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March 30, 2001/Nisan 6, 5761, Vol. 53, No.26
Maccabi athletes ready
ALISA BERMAN
Special Sections Editor
Alexia Aron is training hard for her upcoming trip to the Maccabiah Games.
Photo by Michael Aron |
There are hundreds of Jewish organizations. Hadassah, B'nai B'rith, Brandeis University National Women's Committee, Jewish War Veterans and NA'AMAT USA come to mind as well funded and boasting thousands of members. Their rosters include mothers, fathers, teachers, rabbis and retirees.
Surprisingly, the Jewish organization that claims to be the largest in the world is none of the above. And all its members - there are more than 400,000 - are athletes. Jewish athletes.
The Maccabi World Union, founded in 1921, brings professional and amateur athletes of all ages together at the international Maccabiah Games to celebrate sports, camaraderie and shared Jewish heritage. Many of its members are of Olympic caliber. They're aren't just weekend warriors - they're the real deal.
Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel, the affiliated American arm of that organization, recruits and supports Americans to compete in the international Maccabiah Games. The group was created in 1948 by Harry Henshel, Charles Orenstein, Edward Rosenblum and Harold O. Zimman. The founders' stated aim was to promote athleticism among Jewish youth and, through sports, help the newly formed state of Israel develop as a nation.
Though Maccabi USA is only as old as Israel, the all-Jewish Maccabi movement (named for Judah Maccabee) had its start in 1895 as a gymnastics tournament in Constantinople. The first international multi-sport games in Palestine took place in 1932. The games were suspended from 1938-1950, but have been held every four years since 1957.
Alumni of the Maccabiah Games include Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz, golfer Bruce Fleisher; gymnast Mitch Gaylord; National Basketball Association players Ernie Grunfeld, Dolph Schayes and Danny Schayes (who played a stint with the Phoenix Suns); tennis pros Brad Gilbert and Dick Savitt; and World Cup soccer player Jeff Agoos.
This year's Maccabiah Games will be held in Jerusalem July 16-26. Maccabi USA reports that the U.S. team will include 600 athletes competing in 26 sports, as well as 500 spectators.
Before they can go to Israel to compete, athletes have an even bigger challenge - making the team. And before the team roster is set, the coaches must be in place. Philadelphia-based Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel recruits coaches through broad outreach programs, says Executive Director Barbara Lissy. The coaches are responsible for recruiting athletes.
Tryouts for a spot on Maccabi USA teams are held all over the country approximately six months before the games. Training camps are held shortly before departure, says Lissy. All athletes are eligible to try out; the one requirement is that they be Jewish. There are four categories for competition: Open, Juniors, Masters and Physically Challenged.
Six athletes and four coaches from Arizona are taking part in this year's games.
The athletes are Noah Lewkowitz of Paradise Valley (Open - soccer), Alexia Aron of Phoenix (Open - swimming), Todd Golden of Phoenix (Juniors - basketball), Connor Shapiro of Phoenix (Juniors - basketball), Ashley Wallach of Tucson (Juniors - girls' soccer), and Lawrence Kaye of Tucson (Masters - squash).
Local coaches are Daniel Witenstein of Phoenix (women's gymnastics head coach), Paul Ruben of Phoenix (softball head coach), Stephen Carlat of Tucson (assistant coach men's volleyball), and Gary Cohen of Tucson (Juniors tennis head coach).
Phoenix also boasts two organizing committee members, each responsible for raising funds and recruiting athletes for a particular event.
Lowell Rothschild of Tucson, the 10-pin bowling co-chairman, says he became involved with Maccabi USA several years ago through his association with another athlete. In addition to the Israeli games, Rothschild has been active in the Pan American Maccabi Games, sponsored by the Latin American Maccabi Confederation.
