Mark Castro has completed his fourth year as the head soccer coach at IWU. Castro has had much success in the world of soccer, both as a player and as a coach. He was a standout at DeKalb High School in DeKalb, Illinois, where he earned a scholarship to play soccer for IWU in 1990. Castro was highly successful on the soccer field, earning both NAIA and NCCAA All-American awards in 1993.

After completing his playing days at IWU, Castro returned in 1994, this time as an assistant coach under Dan Wood. He then returned to DeKalb High School to serve as assistant coach for both the boys and girls soccer programs from 1995-1997. Mark was then able to assume head coaching duties for the boy’s team from 1998-2000, and led them to their first ever state finals appearance in his first season as head coach. Castro then landed the head coaching job at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis and coached the boys program from 2001-2003. While at Brebeuf, Castro’s teams were consistently among the top ten teams in the state polls every season. During his time at Brebeuf, Castro also coached at the Carmel United Soccer Club in Carmel, IN, where he led the girl’s U-17 Commotion team to runner up in the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Club National Finals in 2003 held in Germantown, Maryland. In the summer of 2005, Castro again led the Commotion back to the USYSA Club Nationals held in Orlando, Florida, where the team placed 4th in the nation.

During the summer of 2007, Castro has once again spent much of his summer leading a talented Carmel United Soccer Club in Carmel, Indiana. The Fire, a U-16 girls team led by Castro, won the Indiana State Cup Championship and qualified for regional’s in Des Moines, Iowa.

Castro graduated from Indiana Wesleyan with a BS in Criminal Justice in 1994, and also earned a master’s degree from IUPUI in Physical Education in 2004. In addition to coaching, Castro teaches various courses in IWU’s HKRSS division. Coach Castro is a certified ‘B’ License coach of the United States Soccer Federation.

Completing his fourth campaign at the helm of the Wildcat men’s soccer program, Castro has helped turn the program completely around. After a 5-11-1 season during 2004 which saw the Wildcats finish 9th in the highly-competitive Mid-Central Conference, 2005 brought about a change in attitude and a change in the standings. A final record of 12-10-0 in 2005, IWU jumped all the way to 4th place in the MCC standings and earned a berth in the NCCAA National Tournament held in Kissimmee, Florida. After a successful regular season, the Wildcats were able to notch a 3rd place finish at the NCCAA Nationals, ending on a positive note and leaving Wildcat soccer fans anxiously waiting the 2006 season. The 2006 season was the break-out year for the Wildcats which saw the program go 6-1-1 during conference play, were crowned regular season conference co-champions with Goshen College, a final season record of 14-3-3 and a spot in the Region VIII final four. The 2006 season came to a close at the hands of Cornerstone University who beat the Wildcats in penalty kicks in the semifinals.

At the completion of the 2006 season, the Mid Central Conference acknowledged Mark Castro the Coach of the Year, and the National Christian College Athletic Association awarded him the Midwest Coach of the Year honors.

During the 2007 campaign, the IWU soccer program established itself as national contenders by being ranked in the NAIA top 25 teams in the nation all season long. At one time IWU was ranked # 6 and ended with a final season national ranking of # 11. Along with the solid national ranking, the Wildcats were sole champions of the Mid Central Conference regular season and tournament championship. For the second year in a row, Mark Castro was awarded the Conference Coach of the Year.

Castro and his wife, Dawn, IWU’s Aquatics Director, and their children, Zachary and Kaysey, reside in Fishers, Indiana.

Mark Castro's Record at IWU