A busy mother of four wants to make it a little easier for other parents when it comes to keeping track of their kids’ soccer games.
Martha Castro has created a website that allows soccer parents to talk about the sport, discuss nutrition for players and includes many other interesting features.
The Lantana woman said she came up with the idea for soccertoughness.com on her way to one of her children’s games one afternoon.
“I was driving one day that it was raining, and I wanted to see if my three kids’ games would be canceled,” Castro said. “All three kids played for three different leagues around Dallas. My husband and I were in two separate cars, and we kept checking the website at all the red lights. We were checking three different websites and thought there has to be an easier way.
“We decided to make a website that would have everything and anything to do with DFW soccer on one website. As a soccer mom and personal trainer, and home schooling four kids, my time is very important to me. I thought if I could have everything on one website, it could be more efficient.”
Castro said that, so far, the response to the site has been phenomenal.
“The website went live on Oct. 14,” Castro said. “The beta edition was released on Sept 10. We now have 1,435 Facebook friends. The response has been very strong. We have users in South America and around the USA. We are very happy to see others like our website.”
She said the website currently has local weather, a forum, DFW soccer stores, videos, a list of indoor facilities and regional soccer clubs, as well as a log book to allow players to keep track of hours of training among other features.
Castro said the website is targeted to three audiences, players, parents and coaches, and said she has an ultimate goal for all three groups.
“I want to help parents learn from my mistakes, and empower them with information and different options for soccer,” Castro said. “For players, I want to give them the tools to success and help them develop to another level by educating them to be more efficient athletes.
“For coaches, we have articles on dehydration and foot care to name a few. We will have tools for coaches to be able to give feedback to kids online, as well.”
Castro said future plans for the website include adding a Spanish forum to the site and expanding to other cities including Houston, Austin and San Antonio, among others.
Visit www.facebook.com/soccertoughness and www.soccertoughness.com for more information.
