Nantucket Community School Reviving Summer Sports Programs

The Nantucket Community School hit a bit of a standstill following the COVID pandemic but has slowly been working its way back to a level of normalcy ever since. With the addition of Jazmine Kasperzyk as the school’s new sports and wellness coordinator to oversee the summer programs, several camps will return after being unavailable the past two years such as the tennis camp, football camp, girls lacrosse, and gymnastics.

“Being on Nantucket, it can get hard to find things to be doing and it stinks when you love playing, for example, football all fall but then you have nothing after that,” Kasperzyk said. “So what if you aren’t interested in a winter sport or a spring sport? To be able to offer that and other things in the summer, I think, is so important because it gives the kid that option. Being able to offer so many athletics I think is so important for our community and for our kids.”

Basketball, which was the lone program available last summer, will also be returning with Anthony Suppa and Will Kotchen overseeing the program at the NIS gym - however it has been filled.

The tennis program’s return comes as the new Backus Lane courts recently opened on June 1. NHS athletic trainer Tyler Konopka will be joined by Pierson Elliot as the two tennis instructors overseeing the program, which begins July 3.

“Tyler has the experience with the older age groups while Pierson has the experience with the younger age groups so those two together will be quite the dream team,” Kasperzyk said. “They are going to be teaching youth classes and they will trade off with being in charge of court times and adult classes. While it will be those two overseeing it, we hope to get more instructors so we can offer more.”

This program will be Monday-Friday and each class will be one hour. There are three age groups including Tennis Tots (ages 4-6), Tennis Top Spinners(ages 7-9), and Tennis Aces (ages 10-14). Classes begin at 8:30 and go until approximately noon. Instructors will then take a break and the adult programs and open court times will run from 1-4:30 p.m. Registration for adults will open on June 29 at 9 a.m.

Kasperzyk will be running the gymnastics program with Jaedyn Pascall as her assistant at the Cyrus Peirce Middle School. It is a half-day camp for kids ages 5-10 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. In addition to gymnastics, they will also walk over to the pool at Nantucket High School twice per week for swimming sessions with aquatic’s director James Voyages.

In the afternoon there will be junior gymnastics classes three days per week. Each session will be 45 minutes for kids ages 4-6. There are six sessions between July 3 and August 11.

The gymnastics camp will consist of creative, non-competitive, theme-based games. Gymnasts will then participate in a warmup and stretching, followed by rotating gymnastics stations. This program will develop and improve the gymnasts' strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, and self-esteem. Coaches will work in groups, and individually on each event: vault, bars, beam, and floor. Participants will be grouped according to age and ability.

You can sign up for the gymnastics classes and learn more about them by clicking here.

The return of the NCS football camp is another notable addition. The camp has not been offered since the COVID pandemic, but NCS marketing coordinator and adult education program assistant Lindsay Pykosz said this was a popular program before it ended - so they are excited to see it return.

The camp will be run by Morgan Perry, RJ Moore, and Fervon Phillips. All three of these coaches are members of the CPS football team’s coaching staff.

This camp is non-contact. It blends skills and drills with daily games. The goal of the camp is to focus on educating players on various aspects of football including passing, catching, and teamwork. After the skill-enhancing exercises are completed, players will divide into teams and scrimmage one another.

The camp will run from 4-5:30 p.m. three days per week. Kids ages 8-12 are eligible to sign up. There are six different sessions from July 3 to August 11. It will take place at Backus Lane Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

You can sign up for the football camp and learn more about it by clicking here.

The girls' lacrosse camp will be instructed by Sain Mackenzie, who is a lacrosse instructor from off-island who will be coming over to run the camp Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for two weeks in August.

You can sign up for this girls' lacrosse camp and learn more about it by clicking here.

“We have been easing back into things,” Kasperzyk said. “The more we can offer in terms of athletics for youth on the island, the better for a number of reasons such as self-esteem, teamwork and team camaraderie. We are excited for what this summer will bring.”