players USL League Two players United Premier Soccer League players Mexican expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States