GOING FOR THE GOLD

STACEY M. EWERT
Staff Writer

Witenstein, who also coached the gold medal-winning 1989 team, is the head coach and co-owner of Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics Center in Phoenix. He also coached the U.S. National Team from 1989 to 1996.

The Maccabiah Games usually have a high level of competition, Witenstein says. The Israeli gymnastics team is getting stronger, and with the athletes from the former Soviet Union now participating as representatives of several nations, there are even more outstanding gymnasts vying for the few medals.

But competition is not his sole motivation.

"The trip is very much a cultural experience, maybe even more so than a sporting event," Witenstein says. "I always go into a competition wanting to win, but I also want the athletes to have a very good experience and feeling of Jewishness."

He says he has been on many international trips as a coach. When he visits those places, he is there strictly to compete. But in Israel, it is also a Jewish experience.

Witenstein has not worked out whether his family will go to Israel with him this time, since his wife, Julie, is pregnant with twins. The couple, who are members of Temple Kol Ami, also have a 2-year-old son, Matthew.

One of the highlights of Witenstein's 1989 coaching experience was the opening ceremony.

There were about 5,000 athletes who, along with their coaches, marched into the stadium country by country, much like the athletes in Olympic ceremonies. The U.S. team had more than 500 members, and they were cheered on heartily by the 60,000-plus crowd.

Although a few of the athletes, including gymnast Mitch Gaylord, had competed in the Olympics and had this kind of an experience before, for the majority of them, this was their moment of glory.

"It's exciting to walk into that," Witenstein says. It gives athletes who might not otherwise get this type of recognition the chance to feel what Olympians do, he says.

Witenstein points out that out of hundreds of thousands of girls practicing in gyms across the country, 50,000 are able to compete formally in the U.S.

Out of those, only six get to participate in Olympic competition every four years.

The gymnasts he will coach will be chosen at a trial in April at Springfield College in Boston.

Witenstein has brought up a couple of champions of his own as coach of the Arizona Sunrays.

Heidi Hornbeek, now a sophomore at the University of Arizona, is the NCAA national champion in floor exercise, a three-time All-American and was a member of the U.S. National team from 1988-1995. And longtime Sunray Leah Carver, a senior at Paradise Valley High School, is currently a member of the U.S. National team.

The 15th World Maccabiah Games will be held in Israel in July, 1997. There will be competition in 32 official sports in four categories: juniors, open, masters and disabled.

For more information about Maccabi USA, call (215) 561-6900. For an application for the 1997 games, call (215) 561-6181. To contact the Arizona Sunrays, call 992-5790.