Sports & Recreation

JCC MetroWest will take a delegation of athletes to the 2008 Games hosted by Detroit from August 17 through 22nd.

We will be fielding teams in the following sports:
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Boys Baseball
Boys Soccer
Girls Softball
Boys and Girls Swimming
Boys and Girls Tennis

To be eligible you must be Jewish and between the ages of13 to 17 as of July 31, 2008.

The JCC Maccabi games are the most recent offspring of a proud tradition of Jewish amateur sports. The Maccabi movement was founded in 1895 when the first all-Jewish sports club was organized and in 1932 the first Maccabiah Games were held. The World Maccabiah Games have been held every four years in Israel as a two-week international competition, and have consistently attracted the elite Jewish athlete, many of whom have achieved fame in the Olympics; most notably Mark Spitz, Mitch Gaylord, Ernie Grunfeld and Brad Gilbert.

The concept of the JCC Maccabi Games has existed for many years in Israel, Europe and South America. In 1982, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America began the Maccabi Games in the United States. At this Jewish Olympic style event, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of the sports offered and events spanning the week-long experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The JCC Maccabi Games can be called the Olympics for Jewish Teens, but they serve a larger purpose than athletic competition. The Games also promote community involvement, teamwork, and pride in being Jewish. The Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world-each summer, teens from around the US and the world, participate in the Games. Over 100,000 teens have benefited from the JCC Maccabi Games since 1982. The energy and excitement make it a unique and unforgettable experience for every participant, from athletes to volunteers, from coaches to host families.

The JCC Maccabi Games are made possible with the generous help of many sponsors and volunteers who donate time and valuable resources, including our continental sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company.

In August 2007 JCC MetroWest sent one delegation of 12 athletes to Baltimore Maryland from Sunday August 5 to Thursday August 9. Nine of the athletes competed in boys basketball, 2 girls mixed with girls from St. Louis and competed in girls basketball and 1 girls soccer player mixed with athletes from Atlanta and competed in girls soccer. One delegation of 38 athletes traveled to Houston Texas from Sunday August 5 to Friday August 10. We took 9 swimmers, 7 boys basketball, 10 boys soccer, 5 MetroWest girls mixed with Houston to play girls basketball and 7 MetroWest girls mixed with Phoenix girls to play softball.

The energy and excitement made the 2007 JCC Maccabi Games a unique and memorable experience for all who participated from athletes to coaches to spectators to volunteers to host families.

16U Boys Basketball
MetroWest U16 basketball team takes gold at the 25th annual JCC Maccabi Games.

The boys beat Cleveland, St. Louis, Dallas, Allentown, Kansas City, Chicago and Los Angeles for a 7-0 tournament record and the gold medal. It was the second championship in as many years for Travis Warech and Jared Grubow who were part of last year's gold medal winning U16 team in Vancouver,

16U Girls Basketball
The 16U girl’s basketball team had a wonderful experience at the Games. 5 MetroWest girls mixed with 5 Houston girls to form our team. All the girls played extremely well. . The 5 Metro girls had limited practice time before the games but they came out looking as though they have been playing together for months. They came out strong in their first game against a very strong Touson/Phoenix team. They built up a 19 point lead and ended up winning the game. We had a little bit of a tougher game against a very strong Atlanta team and after a rough first half had an amazing second half. The next day, we played extremely well in our first game beating a strong Cleveland team. In our second game of the day, against a very strong Israel team, the girls played extremely well playing great defense and executing well on offense but came up a bit short in the end.
The girls went into the medal round as the number 7 seed and faced Houston in the first round. The girls hustled at both ends of the floor and played tough on both sides of the ball.Metrowest was led by four year Maccabi player, Sassy Weinstein, at guard and 2nd year Maccabi player Marina Miniovich, who dominated the post positions.Amy Friedman played amazing defense making many defensive stops and getting many rebounds, going after loose balls and blocking many shots and also made some key foul shots and worked extremely hard at getting open and scoring quick points. Jessica Bramnick got some key rebounds and played extremely tough down low while also making some key baskets. Rebecca Levitt hustled when she was on the floor and was a key part of the team.


