Academic All-American Danielle ‘Dee Dee’ Castro. This sophomore soccer player from Zephyrhills, Fla. is an all-rounder. Majoring in elementary education, she had a goal and five assists from her sweeper position for the Lady Owls, and has a sense of humor to boot. She sat down with sports writer Tom Glucksmann recently for a 2-minute interview.
Q: You were just named Academic All-American. How good did that feel?A: It felt really good because it’s the highest award an athlete can get academically.
Q: You’ve been at FAU two years – what’s your GPA?A: I have a 3.82.
Q: What sort of commitment does that take from you? Or are you just naturally smart?A: I study, but I don’t work a lot as a lot of other athletes. I’m just pretty naturally smart.
Q: Tell me about how you had the team’s freshmen fooled about your last name?A: All the returning players thought it would be funny if we told them a joke, and since my last name is Castro we told them I was the great niece of Fidel Castro. They all believed me. We had them going for about a month or so, until one of our sophomore teammates blew the cover, and told them the truth.
Q: Two years in a row you’ve been a game from winning the conference tournament, and going to the NCAA tournament – will 2003 be the year?A: Definitely I think next year will be the year, because our team is all made up of freshmen and sophomores – next year we’ll all be sophomores and juniors, so I think we have a really good chance of going far.
Q: You’re the team’s sweeper. Isn’t that a leadership position in the back of the defense?A: Yeah, it definitely is, and I think that’s one of the main reasons my coach made me captain as a sophomore.
Q: Is there a pro player or national team player that you try to emulate or looked up to, growing up?A: I’ve always looked up to Pele, because he’s naturally the greatest player ever in soccer. But then I’ve always looked at the way Michelle Akers plays, and she’s very calm and relaxed, and that’s how I try to play.