Harlingen Black Widows

(This article was written by Roel Rodriguez and was featured in the March 2026 issue of Explore Harlingen Magazine.)

A new football team is scheduled to be established in Harlingen in 2026. The Harlingen Black Widows, a women’s full-contact football team, will debut this month as one of the newest members competing in a league managed by So-Tex Women’s Athletics.

Photo courtesy of Josh Castillo.

The League

So-Tex Women’s Athletics (STXWA) is a nonprofit organization focused on improving women’s wellness and serving the community. For five years, STXWA has been providing women in South Texas an opportunity to participate in a variety of athletic opportunities such as 5K runs, volleyball, basketball, flag football, and full contact football. These affordable opportunities are available to all women, no matter where they live or what experience they have.

STXWA concluded their 2026 six team women’s winter flag football season in February. The 2025 women’s full contact football season will have five teams: The Brownsville Sting, RGV Lady Pumas from Weslaco, Port Isabel Sirens, Harlingen Black Widows, and the Laredo Vaqueras.

STXWA actively seeks community service opportunities throughout South Texas. Members of STXWA have volunteered at events like “Jailbreak” and the Christmas Parade at South Padre Island and “Brew at the Zoo,” “Beerfest,” and the Charro Days parade in Brownsville.

STXWA operates purely with volunteers. They can provide low-cost sport opportunities for players with support from donors and community partner sponsors. All proceeds are used primarily for insurance fees, equipment, uniforms, and venue fees. If you or your organization is interested in supporting STXWA, they can be reached SoTexWomensAthletics@gmail.com or at www.so-texwomensathletics.com. STXWA also promotes its activities on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X.

The Black Widows

The Harlingen Black Widows football team is owned and operated by Hailee Castillo, who is a U.S. Army Veteran. Hailee has been involved with STXWA for several years and is the catalyst for bringing women’s full contact football to Harlingen.

Hailee’s husband, Josh Castillo, serves as volunteer head coach along with two volunteer assistant coaches, Joel Torres and Omar Gutierrez.

The Harlingen Black Widows team consists of a 15-player roster, and games are played with 8 players at a time. To ensure everyone gets plenty of playing time, every team member participates in each game and regularly rotates through offensive, defensive, and special teams roles, including punts and kickoffs.

The Harlingen Black Widows are always looking to add more players to their roster. There is no fee to participate, no equipment needed, and there are no tryouts. Practice is held once or twice a week.

The Harlingen Black Widows will have eight regular season games (four at home and four away) beginning March 28 and concluding May 30, followed by a four-team playoff and a Championship game. Harlingen Black Widows are actively recruiting sponsors to host games at their location. For example, the Faith Pleases God Church allowed STXWA to hold the 2026 Harlingen flag football season at their field adjacent to the church.

According to Hailee and Josh Castillo, the goal is to enjoy fitness, friendly competition, and provide family-friendly environment. They want to provide their players with an activity supported by their families and the community.

The Players

Approximately 100 women are actively participating in the STXWA full contact football season this year. These amazing women come from various backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: a genuine desire to support each other on and off the field and to serve our community.

Photo courtesy of Josh Castillo.

One of these players is Kristina Rodriguez. Kristina is a full-time mother of two and completely dedicated to her fitness and helping others with their fitness journeys. She is an entrepreneur and owns Training for Warriors and is serves as a personal trainer at Divine CrossFit and The Goon House.

As a brand-new player with Harlingen Black Widows, I asked Kristina why she decided to play full contact football. She indicated that she has always wanted to play full contact football but wasn’t aware of any opportunities to do so until now. She desires a new experience and believes it will be very exciting and challenging.

Kristina has dedicated herself to being in peak physical condition and is eager to see if her fitness will translate to the football field. She asks herself, “Can I really do this?” and “Am I tough enough?” as motivation to try and learn something new.

Kristina also shared that participating in these games allows her and the women in this league the opportunity to “let go” and get away from reality for a bit by just focusing on playing the game and friendly competition.

Kristina has established a great friendship with Mayra Woods who currently plays for the Port Isabel Sirens football team. Mayra is an avid athlete who has always competed in a variety of sports. Like Kristina, Mayra is a mother and will become a grandparent soon. Kristina looks up to Mayra and appreciates her mentorship in her full contact football journey.

The Harlingen Black Widows will have Selina Berlanga at quarterback and notable players Diana Gonzalez and Lisa Gonzalez (no relation) focusing on playing on the offensive and defensive line.

The Request

The Harlingen Black Widows team is also a nonprofit organization and will be hosting several raffles before and during the season to help offset costs for game officials, player uniforms, and game and practice equipment. If anyone is interested in donating items like gift cards for these raffles, please contact Hailee Castillo, 304-989-4360.

The team is also looking for donations of cleated shoes, football helmets, shoulder pads, football pants with pads, as well as practice equipment like tackling dummies, training parachutes, flat agility ladders, cones, flags, etc.

Organizations such as Harlingen CISD Athletics and Marine Military Academy Athletics are encouraged to offer their surplus equipment to the Harlingen Black Widows instead of simply discarding it. Perhaps we can get the biggest supporter of local sports, Joe Bowling, CEO of Rio Sports Live, to do a broadcast to promote the team in Harlingen.

In return, the Harlingen Black Widows football team players are available to assist in community service projects and/or volunteer opportunities. If interested in this partnership, contact Hailee Castillo at 304-989-4360 or castillough@gmail.com or Josh Castillo at 720-724-6354 or joshuacastillo19@gmail.com.

The Love

As already mentioned, this entire venture is done through nonprofit means to support women and their desire to be active in their communities and to get more active physically to improve their fitness.

These are not professional athletes but professionals, nonetheless. We have players who are mothers with full-time professions who maintain their households and care for children. Some players are pursuing higher educational goals and working part-time jobs to make ends meet. Some players are experienced athletes, while others are not. It doesn’t matter because in this sorority, all are welcomed and everyone is supported. This is women empowering women and a support system proving that nothing is impossible. Many of these women play for the love of the game. The Harlingen Black Widows and STXWA allows women to participate in something new and exciting in our community.

I, for one, look forward to attending a Harlingen Black Widows game this month and hope that you attend, as well. I wish the Harlingen Black Widows and the teams competing in the 2026 STXWA full contact season the best of luck and hope that the league continues to grow.