Jets will allow Long Island High School girls soccer coach to kick for $100K after she was ruled ineligible

Long Beach High School girls soccer coach Ashley Castanio-Gervasi will have a chance to kick for $100,000 during halftime of Sunday's Jets game against the Patriots at MetLife Stadium after being ruled ineligible earlier this week.

Castanio-Gervasi, a 33-year-old math teacher and longtime Jets season-ticket holder, will participate in the team’s “Kick for Cash” promotion against three other finalists.

"A Jets representative called me this morning and said they thought about it over the holiday and were going to reinstate me," she said. "I'm happy to be able to kick but it's really bittersweet."

Castanio-Gervasi lives in East Rockaway and has been the girls soccer coach at Long Beach for five years.

"The money is life changing." Castanio-Gervasi said, "but I really wanted to get on the field in honor of my Dad. We're season-ticket holders and he died in 2011 of esophageal cancer. The thought of my Dad knowing his kid was going to get on the field and kick was a bigger deal to me than the money.

"I wanted to do this for my Dad in the worst way," she said. "My immediate family of 15 is going and a lot of our friends. It's been overwhelming for me through the Christmas holiday as I had to tell everyone that I wasn't kicking. It was sad. And having to reach out and tell everyone on Christmas that I wasn't kicking was awful because not everyone knew that I'd been disqualified on a technicality. It was the worst Christmas ever."

A New York Post article published Thursday said Castanio-Gervasi was told by the team that high school coaches were not eligible to compete.

“We realized there was an unfortunate misunderstanding regarding Ashley’s eligibility for the contest,” the Jets said in a statement to Newsday on Friday. “In an effort to remedy the situation, we are allowing her to kick this Sunday for an opportunity to win the prize.

“We value the passion and loyalty of our fans and are committed to creating memorable experiences.”

Castanio-Gervasi was a goalkeeper for five years at Stony Brook University, where she graduated in 2015.

She initially kicked a 20-yard field goal before the Jets’ game against the Bills on Sept. 14, the first time she ever kicked a field goal. A Jets representative asked her to come back and enter the “Kick for Cash,” done in conjunction with Hellmann’s, the company that produces mayonnaise, dressings, dips and spreads. Castanio-Gervasi confirmed she was a college soccer player and her career ended in 2014, which she said the representative noted was “plenty long ago.”

She returned to MetLife Stadium at 10 a.m. on Oct. 19 before the Jets hosted the Panthers. She made a 20-yard field goal at a tailgate party without the cameras rolling, then was brought back on for another attempt live on “Jets Pregame Central,” the team’s pregame show on YouTube. She drilled another 20-yarder, which qualified her for a chance at the grand prize this month.

In honor of her father, Frank Castanio, who died at 55, Castanio-Gervasi holds an annual group fundraiser game for esophageal cancer. This year, it was the Panthers game. She estimated about 75 people were there, and she also said on the Jets’ YouTube show that she was holding the fundraiser that day.

On Dec. 17, a Jets representative was going over the insurance clause with Castanio-Gervasi and again confirmed that she had been out of college soccer long enough. She was then asked if she coached soccer, and she replied that she coached her high school team. Castanio-Gervasi was alerted that might eliminate her from the competition, and she was officially notified that would be the case Monday.

“No one ever shared that with me, I had no idea that was a rule,” Castanio-Gervasi said. “I couldn't understand that I could play Division I soccer and be that kind of an athlete, but if I coached at any school level, I'd be eliminated. That doesn't even make sense. I didn't even know this until they went over the insurance.”

Castanio-Gervasi said that the Jets offered to pay for her family and friends’ tickets to the game and make a donation to esophageal cancer research, but she was going to donate part of the $100,000 regardless if she won the competition.

Castanio-Gervasi had major left knee surgery in March and was on crutches for two months. She kicks with her right foot (her left leg is her plant leg) and is still going through rehab.

“When I kick at halftime,” she said, “there'll be a deeper meaning for me because now it's personal.”

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com,@bendickson__,

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.