Some background …
Maccabi USA
is the governing body which coordinates the participation of Jewish athletes
from the
United States
in the World Maccabiah Games, as well as the Maccabi Australia International
Games, the European Maccabi Games, and the Pan American Maccabi Games. As our
mission statement proclaims, “Maccabi
USA
endeavors, through sports, to perpetuate and preserve the American Jewish
community by encouraging Jewish pride, strengthening Jewish bonds and by
creating a heightened awareness of
Israel and Jewish identity.”
In total, Maccabi Team USA
is more than 1,130 members strong, the largest delegation EVER to travel from
the U.S.
to compete in an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event. We’ll also
have the support of more than 300 friends and family that will travel to Israel
to cheer us on, along with all our friends and family back home. It’s truly
awesome to be part of this delegation.
I’m proud to be affiliated with Maccabi USA as an
athlete and Board Member. But as anyone who has volunteered their time knows,
volunteer work is inspiring, energizing, and exhilarating and challenging,
demanding, and exhausting, all at the same time. For this year’s Maccabiah, I
was named chair for the Open Ten-Pin Bowling Team, which gave me the
responsibility of selecting this year’s six-man roster and raising some
additional funds in support of our efforts. While I never thought it would be
all roses and daisies, there were days and weeks it was tough to even find a
petal.
Every time the Maccabiah approaches, the joke among bowlers
(especially from the U.S.)
is that we need to find bowlers … who are Jewish … who are competitive … who
can commit to a three-week experience … and who can meet the financial
commitment. Each additional requirement reduces the potential talent pool
exponentially. And while I’m sure all sports face these challenges in their own
way, I can only tell you from personal experience how comical and frustrating
this really is.
There were a lot of ups and downs, and there were times it
really seemed the ups would never come. For example, in October 2012, as we
were reviewing and interviewing applicants, we thought our Men’s Team was in
very good shape as we had a strong pool of top-flight bowlers. Unlike other
delegations, our bowlers don’t usually have the chance to get together in
advance of the Maccabiah. For various reasons, we did away with on-site tryouts
after the 2001 Games and have relied on other means of evaluating interested bowlers.
So when the talent pool presented us with many bowlers who could ably represent
us in Israel,
we felt were in very good stead. And then the bottom started to fall out.
As I mentioned, representing the U.S. in the Maccabiah is a
three-week commitment. Many of the athletes are at a point in their life where
they are on break from school or have other flexibility in their schedule and
can take this time away from home and work. Historically, though, bowlers tend
to be at a point where they are into their career, have a family, and are not
able to commit three weeks away from those responsibilities – that’s one of the
requirements that reduces our potential talent pool. And so it went that in a
matter of days, three athletes all removed their names from consideration because
they couldn’t commit the time. Then the bottom continued to fall out…
I’ll finish our brief walk down memory lane (get it, lane)
in my next post. But I can’t continue without mentioning my dear friend, Meryl
Romeu, who for most of this experience was my co-chair and was set to be an
athlete for these Games, as well. Since we met eight years ago, prior to
competing together in the 17th World Maccabiah Games, we’ve become
close friends and great supporters of one another. When the opportunity to
co-chair the Ten-Pin Bowling Team for the 2011 European Maccabi Games in Vienna came along, we
both jumped at the chance and jumped even faster to serve as co-chairs again
for these Games. In April, when the decision was made not to send a Women’s
Bowling Team (more to come on that in my next post), I assumed responsibility
as chair for the Men’s Open Ten-Pin Bowling Team. Since that time, it is has
been my goal to lead this team with the same sense of commitment, respect, and
love Meryl demonstrated. While I’m truly saddened to complete this experience
without Meryl as my partner, she is always part of our Maccabi Bowling Family.
Always.
HaKarat haTov: Finally, it’s a great opportunity to
“recognize the good work” of Maccabi USA. Recently, Maccabi USA was selected
by the United States Olympic Committee as one of 35 Multi-Sport Organization
partners for its ability to cultivate a national interest in sport and increase
opportunities for participation internationally, nationally and at the
grassroots level. And, just this week, in pursuit of using sports to create
heightened awareness of Israel
and Jewish identity, Maccabi USA
recently raised money to ensure that the Bulgarian and Romanian teams – who are
both dealing with major financial issues – are able to participate in the
upcoming Maccabiah. Kol HaKavod to us all!