Inside new Mastery, KIPP high school football teams, their impact on Camden city programs

Cassidy Jenkins spent two years fighting himself over whether to sign up for football.

He wanted to play, but the 18-year-old Mastery High School of Camden senior kept coming up with reasons not to.

He would’ve had to travel to Eastside, formerly Woodrow Wilson, to put the pads on since the North Camden school didn’t field a team.

“I was scared of that commitment, going to other schools, not knowing nobody, a lot of that,” Jenkins said. “… The commitment part about coming out here, working hard every day, I felt like I wanted to do that, but I wasn’t ready for it.”

More: Where's the place to be in Week 5? Games to Watch, schedule, predictions for South Jersey

Jenkins, who played football up until ninth grade before stopping, is proudly donning a jersey again this fall, but he doesn’t believe he ever would’ve stepped foot on the gridiron again had Mastery not created a program this past spring.

“I got to play this year. It was mandatory for me to play,” Jenkins said. “… Football is in my heart, so when I heard that, I was loving it. I was thanking the principal and all that. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a pleasure.”

The Mastery Warriors are one of two new varsity teams in the city this season, the other being KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, which began its program during the 2020 COVID year with a freshman squad and competed at the JV level last year.

“We have around 200 kids per grade and we’re going to have enough kids to play sports, and they deserve to have a high school experience with quality sports programs,” KIPP athletic director Nick Drago said.

“Kids get the best opportunities where they go to school at,” added Mastery head coach Troy Still. “When you look at Camden High and (Eastside), they have players that don’t go (there). Those kids don’t go to the pep rallies or extracurricular activities during school time like homecoming, things like that. They only get to participate in activities outside of school.”

However, opportunities for Mastery and KIPP students raises another question: Can Camden support four varsity football programs, and will Camden High and Eastside suffer because of it?

“I mean, any time you’re taking from the public school system, it can hurt the city in that regard,” Eastside head coach Melik Brown said. “It just depends, man. Honestly, it just depends on how it rolls and how the public schools, the comprehensive high schools, continue to grow and develop. It can be tricky. It can be beneficial. I don’t know. It could be what’s best for the city.”

More:South Jersey high school football recruit profile: Cherokee senior Cam Burti

Brown is certain of one aspect though.

“There’s nothing bad when it’s opportunities for kids, you know what I mean?” Brown said. “If it creates opportunities for kids, there’s no way it can be bad for anybody.”

'I look to be a powerhouse in the next 5-7 years'

Football was barely a thought in Josh Carmickel’s mind.

He played flag football for two years in middle school, but his passion was fashion and design.

“I wanted to start my own clothing brand,” he said.

But, when a pair of KIPP coaches approached the junior about playing for the Titans, he figured, why not give it a shot?

“I kind of liked it,” he said. “This is actually fun, and most of my friends play. We do our thing and everything.”

Carmickel’s story resembles many at KIPP and Mastery. The bulk of both programs has limited, if any, football experience.

The two teams have roughly 75 kids rostered between them.

“There’s a lot of self-skills kids learn from organized sports,” said Mastery principal Andrew Anderson, who pushed for the school to build a football program. “Right now we have some kids on the field, prior to football here, they had attendance issues, behavioral issues, academic issues. This has changed culture for a lot of our kids as well. There’s a lot of self-skills they’re learning that they’re not just getting in traditional high school.”

More:South Jersey high school football stars, teams of the week for Week 4 of 2022 season

Their football skills will take time.

KIPP is 1-3 this year, having been outscored 106-14. However, the Titans did pick up their first victory on Sept. 24, defeating DuBois Collegiate (Pa.) 8-2. Wins and losses aren’t affecting the squads excitement though.

“It’s definitely a great experience,” junior Masai Truitt said. “I like doing things that help me learn, so when I’m learning, I feel like I’m growing as well.”

Mastery is further along, as it’s 2-2-1 (with a forfeit win and a tie against Collingswood after the game was called in the third quarter on Sept. 23). The Warriors downed Lakewood 54-42 for the program's first on-field victory on Sept. 17.

Still, who spent six seasons on the Eastside sideline, has high goals despite the infancy of the program.

“Mastery is viewed now as a startup program,” he said. “I think many people doubted or don’t really trust the process, but I look to be a powerhouse in the next 5-7 years.”

If that comes true, what might Camden and Eastside look like?

'Even though we are from Camden, technically, we are the competition'

Rashaan Hornsby was president of the Centerville Simbas for the last 15 years.

Camden has five youth football organizations – the Camden Bulldogs, Camden Raiders, Centerville Simbas, Staley Park Panthers and Whitman Park Tigers – so maintaining four varsity programs seems reasonable, right?

Hornsby, a 1999 Camden High graduate, isn’t so sure.

More: South Jersey high school football Mean 15 rankings after Week 4

At the youth level, Hornsby feels having five programs is a mistake.

“There’s so much talent here,” he said, but “there’s too many programs in the city right now.”

He cited the division of talent, the fight for resources – sponsorships, field maintenance, and more – and the lack of continuity between midget and high school teams as problems with the current setup.

Do those problems transfer to the next level?

Anderson said there’s been a few issues with kids wanting to play at one school over another, which has caused some conflict between programs.

Brown expected Eastside to get as many as 15 players from Mastery this season before the school decided to start its own team.

One would’ve been Adrian Vale Roman, a two-year varsity player for the Tigers that started on the line on last year’s Central Jersey Group 3 championship squad.

Roman enjoyed his time at Eastside, but he’s always attended Mastery.

“I didn’t know Mastery really was going to have a football team,” he said. “I got told late, but I like it here. I really do. I like it here because the bond over here. It’s like a true family over here.”

Roman could’ve been a help to the Tigers, who are currently 0-3. Same with other players, and that could come up down the road.

“In the future there probably will be some competition for the kids and keeping kids within the program,” Brown said. “We’ll have to deal with that in the future.”

More:Cherry Hill East's Ben Cohen is the South Jersey Gridiron Gang Player of the Week

Both Mastery and KIPP said they’re not trying to get kids to transfer into their schools to join the football team, rather just keep kids they have. However, adding that option could sway kids down the road.

“Ultimately, schools are businesses,” Anderson said. “… The biggest three things when we talk to families what they care about, safety of the school, we are a very safe school. … We really try to have strong academics, we have multiple dual-enrollment programs where kids can leave with either associates degree or college credits when they are done with high school … and then athletics. Those are the three biggest things families always care about.”

And now that Mastery and Kipp are in the football game, Camden city students will have more to weigh when deciding which high school path they choose, and that might impact the bottom line.

“Anytime McDonald’s moves across the street form Burger King, it becomes the competition,” Still said. “Even though we are from Camden, technically, we are the competition. Each kid equals a certain amount of dollars to charter schools and Camden city schools, so kids leaving or kid staying, it changes the dynamic and trajectory of things.”

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: NJ football: Mastery, KIPP high school teams start in Camden