16U Girls Softball Team
The Metrowest 16U girls fast pitch softball team competed as a mixed team with girls from Phoenix. Until the girls met on the field an hour before the first game, the team never practiced together. Nevertheless, and despite facing very stiff competition, the team finished the tournament in sixth place overall. While most of our opponents featured 15 and 16 year olds, the Metrowest team consisted primarily of 14 year old players, many with little or no experience in softball at this level. All of our girls contributed: Meesh Canvisser played catcher for virtually every inning in the tournament, despite constant 100 degree temperatures. She displayed a cannon of an arm in gunning down would be base stealers. Ariel Siegel pitched and played first for Metrowest. On the mound, she was very effective against the many strong hitters she faced. In the infield, Ariel took charge and played a terrific first base. Shortstop Alexa Katz once again dazzled the crowds with sparkling plays in the field -- in particular a Derek Jeter like stab against Los Angeles where she spun around in a 180 degree turn before firing to first for the out. She also hit and ran the bases very well. Lauren Katz, out of Massachusetts, played a solid third base. Multi-talented, Lauren was recently designated as an alternate to the United States Maccabi crew team that will travel to the Buenos Aries games. Ali Rappaport, Elana Widmann and Stephanie Sussman were the "jacks of all trades." These girls played both infield and outfield when called upon and had several quality at bats during the tournament. With an additional year of experience under their belts, and with a strong recruiting effort, things should look promising for the team in next year's tournament.


16U Boys Soccer
This year's soccer team had 10 members faced with the daunting task of playing outdoors in difficult conditions. The weather was hot but the boys performed admirably. There were 4 preliminary games. We lost all four of them but none of them where the boys truly over matched. The first game was against the home delegation from Houston. We lost 4-0. The game was tied at zero at half time and then unfortunately two rough goals got past our excellent keeper Zachary Spal. The next game was against a mixed delegation from Phoenix and Michigan. We lost that game 3-2. with the Phoenix/Michigan delegation scoring with two minutes left to make it a 3-2 game. The third game was on Tuesday morning against the team from Austin, Texas. A very talented group and they beat us 5 -4 with a goal getting past our excellent defender Alex Coleman with 30 seconds left. The last preliminary game was against Dallas, Texas, a little testy match but hard fought where we lost 4 – 2. We were led in those games by incredible goal scoring by Mike Friedman who scored 10 goals during the tournament. Justin Goldsman scored 3, Matt Schneier scored 1 and Alex Coleman scored 2. We were led on defense by Robert Trenk who played exceptionally well and played all positions on the field except keeper. Our defense was led by Ethan Zausner who played spirited all week long. Contributing on both defense and offense were Kevin Chernick and Sam Kaplan. Max Kaplan played a little goal but played incredible in the field. The highlight of the week was Wednesday morning when we played Dallas in a seeding game. MetroWest beat them 7 – 4 in a great match. We then lost to Houston in the next round for a chance to play for a medal 6 – 3. We were down to only five healthy players due to some heat related problems.


16U Boys and Girls Swimming Results

3rd Place Jessica Kabrt 15-16 200 LC Meter Breaststroke 3:28.33

3rd Place Michael Alelov 13-14 100 LC Meter Butterfly 1:10.20

2nd Place Nathan Hirshbien 15-16 100 LC Meter Butterfly 1:09.88

3rd Place Jessica Kabrt 200 LC Meter Medley Relay 2:26.45
Eric Ocheretyaner
Michael Alelov
Jessica Friedman

2nd Place Michael Alelov 13-14 50 LC Meter Butterfly 31.72

2nd Place Jessica Kabrt 15-16 100 LC Meter Backstroke 1:23.23

3rd Place Michael Alelov 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly 3:00.35

1st Place Eric Ocheretyaner 15-16 200 LC Meter Butterfly 3:50.02

3rd Place Nathan Hirshbien 15-16 200 LC Meter IM 2:39.97

1st Place Eric Ocheretyaner 15-16 200 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 2:16.11
Nathan Hirshbien

2nd Place Jessica Friedman 15-16 200 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 2:14.21

2nd Place Michael Alelov 13-14 200 LC Meter Freestyle Relay 2:13.61


Day of Caring and Sharing (DOCAS)

This year’s Day of Caring and Sharing was of top quality. This year, a focus on the concept of “iRead” was introduced and the goal was to promote literacy amongst underprivileged young children. This concept is of utmost importance and the day our athletes spent with these children will never be forgotten. Our athletes were each matched with a child ranging in age from about 5 to 12 years old. They started off by introducing themselves and interacting with one another thru a variety of ice-breaker games. Our athletes showed these children what state/country they were from and told them a little about their home town. Once they felt comfortable together, our athletes proceeded to read parts of two books with or to their new friend. When they were done each athlete helped their child place a book tag inside the cover of the book as a reminder of who helped them read the book. Every child that day was sent home with two brand new books, a tote to carry them in and some other goodies.
The smiles on our athlete’s faces were priceless. They walked away standing tall, feeling proud, knowing that they did a good deed.


