Jerusalem of silver for Five Towns JCC team

The Jewish Community Center of the Greater Five Towns recently sent their girls basketball team to the first ever JCC Maccabi Games in Israel. The girls’ team brought home a second place silver medal on Sunday, July 31st.

The girls not only spent their time in Eretz Yisrael playing and practicing, but they also had an opportunity to see some sights. For Shabbat, the team was invited by a JCC partner in Holon, which was arranged by the Jerusalem Jewish Community Center. The family that they stayed with took them on a tour of Jafa amongst other sights.

At the start of the excursion, the athletes and their chaperones attended the tournament’s opening ceremonies, which were held at the Kiryat Shomanah Soccer Stadium and seated 1,200 participants consisting of staff and team members. The JCC Five Towns team then played games at Metullah and Tel Chai. Furthermore, in the north, they attended parties and activities almost every night as part of the program itinerary, involving 50 different Jewish Community Centers from Israel, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

One of the best games of the tournament was one in which the Five Towns team won by only one basket, leaving the score a close 44-42.

Ally Goldstein, 11th grader at Ramaz High School and JCC team member, explained that the team played well together and were able to conquer the tough competition. “It was my first year playing in such a tournament and coming from a Yeshiva league, we were all nervous about competing against public school teams. [But in the end], we were one of the only teams that had all played together before, so we played really well,” Goldstein said. The girls also found it interesting to meet a lot of different young people from different schools all over America.

Coach Michael Alon, who worked with the team and accompanied them on the trip, was very proud and said, “It was an impressive accomplishment because all of the girls were sixteen years old and under. It was a fabulous basketball experience as well as a meaningful Jewish experience for the girls and it was nice to be part of the first ever JCC Maccabi Games in Israel.”

The basketball team played a total of seven games, four in the preliminary round and three in the final rounds. They beat the Israeli National Team by eight points, bringing home the silver medal with them. Congratulations and Yasher Koach to the girls and the Five Towns Jewish Community Center.