Spring Sports, Summer Camp on the Menu at Medfield Parks & Rec

As the weather starts turning warmer and the Red Sox are back at Fenway, the Parks and Recreation Department is gearing up for its spring and summer offerings. There are some new programs, some of the popular offerings as well as our summer camp to look forward to.

Spring classes and sports leagues are starting in April and May and the registration deadline for these sports leagues are approaching. For Pre-K and Kinder Soccer and Kinder T-Ball, the deadline is April 20. If you have not signed up yet, the Rec. Department asks that you do so before April 20 to avoid a $20 late fee. Soccer is played on Saturdays starting April 30, while T-Ball is on Thursday evenings starting May 5, and all those games are played at McCarthy Park.

While we are thinking of warm weather and getting the kids outside, some other popular programs will be starting up again, and there is limited room still available. There will be junior tennis lessons with Dick Waterfall and the staff of Silton Tennis. The lessons are on Tuesdays, and the only class that still has any openings is the 5:30 p.m. class for 9 to 14 year olds.

John Smith will start up his popular sports classes again in May, with the Munchkin Multi-Sports classes on Monday and Friday mornings at McCarthy Park. There still is room available in the Friday classes at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Smith also runs the T-Ball class for Pre-K kids, with openings still available on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. and Wednesday at 1:45 p.m.

Also running will be the Rec. Department's other popular classes for toddlers to adults. Check out its website for start dates and times on all of those offerings.

The Summer Discovery Camp, which includes both half-day (for ages 4 to 8, camp runs from 9am to 1pm) and full-day (ages 4-8, from 9am to 4pm) options, is one of the more popular summer camp offerings. In this camp, children will have experiences in art, science and nature and sports and games. The activities will be planned by our experienced specialists, who are all college educated and experienced childcare providers. Each participant will attend daily activity classes on a rotating basis, and each specialist plans an age-appropriate activity for each group.

The Adventure Camp is a coed program for ages 8 to 12 that will offer sports, games, adventure activities, swimming, one field trip per week and much more. The daily activities will take place at the Dale Street School fields and courts and each afternoon (except field trip days) the program will walk to the Hinkley Pond for free swim. One day each week, the program jumps on a bus and heads out on a sports or adventure related field trip to a location usually within an hour or so of Medfield. Adventure Camp runs each day from 9am to 4pm.

Both camps will run from July 5 to August 12, and the themes this year will include Summer Kickoff, Hollywood, Sports, Game Shows, To the Xtreme and Wet & Wild. The Rec. Department is also bringing back the Extended Day Option, which will allow your child to stay at camp until 5pm for an additional $10 per day.

In recognition of the tough economic times, the Parks and Recreation Department is offering 10 percent off the cost for the Discovery or Adventure camp for anyone who registers before June 1. This discount will only be available until June 1, at which time the regular price will take effect.

Parks and Recreation also offers summer junior tennis camps for ages 5 to 7 and 8-plus at the courts at Metacomet Park. This summer, the camp will be taught by the qualified and experienced professionals from Silton Tennis, led by head pro Dick Waterfall. The camp will run weekly for six weeks, starting July 5, with ages 5 to 7 on the courts from 9:15 to 10:30am, and ages 8-and-up on the courts from 10:30 to 11:45am. Cost is $89 per child per week.

For those kids that love sports, Parks and Recreation has again teamed up with the US Sports Institute to offer a wide range of sports camps this summer. Check the Park and Rec. website for all dates, times and costs of those camps, which start the week of June 27.

Another way to beat the heat this summer will be to head over to Hinkly Pond on Green Street, with family memberships available for residents and non-residents at the Parks and Rec office at the Pfaff Center.

As always, the offerings range for something for toddlers all the way through adults. If there is a program you don’t see offered, but would like to become part of the Parks and Recreation programs, contact program coordinator Kevin Ryder at medfieldpr@comcast.net or stop by the Pfaff Community Center.

Registration can be done online on the department’s website at www.town.medfield.net with a Visa or Mastercard, or in person at the Pfaff Center, while a copy of the summer brochure also is available on the website as a PDF document. For many of the summer programs, don’t wait too long and be shut out.

The recreation office is located inside the Pfaff Center at the corner of North and Dale Streets. To mail your registration to Parks and Recreation, send to Medfield Parks and Recreation, 124 North St., Medfield, MA 02052. You can always contact the Parks and Recreation staff via e-mail at medfieldpr@comcast.net.