Balancing gears and goals: Meet intramural athlete and engineering student Gustavo Castaneda
For Gustavo Castaneda, a soon-to-be Arizona State University graduate from the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, a love of athletics led to his community on campus.
In his first year at ASU, he joined the student employee team at the Tempe Sun Devil Fitness Complex (SDFC) as an official.
“I was officiating and refereeing games like soccer, volleyball, flag football and softball,” Castaneda said. “After a semester, I started working as a student manager, so I'd be supervising the officials. And then I also joined sports clubs”
In his role with sports clubs, Castaneda attends practices for the sports club teams and makes sure that all is going as planned.
“In working here, you get to learn the building a lot. You see the same people every day at some point,” he said. “You get to know everyone that's around the facility, whether it be participants or the other staff. You join a community, because people will recognize you and they'll say ‘hi’ to you. And then for certain sports, you literally see the same people every night, and it’s so fun.”
Before he joined the SDFC as an employee, Castaneda started participating in intramural sports. Sun Devil Intramural Sports offers a variety of activities, in a wide range of skill levels. Castaneda was named the 2024 outstanding intramural athlete at this year’s Pitchfork Awards.
“I played volleyball and soccer to begin with, and it was a lot of fun,” Castaneda said.
Intramural sports are played with small teams of ASU students, whereas sports clubs are played against competing universities and colleges. When you first start playing a sport, Castaneda says that the competition may be tough or intimidating, but over time your skills and confidence will grow.
“It gets competitive and that's one reason why I joined intramurals, because post-high school I wasn't playing too much,” he said. “It's very convenient, after class in the evenings to come out, walk to the SDFC and play some games.”
Castaneda recommends that other Sun Devils take advantage of on-campus athletics as an opportunity to destress and clear the mind.
“Use the sports that are available on campus as a way to distract yourself from classes or other stresses from life,” Castaneda said. “Because for me, sports clears my mind and I'm able to enjoy my time running out there without thinking about anything else.”
Castaneda said that the most important thing is to find a balance with your extracurricular activities and schoolwork.
“You have got to look at your schedule, make sure your classes aren't going to interfere with your games. And, at the same time, you don't want to overdo it, sign up for too many sports or too many leagues,” he said. “Because you do have to focus on your homework.”
He recommends completing any class work before coming out to the SDFC for a game or match, because students may be too tired afterward to give the work the attention it needs. Focused on his academics, Castaneda is finishing his studies in mechanical engineering this May.
“When I was in high school, I was really good at math and science, so I knew I wanted to do something STEM-related,” he said. “The classes can be hard, but some are also very rewarding in what you learn —especially if you love math and science.”
Born and raised in Chandler, Arizona, Castaneda knew that he wanted to stay in-state for his bachelor’s degree program.
"I applied to all of the schools here in Arizona, and then I saw what financial aid and scholarships were offered to me from each university,” Castaneda said. “I already lived here in Chandler, so it was very convenient for me to come to ASU.”
“Plus, growing up, I idolized ASU in a way, especially from a sports standpoint,” he added. “Seeing on TV, the football games, or stuff like that, I thought this looks like a very fun place to be."