Kim Mertens of Phoenix, an auditor for the IRS and a part-time army reservist, is this year's badminton chairwoman. Mertens, who played in the 13th games in 1989, also became involved through a friend who competed. This year, her first as chairwoman, Mertens used the Internet to recruit and create word-of-mouth momentum.
Mertens, who had visited Israel before participating in the games, says the highlight of the event was hearing the cheering of the fans as the athletes entered Ramat Gan stadium in Jerusalem, where the games were held.
Ruben became involved in the games through an acquaintance. And like Mertens, he feels a physical and emotional rush in greeting the cheering crowds.
"There is no experience like wearing a U.S.A. uniform, playing ball in Israel in front of a lot of people and winning the gold medal," he says.
In 1985, the same year he became senior writer for the Phoenix New Times, Ruben made the U.S.A. softball fast-pitch team. He played on the 1989 and 1993 teams and won two gold medals.
Three things impress him about his experience: the camaraderie of the team, becoming familiar with Israeli Jewish culture and meeting other Jewish ballplayers.
"I didn't think there were any other good Jewish players in the country," he jokes. "We had a heck of a team. More importantly, the friendships I forged in my three trips are lifelong."
Ruben handpicked his team at tryouts in Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The team played in a tournament last fall in Orlando, Fla., so the Israel trip will be more reunion than introduction, he says.
In addition to the competition, Ruben looks forward to spending leisure time with the members of his team.
"There's a lot of 'down time' when you can really explore (Israel)," he says. "I picked the team really carefully with personalities in mind, and there was a lot of competition. I picked guys I thought I'd like to spend three weeks in Israel with."
Advanced skills qualify two of Phoenix's young athletes, Alexia Aron and Todd Golden, to compete in age brackets in which they are technically too young.
Aron, 13, is swimming in the collegiate bracket. She's a long-range swimmer who has been swimming competitively at the Phoenix Swim Club since she was 6. She learned of the Maccabiah Games through her coach, Pierre LaFontaine.
"He suggested that I apply to the Maccabiah team for the international swim-meet experience," she says.
Aron is the only Phoenix swimmer on the U.S. team. She trains locally at the Phoenix club and will train with her Maccabiah teammates two weeks prior to the swim meet. The games mark her first visit to Israel as well as her first international competition.
"This will be an experience of a lifetime," she anticipates. "I am privileged to be able to not only train but also compete with some of the best athletes in the world."
She says each stroke she takes in training reminds her of her ultimate goal - to be the youngest competitor to win the Open competition.
Todd Golden, 15, is another young competitor who expresses great personal drive. He was just 12 when local coach Rick Sheinson recruited him for the Phoenix Maccabi basketball team, in the 13- to 14-year-old division. He played at the U.S. Maccabi Games in Milwaukee, and then successfully tried out for the Maccabi USA national team. They will compete in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Golden's team will have a seven-day training camp before they leave for the games. The camp will help them put their offense together and will be a chance for the young men to get to know one another, he says.
After that, it's off to Israel for two more weeks of practice before the games begin.
According to Gale Golden, Todd's mother, none of this would be possible without the efforts of Sheinson, a Phoenix attorney.
"If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be going," she says. "He spearheaded the program in Phoenix and got it off the ground a few years ago. He's a wonderful man who has given a lot of time to these kids."
In addition to the pressure of competition, each athlete assumes a yachad (obligation) to raise funds to support the athletes and the Maccabiah games. (For information on contributing, visit www.maccabiusa.com or e-mail maccabi@maccabiusa.com.)
Despite the pressures, veteran Maccabiah athletes say their experience in Israel has had a positive effect on their lives.
Mertens says her participation increased her identification with Judaism. "I've become more committed to being Jewish and to making sure my family is Jewish," she says. "You feel more connected, I think."
Ruben calls his experiences the pinnacle of his athletic career. "I rate my ball-playing experiences, especially those in Israel, as more meaningful to me than any journalism awards I may have won," he says. "The gold medals are on the wall in my house; journalism awards are in the garage."
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