On Nov. 14, the Jewish National Fund held its annual Arizona Women for Israel luncheon. JNF leaders urged the 500 attendees to support the nonprofit’s development projects in Israel, and Paralympic swimmer Keren Leibovitch told her own story of perseverance and hope.
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Born and raised in a country that adores soccer over most other sports, Israeli educator and sports coach Erez Lustig fell in love with American football from a young age. His improbable love for the game can be traced to his family in the United States, watching the sport on television, as …
For generations, children have spent their summers climbing trees, escaping on small adventures and meeting new friends. In addition to pure summer fun, these activities provided children with hands-on ways to develop life skills.
The 12 Valley athletes who made up part of Team USA at the 20th annual Maccabiah Games have brought home a total of 14 medals.
With two days to go before they board planes that will take them to the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel, three young athletes with strong ties to the Valley are brimming with anticipation.
Six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire may soon be able to add another skill to his impressive resume: Hebrew. The 34-year-old basketball player, who moved to Israel after signing a two-year deal with the Israeli basketball team Hapoel Jerusalem in August, is now learning the aleph-bet, the…
In baseball, they say time begins on Opening Day. Everyone has a chance for a fresh start. Most of the old familiar names are back, although some have new addresses. If you count Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, there are nine Jews who begin the year on Major League rosters. But then ther…
Ethan Cohen and Jack Ratterman, both 16, have devoted most of their lives to soccer, and now that devotion – and talent – has propelled the teens onto Team USA’s youth boys’ soccer team at the upcoming 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel.
At least seven Jewish community centers in the United States and Canada received bomb threats while they were hosting Purim events.
Team Israel saw its Cinderella run at the World Baseball Classic end with a loss to Japan in Tokyo.
Israel’s first professional golfer is in the Valley this week to compete in the Bank of Hope Founders Cup Tournament March 16-19 at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.
“No matter what age you are, you can be bullied. A lot of that has to do with a lack of confidence and knowing how to respond,” says Derrek Hofrichter, founder and chief instructor at EVKM Self Defense & Fitness.
JERUSALEM — Team Israel blasted Chinese Taipei in its second game of the World Baseball Classic.
TEL AVIV – Noah Roth likes to recall two moments from Israeli marathons in which he’s raced: a competitor in Jerusalem breezing by him in 2010 wearing all-black, haredi Orthodox garb but for a white athletic shirt; and a Russian woman on this city’s Allenby Street who last year handed sprin…
JERUSALEM – Former NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire was honored with the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in Israel for his philanthropy and leadership in building bridges among communities.
Team Israel will play in the World Baseball Classic for the first time ever, and last weekend, before heading to games in Seoul, South Korea, the team held a mini-camp in Scottsdale.
PGA Jewish golfer Daniel Berger, 23, from Plantation, Florida makes his putt on the ninth hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open course, Pro Am, on Feb. 1 at the TPC Scottsdale. He placed seventh, winning $216,075. Attendance for event set a record of 655,000 for the week.
Kosher food will be available at two basketball games at Arizona State University on Feb. 26, as part of a Jewish community day hosted by Chabad at ASU and ASU athletics.
Registration is underway for the third season of the Jewish Youth Group Sports League (The League), for members of BBYO, NCSY, NFTY and USY. The seven-week basketball season, plus one week of playoffs/championship game), runs Feb. 12-May 7 (no games during spring breaks or Passover).
PETACH TIKVAH, Israel – For questions about Israeli food and culture, Corey Baker and Jeremy Bleich were their teammates’ go-to guys.
Rabbi Leib Bolel is preparing for the Ironman Arizona triathlon.
After a recent move to Arizona, Rabbi Leib Bolel will be toeing the starting line at Ironman Arizona on Nov. 20. The Ironman is a triathlon race totaling 140.6 miles consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and culminating in a marathon, 26.2-mile run, all within a 17-hour window.
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For years, I've told anyone who would listen that the Cubs were the team of the Jews. I've written two blog posts about it during the past month alone.
