WEYMOUTH -- Rich Fazzi, director of youth programs and communications at Immaculate Conception Parish in Weymouth, sees a clear connection between God and basketball.

"We're teaching life lessons through sports," Fazzi told The Pilot on Aug. 26, the first day of Immaculate Conception's fourth summer basketball camp. "Being kind, playing together, and all those values that sports hold."

Fazzi, an assistant basketball coach at Umass Dartmouth, was standing in the parish gym, wearing a Catholic Weymouth jersey and a gold crucifix around his neck. He was surrounded by kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders running around and bouncing balls. Over 30 of them come in the morning, followed by third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the afternoon, a grand total of over 70 campers. To Father Huy Nguyen, pastor of Immaculate Conception, it's an unprecedented success.

"Rich is very good with the kids," he told The Pilot. "But also, the reason we try to have camps is to help the parents in the summer. Daycare right now is very expensive."

During the week of Aug. 19, Immaculate Conception hosted a vacation Bible camp that over 65 children attended. There was also a theater camp where children sang songs from Broadway musicals.

"It's good for kids to have summer in the summer," Father Huy said. "But also, we want them to not forget about Jesus, too."

Immaculate Conception has had basketball camps in previous years, but the pandemic put them on hold until 2023. Father Huy said that the camps' success has slowly built up over time, as the parish developed a rapport with parents and established a good reputation for activities.

"We come here not only to teach basketball," he said. "Also, we want to teach the kids with good moral values. And that's how we connect, because we don't want to be just a basketball camp, because it's also a church right here, and that's how we want to bridge from here to the church over there. And slowly, we try to bridge so the kids can know more about Jesus."

Fazzi said that he enjoys mentoring, getting to know the youngsters, and giving them "a space to play." He often sees his young basketball players in town and says hi to them.

"It's a tight-knit community," he said. "We've been doing this for a year, year-and-a-half now. So we've gotten a good following, and it's something that's family, affordable, and directed by people that live in Weymouth and that are in the parish."