Nicole Pevzner ’28, Sports Editor

From pro leagues to college stadiums, brand partnerships fuel the sports world with millions of dollars annually. This year, Newark Academy joined the game, partnering with Jersey Mike’s in a move that is serving more than just sandwiches; it’s reshaping our school spirit itself. Since the announcement of the partnership, the Athletics Department has created Jersey Mike’s challenges in an effort to encourage more attendance and overall spirit at our home sports games. 

Mr. David Pasquale, NA’s new athletics director, who was previously the director of athletics at Gill St. Bernards for 10 years, says, “the relationship with Jersey Mike’s was established to help elevate school spirit on campus. The deli provides ‘buy one/get one’ cards to selected schools, and we can use them in a variety of ways. This fall, we’ve tried to incentivize attendance at games, contests, and other school events.” Even though this idea was completely groundbreaking in comparison to anything our Athletics Department has done in recent years, it seems to be working. Mr. Pasquale says that even though “we don’t track specific student attendance at home games … from what I’m hearing, there seems to be an uptick in attendance and spirit this fall.” Not only is there an apparent increase in attendance at sports games, the increasing school spirit and pride was evident during Spirit Week and Homecoming Day, and even at Morning Meetings when there are various sports announcements.

Not only is the Jersey Mike’s partnership promoting general school pride, but it is also motivating Newark Academy athletes to perform at their highest level. Jersey Mike’s sponsors our “Athlete-of-the-Week” initiative, giving weekly winners a free sub. This sponsorship adds even more excitement to the already existing sense of accomplishment of winning “Athlete-of-the-Week.” Grace Olayinka, an athlete-of-the-week from the varsity girls soccer team says, “getting Athlete-of-the-Week means a lot because it is a way of showing your work is paying off. I think the free sub was a good addition because it adds more excitement to the athletes.”

NA’s Jersey Mike’s partnership is able to connect various parts of the community: although the partnership is mainly related to the athletics program, for the November challenge, the collaboration of the Athletics Department with the Arts Department encouraged more community support to both upcoming sports games and the play, “Our Town.” In addition, Mr. Pasquale notes that students, faculty, and staff are all eligible to participate and collect their prizes for the monthly challenges. The partnership brings every part of the school community into the fun while also boosting school spirit and pride. Mr. Pasquale hopes to keep “the momentum of increasing school spirit and attendance for home games going throughout the school year,” but in the meantime, it is clear that our partnership with Jersey Mike’s is an example of how brand partnerships boost the pride of sports teams.