Yeshiva girl has Olympic dreams

Estee Ackerman, of West Hempstead, may only be 14, but this thoughtful, well-spoken young lady is a serious table tennis player who was one of 16 women who competed last week at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Table Tennis in Greensboro, N.C.

The team trials consisted of three one-day tournaments, Thursday through Saturday, but Estee played in only the first two, to honor the Shabbos.

In 2012, she was disqualified from the U.S. National Tournament after declining to play her final match on Shabbos. Channel 2 News asked her if she regretted that decision.

“No,” she said, “becuase I know that’s always in my life. Judaism will be number one.” She told Newsday that “I will always keep Judaism as my No. 1 priority.”

“She had a Shabbos-over-sports moment,” said her father, Glenn Ackerman.

Last Thursday and Friday, she was randomly selected to play fifth-seeded Prachi Jha, an 18-year-old from California. She lost both matches, but was thrilled by the experience.

“Here I was, and all around me are the best players in America, including five former Olympians,” Estee said. 

The tournament’s six winners advanced to the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Ontario in April, where the competitors in the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, will be determined. “I’ll be cheering for them the loudest,” Estee said.

Ackerman, a freshman at the Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Holliswood, Queens, began playing table tennis six years ago, in the basement of her home, practicing with her brother Akiva, who is also a nationally ranked player. As she improved, she began competing in tournaments across the country.

“Last December was her seventh time back in Las Vegas,” said her father, referring to the U.S. Nationals. “She won the fifth-highest rating last year, and there were 170 players in the event.” 

Over the years, Estee has honed her skills by working with several table tennis coaches and practicing at clubs in Brooklyn and Queens. But when it isn’t convenient for her to venture out due to homework and other responsibilities, she practices in her basement.

Though she did not advance at the U.S. trials, she was scheduled to be honored by the Town of Hempstead at a town hall meeting on Tuesday. 

Estee attended elementary school at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

With reporting by Rosana Weitekamp