A week before school began, while most students were buying school supplies and cramming in summer homework, many of the school’s athletes competed in the Jewish Community Center Maccabi Games. The games took place August 5-9.
The JCC Maccabi Games are held in North America each year and are the second largest sports program for Jewish teens in the world. The Games have a style similar to the Olympics, in which the athletes compete each day for medals in their respective sports.
This year juniors Zoe Wallis, Maxx Millstein and Jack Bridge, along with many other students, traveled about five hours by bus to Memphis, where the competition was held. These games are very different from other tournaments held each year because they mix sports and the Jewish faith, which brings athletes closer during the Games.
Like the Olympics, the Games begin with an opening ceremony, this year focusing on the 1972 Munich massacre where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered. After its end, the sports began.
Millstein and Wallis both represented St. Louis on the basketball teams and Bridge competed in tennis.
Bridge advanced to the quarterfinals in tennis at the games. Millstein said he was happy with his team’s performance at the Maccabi games.
“We did pretty good considering the level of competition and our team’s skill level. We ended up sixth out of fourteen teams” Millstein said.
Wallis, who is a three-year Maccabi veteran, loves the competition from her time at the games.
“The sports are so special, and it’s hard to put into words the way it makes you feel when you win a game at Maccabi,” Wallis said. “The best thing about Maccabi though, is the fact that you can be a huge competitor with someone on the court earlier in the day, and that night, you’re dancing and having fun like the game never even took place.”
Other activities and parties happen throughout the week so athletes can mix their social lives with their sports. Kids can only compete in the competition from ages 13-16, so this was the last year for many of the athletes.
“It was a really unique experience competing in Maccabi and is an experience I won’t forget,” Millstein said.