Football will make its way to KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate this fall when the Panthers join a Lynn gridiron community that already includes four programs in St. Mary’s, Classical, English and Tech.
The opportunity to become Lynn’s fifth high school football team, and join the other four schools, is one the KIPP community is excited about.
“It’s a privilege to play football in this city,” KIPP athletic director Anthony Grimaldi said. “Being a part of that is unique. Playing football in this city is something we have to step up to because everyone has high expectations for football players here.”
Grimaldi was tasked with many of the behind the scenes responsibilities that comes with starting a football program. Helping him every step of the way was James Rabbitt, the team’s head coach.
“We talked about testing the waters on an MIAA football team,” Rabbitt said. “When I came on board, we sent various emails and phone calls to the MIAA and reached out to programs that started from the ground up.”
The news that KIPP would be adding a football team began circulating earlier this year after the idea received approval from the school’s board of trustees last December. Grimaldi and Rabbitt used Lynn’s rich football tradition as a way to pitch the idea of adding a team at KIPP to the school’s board.
“We explained to our board that football has a long tradition in Lynn,” Rabbitt said. “We told them that our kids deserved to be a part of the great culture of football in Lynn.”
Since receiving approval, Grimaldi and Rabbitt have hit the ground running in preparation for the fall season. One of the challenges has been raising money to pay for the team’s equipment.
“I think one of the biggest difficulties is that football is an expensive sport,” Grimaldi, who is also a member of the coaching staff, said. “We had to do a lot of fundraising to get this going. What’s great is that we have a lot of people making suggestions and contributing. Having a diverse method of getting funds has been difficult, but enlightening.”
But getting the necessary equipment, Rabbitt said, puts the Panthers in the best position to compete on the field.
“The beginning of a football team obviously costs a lot of money,” Rabbitt said. “Just being able to go through that was a difficult process but our leadership was super supportive. We feel our kids deserve the best equipment to put our kids on equal footing with the rest of the Lynn programs.”
Thus far, the response from the school’s community to the new football team has been both positive and supportive.
“The response has been very positive,” Grimaldi said. “We have 20-25 kids show up consistently for workouts. The teachers are talking about it. The parents come up to us and tell us how excited they are. The KIPP community is very excited about having a football team.”
Grimaldi added, “It’s great that our school supported us and believed that football is going to be a great addition to our community.”
The players are also excited as they gear up to pioneer their school’s first football team. Rabbitt said he’s noticed the feeling of excitement make its way down from the upperclassmen to the younger players on the team.
“The feeling of excitement is contagious,” Rabbitt said. “Once our older kids realized that they’d be the foundation of the program, they got really excited. That trickled down with the younger kids, especially the incoming freshmen and sophomores.”
Rabbitt has also come away impressed with the early signs of dedication he’s seen from his players taking part in offseason workouts.
“The summer vacation for KIPP students is only five weeks,” Rabbitt said. “For them to use almost their entire summer vacations and dedicate them to offseason workouts is truly a testament.”
The Panthers’ first preseason practice will be held at Tech on August 18. That gives KIPP, which will compete in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Small Division (along with Tech), three weeks to get ready for its season opener Thursday, Sept. 7 against Atlantis Charter at Manning Field.
Joining Grimaldi on Rabbitt’s coaching staff as assistants will be Pete Ganchar, Joseph Jacobi, Melvin Lark and Daniel O’Connor.
“What’s really great about this coaching staff is that we have four coaches who work in the building,” Rabbitt said. “That says something to the program when you have four coaches who know football and have played football. They can mentor them on the field and off the field. We’re students first, then we’re athletes.”
Grimaldi’s hopeful that adding a football team to the school will bring players and students closer together.
“I think football is a unique sport,” Grimaldi said. “It’s the most team sport you can play. It brings the school closer together. The kids will rely on one another and become closer with one another through adversity. It’s going to bring an element of camaraderie to our school that we certainly need.”
