Jewish Pittsburgh to send 20 to Maccabi Games
home page

Jewish Pittsburgh to send 20 to Maccabi Games

By Brandt Gelman July 14, 2010, 6:39 pm 0 Edit

Twenty Jewish Pittsburgh athletes will compete in this year’s Jewish Community Center Maccabi Games from Aug. 8 to 13 in Baltimore.
The events in which the athletes will compete include soccer, basketball, swimming, tennis and girls lacrosse.
Jacob Shure, Evan Lutins, Cody Kramer, Joel Klein, Benjamin Katz, Jacob Kander, Jesse Irwin, Jesse Goleman and Jacob Berntsen make up the Pittsburgh basketball team.
Betsy Erlanger, Destin Groff, Emily Jaffe and Sarah Henry will be swimming in the Maccabi Games, while Caleb Kramer and William Erlanger will be playing tennis. Molly Shure will be playing girls lacrosse, which will be an event at the games for the first time.
Jason and Justin Beiriger, along with Grant Goldberg will be playing soccer. Because of their inability to field a full soccer team, Alan Mallinger, director of Pittsburgh Maccabi, said the team will pair up with another city in the same bind.
“We won’t turn those kids away,” Mallinger said. “We mix the teams, and the kids really get a chance to bond with other kids from around the country.”
Traditionally, the JCC Maccabi “Artsfest” is held separately from the Maccabi games. This year, for the first time, both branches of Maccabi will be held in Baltimore during the same week.
The Maccabi Artsfest is designed to inspire Jewish teenagers through a combination of workshops. This year’s workshops include acting, dance, creative writing, theater and sports broadcasting. Professionals from each respective field will be guiding the teenagers to express their own creativity.
The 20th member of the Pittsburgh Maccabi team is Sarah Kennedy, who will dance in the Artsfest.

(Brandt Gelman can be reached at brandtg@thejewishchronicle.net.)

comments