The Charter School of Educational Excellence’s Owls volleyball and flag football teams finished their seasons by winning league championships.
“Both teams performed tremendously. The girls’ volleyball team ended their season 22-3 and they won their league’s championship. The boys’ flag football team ended their season 10-1,” said Michael DeSimone, the school’s athletic director, who oversees about 150 games over the fall sports season. “This schedule allows students to compete. We have multiple teams representiong our school daily and we have an outstanding parent support group that helps with away games.”
At the November 17 flag football league championship, the Owls beat the top-ranked Pharos Academy of the Bronx 13-6.
The K-12 Charter School of Educational Excellence has 21 sports teams in its middle and high schools. Besides volleyball and flag football, the sports programs include soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, cheerleading and track. Students can participate in several sports through the fall, winter and spring seasons.
DeSimone, who joined the school in 2011 and helped launch the school’s sports programs, said the most popular sports are boys’ basketball, girls’ softball, girls’ volleyball and boys’ flag football. Desimone intends to introduce junior varsity teams for freshman and sophomores in 2024.
“Our goal with these programs is to give every student an opportunity to participate at the level that is most comfortable for them. That could be an interscholastic sport, an intermural sport or an afterschool activity. The students have choices,” said DeSimone.
The Charter School of Educational Excellence successfully propels student athletes into college, with several former students playing at the NCAA level. One standout is Tyler Roche, a redshirt junior at Georgia State University and a pitcher for the baseball team.
