Sports

Little known to most athletes, the Big Apple Games is a PSAL program that provides New York City children with recreational opportunities during the summer. This past summer the six-week program lasted from Monday, July 7 to Thursday, August 14. The “Big Apple” focuses on serving the recreational needs of students from grades five to 12, and correspondingly, the activities range from competitive sports such as wrestling, swimming, and volleyball to laid-back activities such as arts-and-crafts and video games.

For high school students, the Big Apple Games is where they can hone their athletic skills in preparation for the upcoming season. Supervised by experienced PSAL coaches, high school athletes focus on sport-specific conditioning and competition through drills and scrimmages. With these methods, student-athletes often come away from the clinics with more confidence in their skills.

The experience of the instructors in the program is a key factor in helping the athletes. Using drills and techniques that were proven to bring about results, the instructors improved athletes by teaching them the fundamentals of a sport. Stuyvesant Physical Education teacher and boys’ swimming coach Peter Bologna was an instructor in the program and taught swimming techniques to children aged eight to 15, at the East New York Family Academy in Brooklyn. Bologna felt that the clinics were really aiding the students, and said that they became “more and more comfortable in the pool.”

Senior Nina Chang felt the competitive atmosphere at the Big Apple really contributed to the overall experience. At the volleyball clinic in Bayside High School, the athletes separated into teams that competed against each other in a tournament.

The clinics provided a place for those of similar interests to meet and as a result, many friendships were formed. “The best part was meeting all the people,” Chang said. It seems that through the Big Apple Games, the PSAL not only created an environment where athletic skills could be sharpened, but a place where memories could be made.