While the road has had many ups and downs for Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Sergio Castillo, Noah Hallett, and Nick Hallett, they credit their faith to helping them get through the challenging circumstances.
Castillo originally started the sport after being recruited from the soccer team. He says, "One day the football coach came over to the soccer fields like, 'Hey, we're looking for a football kicker' and, you know, I went to go try out and have been doing this for 16 years."
While the Texas kicker never envisioned coming north of the border, his career has brought him through Vancouver to Ottawa to Hamilton to Edmonton and now back in Winnipeg. Castillo says, "It's been a fun little journey."
Sports were prominent for both Hallett brothers, Nick says, "Our dad was really into football and watched a lot, so that was kind of our sport. Not very Canadian. He didn't watch too much hockey, so football was our sport growing up."
Noah says, "I always used to watch football with my dad, that was a big thing. So the first chance I got to put on pads and play organized football I think was like grade three and I really wanted to do it. Something that my dad and I could share, which I loved as a kid, and I fell in love with the sport and have been playing it ever since."
Brotherly rivalry
Despite the Hallett brothers playing for the same team now, that hasn't always been the case. "We both decided to go to different high schools and played each other once there and then two separate universities. Again, played each other once," Nick says. "There was always a little bit of competitive rivalry there, but it's just awesome that it worked out, that we both got drafted here and are playing together now."
Having the support from their family since the beginning has been integral Noah says. "We made a lot of family trips about Nick and I getting better at football and they took their time to drive down to the States so I could compete. So I would say football has definitely brought our family closer together too. We used to listen to a lot of sermons on those road trips, so it has definitely helped with our faith as well."
A welcome first
While coming to Winnipeg was not new for Castillo, there was a new aspect to the latest deal. "They [Bombers] were looking for a kicker, I came in, competed and won the job and I was very fortunate to be in a very good situation, good environment, family environment, you know, starts with Osh [Mike O'Shea]. But you know, this is the first time in my career where I get to be on the same team two years in a row. It's something that I had been longing for in my path."
Taking advantage of the consistency and stability of being with the same team has helped Castillo form deeper friendships with his teammates. "Being able to lean on someone other than myself, and I've learned to open up this year. I had my ego where I was like, 'I can do it all on my own.' And it's just like, no, now that I'm able just to leave it on the table."
Castillo says that rooming with the Hallett brothers has helped. "Definitely having these two has helped out. I opened up more to Noah in at the beginning, but Nick and I, have been opening up lately too, which has been kind of cool. It just goes to show being on the same team for a couple of years in a row has been able to grow my relationship outside of football with not just teammates but the people that they are."
While both Hallett brothers were drafted to the blue and gold in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Nick says that God couldn't have put him in a better spot. "I was drafted here and have been to four Grey Cups, hopefully a couple of more. I've just been very blessed and I love this team. I love the city and the community. At first, it was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to Winnipeg,' but honestly, God couldn't have put me in a better spot, and I'm just so happy to be here."
Having his older brother here already, Noah says made the transition easier. "I got to come here with my brother and that made it super easy and have always had a roommate and someone to go through the plays with."
Keeping faith a priority
Despite the busy schedule during the season, they all make sure that their faith is a priority by participating in the chapel and Bible studies.
"Growing up in a single-parent household, my two aunts, grandma and mom raised me," Castillo says. "I dealt with a lot by myself and this is the first time that I'm expressing it and it's a weight off my shoulders. Just to be able to have the confidence that you don't have to put a mask on."
While the Halletts were raised in a Christian home, something Nick says was 'amazing,' getting to do Bible studies with teammates has been helpful as they normally can't attend church on a Sunday morning. "We'll have our own videos there and sermons."
Noah says having consistency has been good, especially when emotions get high. "It's nice to have a day where you can get the Word of God in and reflect on that. I've told the guys, football's a game where you have a really good day and be on top of the world or you can have the worst day ever. You can go through a lot of emotion. So to have that day where you can just put that aside and really get God's reassurance and what He says about you and your character into your ears and let that seep into your soul and share it with guys on the team, it builds the brotherhood and the team a lot better."
Trusting God in the challenges
Keeping God at the centre became even more real for Nick in university after multiple injuries. "Everything was just going bad, in football and school. I was going through a little bit of depression and everything seemed to be pounding down on me. I remember listening to a sermon from a pastor back home in London, and he was saying, 'Submit everything to God and give it all to Him.' So I prayed that, I was like, 'God, if this is for me, then I would love this. I really like football, but I know Your plans are way better than my plans.'"
After that, he remembers God saying, "'I've got you. Don't worry.' That peace that I felt was incredible. And like I said, I got drafted that year still and then I've gotten to play every game and four Gray Cups."
Similar to his brother, Noah has struggled with multiple injuries. "I tore my ACL twice. In my very first season, I got to start one game and tore the ACL. When I first came back, the ACL tore again. I tried playing on it and did a bunch more damage."
After multiple surgeries and being released from the club, he says he didn't have much hope. "I was still around the guys and they were giving me words of affirmation and telling me stuff from the Bible, stuff that I already knew. But obviously, when you're at that point in your life, things just keep seeming to go wrong. It's hard to really believe that and let it sink in."
He says, "Over time it grew in my heart that since grade three when I started playing football and fell in love with it, God really spoke to me and I feel like it's my purpose to play football. I started getting in my Bible more, reading more and just being around the guys in chapel. It confirmed for me that this is the way I want to live my life and I want my character to reflect God's character, as much as it could, even throughout whatever is going on in your life."
So last summer, he asked the team chaplain, Lorne Korol, to baptize him. "He was happy to do it."
For Castillo, he knows how important it is to surround yourself with a good community. "If you're hanging out with guys who don't lean on God, they're going to show you their ways of what is comfort. It could be the satisfaction of the world. But if you hang out with brothers in Christ, they're going to show you what the comfort that God brings right through the Word through Bible plans."
If they could each give one piece of advice to any aspiring athletes, Nick says, "You definitely have to put in the work. But I'd say, keep God first. Don't ever give Him your spare time. That should be priority number one."
Noah says, "Control the controllables. Obviously, keep God first and study His character in the Bible. It says, you know, not to be lazy. Just work as hard as you can and then the stuff that's not controllable don't give your energy to that. Pray about it and let God handle it. If it's something that's for you and you're working as hard as you can, then He'll bring it to pass."
Castillo's best advice is to write down your goals every day. He remembers a former custodian at work telling him that and referencing Habakkuk 2:2.Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it."
And the road continues for the Hallet brothers and Castillo after a win over Montreal Saturday afternoon. A walk-off field goal by Castillo securing the victory, with a major assist from a complete change in the weather over the final seconds of the game.
THAT MONTREAL WEATHER 🍁
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
The Autumn wind forces a short punt!#CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/YShRAyIJkv
And then Castillo kicked the winner.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will host the West Division Final Saturday, November 9th at Princess Auto Stadium.#ForTheWind pic.twitter.com/1xb04cGyvm
— x - Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 26, 2024