Houston Delegation
Athletes:
Michael Alelov
Jessica Friedman
Jonathon Gerszberg
Nathan Hirshbein
Jess Kabrt
Sarah Neibart
Shane Neibart
Eric Ocheretyaner
Rachel Sender
Sarah Weinstein
Jessica Bramnick
Rebecca Levitt
Amy Friedman
Marina Miniovich
Jared Grubow
Joey Kizel
Jeremy Mizraji
Alex Rosenberg
Harry Tarre
Travis Warech
Hugh Ahern
Alexa Katz
Stephanie Sussman
Ali Rappaport
Ariel Siegel
Elana Widmann
Meesh Canvisser
Lauren Katz
Alex Coleman
Michael Friedman
Justin Goldsman
Max Kaplan
Matt Schneier
Zachary Spal
Robert Trenk
Ethan Zausner
Kevin Chernick
Sam Kaplan

Coaches:
Gary Warech boys basketball
Marc Rosenberg boys basketball
Emily Einhorn girls basketball
Courtney Stec swimming
Steve Coleman boys soccer
Eric Katz softball
Sherri Feldscher delegation head

Click here to see our photos.

Junior Maccabi Games are a one day event for Jewish boys and girls ages 10-12 years old as of May 31, 2008. Athletes travel one Sunday in May to compete against other athletes from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Volunteer coaches are needed for this program.

This year JCC MetroWest will take a delegation on athletes to the Junior Maccabi Games on Sunday May 18, 2008 hosted by the Katz JCC in Cherry Hill New Jersey.

JCC MetroWest at Junior Maccabi Games

JCC MetroWest took 35 boys and girls ages 10-12 to the Junior Maccabi Games, hosted at the Katz JCC in Cherry Hill, NJ, on Sunday May 18. They competed in boys basketball, girls basketball, boys soccer, swimming, and tennis.

The boys basketball team took home the silver medal. They played their first game of the tournament against Bucks County and lost in overtime after a close game. The boys went on to win their next two games, qualifying for the playoffs. The team began their playoffs with a win. For their semifinals they once again faced Bucks County. This time our boys were victorious. In the finals, MetroWest faced the team from Philadelphia. The Philadelphia team dominated the tournament and beat MetroWest in the final game.

The girls basketball team traveled to the Junior Maccabi Games with very little experience playing together. They had some great practices and got better and better with each one. They played some extremely tough teams in the first round and they never gave up. They played tough defense, making it very difficult for the opposing teams to score. Although they did not win, the girls had a positive experience at the Games.

The boys soccer team returned home with the silver medal. After winning their first three games, they were awarded top seed going into the playoffs. The team won their first 2 playoff games. In the final game, they lost in overtime by a score of 1-0, to the strong Bucks County team.

Esther Neibart was the only swimmer representing MetroWest. She placed in her individual swimming competition, taking home the bronze medal. Esther is a fierce and determined competitor who always strives to do her best. She completed in the 50M Breast stroke with a time of 49.73 sec.

This is the first time MetroWest took tennis players to the Junior Maccabi Games. Two outstanding boys represented our community. Jason Ginsburg took home the silver medal, winning 4 out of 5 matches. Even though he lost his first match to the player that would eventually take gold, Josh Fishman performed exceptionally well in both of his matches and ended up 1-1.

Whether they won or not, all of the athletes had a great experience and a great day. They look forward to competing in future Maccabi experiences.


Boys Soccer
Coach: Bryan Fiedler
Dan Rudd

Dylan Fiedler
Matt Picon
Jake Spielberger
Cory Tell
Bobby Schneiderman
Adam Rudd
Jacob Warech
Lucas Weissman
Jesse Sendyk
Brett Dinowitz
Isaac Anbar
Craig Binder
Benjamin Dantowitz
Zak Beckerman


Boys Basketball
Coach: Jeff Susskind
Mel Stark

Ben Susskind
Zach Stark
Jared Wolf
Matt Ratner
Dan Weiss
David Tapalar
Keith Knopp
Brandon Rothberg
Ben Glicklich
Alec Freedman
Adam Levine


Girls Basketball
Coach: Dan Whitten
Emily Einhorn

Sydney Frank
Taylor Frank
Dana Whitten
Alyssa Baum
Rachel Chowdhury
Michelle Pomerantz
Arielle Fried

Tennis
Coach: Katya Zakharachenko

Jason Ginsburg
Josh Fishman


Swimming
Coach: Ben Gilbert

Esther Neibart

Well our Maccabi Athletes had a wonderful time Our Soccer Teams both fought hard and played well. They are young teams who will have the opportunity to play again next year. Although the Boy’s Soccer Team was fielded by all MetroWest athletes, the Girl’s Soccer Team was a mixed team comprising five MetroWest athletes with athletes from Detroit and Virginia Beach. It made for an enriching experience.



Some of our athletes are bringing home medals.

- Elliot Stevens took the Silver Medal for Tennis in the Boys 15/16 Competitive Division. (There was also a Recreational Division)

- Michael Alelov is bringing home a Bronze for the 200 Fly.

- Our Boy’s Basketball Team won the Bronze in overtime against South Jersey – close game 59-54.

- The Boy’s Baseball Team took the Bronze Medal in a game against Boston – 17 to 7.