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KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank -- The Chicago Cubs are facing the Cleveland Indians in a historic World Series, and most of Israel could not care less. This Jewish settlement is different.
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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer stepped up to an 800-pound gjallarhorn and exhaled with all he had to launch the festivities that officially inaugurated the team’s $1.1 billion stadium.
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JERUSALEM — The coach of Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team said that she never expected to win a medal, citing poor training conditions and politics as two reasons.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Gilbert native Larry Slater didn’t always have a passion for sports photography. It wasn’t until he took a trip to the NCAA wrestling championship in Las Vegas in 2005 that his interest in photography was sparked.
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OMER, Israel — Shaul Ladany, a two-time Olympian, acknowledged that he was “very happy” that the International Olympic Committee finally held an official memorial for the 11 Israelis who were killed in a terrorist raid at the 1972 Munich games.
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Jordan won its first-ever Olympic medal thanks to the performance of a Palestinian taekwondo fighter whose family left Israel 20 years ago.
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Hundreds of fans showed up at Ben-Gurion Airport to welcome home Israel’s Olympic medal-winning judokas Monday night (Aug. 15).
Team Phoenix brought home 15 medals from the JCC Maccabi Games held in St. Louis July 29-Aug. 5.
Yarden Gerbi became the first Israeli to medal at the Rio Olympics, bringing home a bronze in the women’s 63-kg judo competition.
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More than 11,000 world athletes have converged on Brazil’s second largest city, Rio de Janeiro, for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which began on Aug. 5. Despite the problems that led up to the games, such as Rio’s issues with pollution and crime, and the threat of the Zika virus, many have also …
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JERUSALEM – Hapoel Jerusalem basketball fans know that when the owner of their team tweets a smiley face, the signing of a new player is about to be announced.
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The United States women’s gymnastics team, led by its Jewish-American captain Aly Raisman, won the Olympic gold medal in Rio.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Lebanese Olympians refused to ride on a bus with Israeli athletes to get to the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 summer games.
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Jewish-American woman’s gymnast Aly Raisman earned a spot in the individual all-around competition at the Olympics in Rio.
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At 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighing around 150 pounds, 26-year-old optimistic and powerful blonde Ilana Kratysh will become the first-ever Israeli woman to compete in the wrestling events at the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which began Aug. 5. On Aug. 17 she will fight for the …
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JERUSALEM — Amar’e Stoudemire, who retired from the NBA last week, has signed a two-year deal with the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team.
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Jewish-American Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman has been named again to the U.S. women’s Olympics gymnastics team.
At age 19, Derrek Hofrichter thought he knew how to defend himself. Then, while riding public transit in Washington, D.C., he realized just how wrong he was.
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NEW YORK — Like his fellow competitors on “American Ninja Warrior,” 25-year-old Akiva Neuman pushed himself to his physical limits — climbing, jumping and running through an intense obstacle course — in the hopes of making it to the national finals in Las Vegas.
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Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball team.
This isn’t a sports story, even though it’s about the Jewish Youth Group Sports League, which recently completed its first season of basketball play at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale. No, this is a story about community-building.
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PARDES HANNA, Israel — When Yoel decided, at age 8, to begin observing Shabbat, there was one problem: It meant he couldn’t join most of Israel’s youth soccer teams, which played games on Saturday.
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David Blatt, the Israeli American who was fired this season as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reportedly will interview with the Sacramento Kings for the same position.
Scoring a new personal best, Jewish figure skater Max Aaron from Scottsdale was part of a trio that landed the U.S. skaters in the top 10 at the ISU 2016 World Championships.
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When Jews visit the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, they can learn about the two most celebrated members of the tribe who have been inducted into the hallowed museum: Hank “The Hebrew Hammer” Greenberg and Sandy Koufax.
With the Cactus League in full swing and the Major League Baseball (MLB) season just around the corner, many forget that minor league players are working around the Valley to play on teams all over the country this summer, and the Valley’s own Adam Sonabend is one of them.
