Kutsher's Sports Academy (KSA) was a summer sleepaway camp in

Monterey, Massachusetts Monterey is a small town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,095 at the 2020 census. History Prior to settlement by European-Am ...

, for children ages 7–17. It was originally "conceived and developed by Milton and Joseph Kutsher and legendary basketball coach Clair F. Bee in 1968." The land was originally the Harmony Country Club. The Kutsher family owned and operated the academy until 2005 when they sold the camp to Marc White, the longtime Executive Director. Until 2007 it was located in

Monticello, New York Monticello ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village located in Thompson, New York, Thompson, Sullivan County, within the Catskills region of New York, United States. It is the seat for the town of Thompson, and the county ...

. The camp moved to the Berkshires at the start of 2008, and is now located on

Lake Buel Lake Buel is a great pond in Berkshire County, Massachusetts just south of Massachusetts Route 57, Route 57 and east of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Great Barrington. It is surrounded by over one-hundred summer homes and a few dozen year-round ...

, just outside

Great Barrington, Massachusetts Great Barrington is a New England town, town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,172 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Bot ...

.Sports academy leaving Sullivan Orthodox Jewish camp will lease site
/ref> The former site in Monticello is being leased by an Orthodox Jewish camp. Part of the reason for the move may be because the site was considered for a casino before the deal between the Kutsher family and the St. Regis Mohawks was cancelled in favor of another site. Campers choose from a variety of sports, tailored to their own interests, either to increase their skills in a particular sport(s) or to try a sport they have not tried before. There are also opportunities for campers to play sports on a purely recreational level. Ten of the camp’s coaches have been there for more than 20 years. In 2007,

Wil Cordero Wilfredo Cordero Nieva (born October 3, 1971) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder, shortstop, and first baseman during 1992–2005 for seven different teams: the ...

spent the whole summer there as a coach and has stayed with KSA ever since; other famous athletes have come to participate in a clinic for a day. Creative and performing arts activities were available as well. Mike Gilberg, a former camper and baseball coach, took over as Director of Kutsher's Sports Academy in 2016. As seen in the ''

Times-Herald Record The ''Times Herald-Record'', often referred to as ''The Record'' or ''Middletown Record'' in its coverage area, is an American daily newspaper published in Middletown, New York, covering the northwest suburbs of New York City. It covers Orange, ...

'' on December 26, 2007, the Sullivan County site was leased to a Satmar group for five years beginning in 2008. The reputation was so stellar among athletes that

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

and

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

trained here in the off season. Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) faced each other for the first time in the Maurice Stokes Game, which was held each summer at the KSA Field House.KSA brochure, page 8
In November of 2024, the camp closed and became Berkshire Trails Camp.

References

External links

Kutsher's Sports Academy Official Site
{{Coord, 42.173248, -73.286169, display=title Defunct summer camps in Massachusetts Jewish summer camps in Massachusetts Defunct Jewish summer camps in New York (state) Berkshires Buildings and structures in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Monterey, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, New York Sports in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Sports schools in the United States 1968 establishments in Massachusetts Sports academies

See also

References

External links