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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo, holding during a KidSport football camp, is doing something he loves and understands it comes at a cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike this is my job? It\u2019s crazy,\u201d said Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo after Tuesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn university, I was like \u2018Hey I\u2019m kinda good at this\u2019 and started planting the seed that maybe I could do something with this. I put it on the vision board and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
But is it all fun and games? Far from it, especially for CFL players who are far away from their wives and young children.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s the tough part. Like my son is playing soccer right now and I\u2019m missing that. I\u2019m missing taking care of my daughter and being with the wifey,\u201d said Castillo.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut here\u2019s the thing: in life you get to pursue something you want or you don\u2019t. But there\u2019s something they have in common and it\u2019s the struggle. You see a lot of people that are working and doing something they don\u2019t enjoy, and that\u2019s a struggle. If it\u2019s gonna be hard, or if there\u2019s gonna be tough phases, it might as well be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castillo\u2019s wife, Adriana, a high school Spanish teacher and soccer coach, their five-year-old son, Jared, and baby girl, Luisa Renata, spend the summer with him in Winnipeg before returning to Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201c(My son) is starting to realize what I do, so, he thinks I\u2019m cool,\u201d said Castillo with a grin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other day, he showed me a picture he drew in school and it was a football field \u2014 and it was pretty detailed for a five-year-old \u2014 and it was us against the Calgary Stampeders. He had three football players in red and he had three of us in blue. He had Willie Jefferson, Brady Oliveira and me. I think it\u2019s cool that my son gets to look up to these people and he sees them on TV but he knows who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Receiver Tim White faces a similar situation. He and his wife, whom he met at Arizona State when they were both competing in track, have four children. The family lives in Murrieta, Calif.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s challenging because a lot of guys have their families here \u2014 especially if you\u2019re from Canada or from Winnipeg. Like Nic Demski over there, he has his family here every day. It\u2019s definitely tough, but we know it\u2019s a part of it,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey send me videos every morning when they\u2019re going to school saying \u2018I love you Daddy\u2019 and stuff like that. And I\u2019m on the phone with them pretty much the entire day when I get home (after practice).\u201d<\/p>\n
White\u2019s family loved spending the summer in Winnipeg and even appreciated the Assiniboine Park Zoo and its polar bears, despite living just over an hour from the world-renowned San Diego Zoo.<\/p>\n
The separation isn\u2019t easy, but the family has grown accustomed to boarding a plane back to California without Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey take it in stride, honestly. My kids, especially my two sons, they\u2019re football heads. They understand football season, plus, they play sports of their own,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Tim White is on the phone with his family in California daily, and appreciates the videos they send him.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter watching Daddy and his teammates all summer, they go home and they\u2019re pretty much like, \u2018It\u2019s our time to shine now.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThey want me to train them, show them new things about the game, they want to watch football and have me break down the tape for them. We\u2019re like a house of football, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Left tackle Stanley Bryant\u2019s young son lives in Calgary but spends the summer in Winnipeg with his father. His birthday was last month while Bryant and the Bombers were playing in Montreal.<\/p>\n \u201cMissing his birthday is always disappointing, but that\u2019s part of what you sign up for in professional football. I can\u2019t remember the last time I had a summer off. So I miss birthdays, family reunions, funerals, weddings, all types of things. At the end of the day, you deal with it,\u201d said Bryant.<\/p>\n \u201cI know deep down he knows I want to be there and I know he\u2019s pretty sad that I\u2019m not there. It\u2019s just one of those things we both accept it, and he just tells me all about it and shows me pictures.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Bombers (8-9) lose Friday in Vancouver to the B.C. Lions (10-7), Castillo, White, Bryant and the rest of the team will get to see their loved ones sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t Winnipeg needs a victory to advance to the post-season.<\/p>\n As much as the players miss their families, they\u2019re hoping to rattle off several wins before having to book a return flight.<\/p>\n \u201cOh yeah, without a doubt,\u201d said White.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest joy would be playing in the Grey Cup and seeing them run on the field to celebrate. It\u2019s all worth it at the end of the day. There\u2019s no rush to get back home right now, kids, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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