Our full-time staff work year-round to develop a program and hire and train staff that will guide campers to discover their greatness both on and off the soccer field.
Katy Kreiner, Director
Katy Kreiner joined BSA’s year-round staff in February 2018. Katy oversees residential life, camper health and well-being, and the soccer program. She continues to serve as Director of the Otis, MA site and leads camper recruitment and parent communication for both camps throughout the off-season.
A Connecticut native, Katy grew up playing competitive soccer at a high level. Her youth team played at high-level tournaments throughout the country, and her Trumbull High School team won four state championships. Before joining BSA, she served as Athletic Director at Mid-Island Y JCC Camp, one of Long Island’s largest day camps, where she helped develop a specialized sports camp of 100s of campers. Katy managed 25+ coaches and directed year-round youth initiatives and sports leagues.
Katy brings over a decade of coaching experience, including two “Coach of the Year” honors at Plainview-Old Bethpage Soccer Club. Today, she serves as Head Coach for the Girls’ Varsity team at Masuk High School, where she won the first-ever state title in school history in 2025. She is also a Head Coach for Connecticut Football Club (CFC).
She holds a B.A. from Hofstra University and a Master’s in Special Education and Secondary Education from Dowling College. Katy lives in Monroe, Connecticut, with her three children: Jayden, Devon, and Kaylen.
Director
James “Scrappy” Stassen joined Berkshire Soccer Academy’s year-round leadership team in May 2026. He is responsible for recruiting and hiring Berky’s staff, coordinating soccer and bridge programming, and overseeing summer operations and non-soccer activities.
Before joining Berky, James spent eight years as the Assistant Director at Camp Weequahic, a residential summer camp, where he oversaw daily operations and programming. It was there that he discovered his passion for working with children and creating memorable camp experiences. He brings that same enthusiasm and commitment to providing a fun, safe, and engaging environment for every camper at Berky.
James’s journey into the camping world began through his wife, Dana, a lifelong educator who currently serves as an Assistant Principal at an elementary school in Cobb County, Georgia. Before transitioning into camping, James spent nearly 20 years in the music industry and may just be the only Grammy Award-winning camp director around!
James and Dana have three children: Carter, Kennedy, and Phoenix. During the offseason, James lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, where he enjoys coaching his son’s sports teams and volunteering with his daughters’ cheerleading and dance teams.
Founder & President
Dan Zenkel, Founder & President
Between 1998 and 2009, Dan founded and ran CampGroup, LLC, the country’s largest owner of private summer camps. During that period, Dan’s daughter, Nikki, played travel soccer for Eastern F.C. and attended both a traditional overnight summer camp and the Eastern F.C. Overnight Soccer Camp, then held at the Williston Northampton School. Dan was moved by his experiences as a summer camp professional and as the father of a soccer-loving daughter to found the Berkshire Soccer Academy for Girls in Otis, Massachusetts, in 2011. Dan has guided the Academy’s development and expansion since inception.
In addition to working with Berky’s leadership team, Dan spends time on a variety of camp-related endeavors. He provides consulting services to camp owners and operators, serves as an advisor to North American Camp Trust, and mentors and advises young camp professionals purchasing their own camps.
Dan is a past President, current Treasurer, and longtime Board Member of SCOPE, a leading camp charity that provides camp scholarships to underserved children.
Before entering the camp world, Dan practiced law and was active in real estate development and management. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School.
Founding Directors
Eric Wittenberg, together with his wife, Liza, and Dan Zenkel, founded the Berkshire Soccer Academy in 2011. Eric was a Director of BSA from 2011 through summer 2018, when he left BSA to found Camper Machine Operations, LLC, a specialized marketing agency. BSA is one of Camper Machine’s first clients, and so Eric maintains a strong relationship with BSA, serving as its outside marketing consultant. Eric grew up at Elmwood Day Camp in White Plains, NY where he was a camper, senior staff member and Athletic Director. He also worked as the full-time program director at Woodmont Day Camp in New City, NY. He received his B.S. from Keene State College and a Masters in the Social Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Valencia (Spain).
Liza Wittenberg, together with her husband, Eric, and Dan Zenkel, founded the Berkshire Soccer Academy in 2011. Liza directed BSA from 2011 to 2017 and was instrumental in developing BSA’s unique soccer program. Liza left BSA in July 2018 to focus on her responsibilities as a mother of three young children. Liza played at the highest level of competitive youth soccer. She was a Region II ODP player and was recruited to play at UNC Greensboro. After two seasons there, she transferred to Georgetown University, where she captained the Hoya’s Division I Women’s Soccer Team. After graduating from Georgetown, Liza taught elementary school in the Bronx through Teach for America, and then directed a global citizenship program in ten major US cities for the United Nations Association-USA. Prior to joining BSA, Liza held athletic director and coaching positions at both traditional and soccer camps and served as head coach and assistant coach to girls youth soccer teams at various clubs in the Northeast.
