JCC Maccabi Games

Local teens in JCC Maccabis

Team Vancouver getting ready for the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony in Israel. (photo from JCCGV)

Twenty athletes and coaches represented Team Vancouver-Galil at two separate JCC Maccabi Games experiences this summer – in Israel and in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The games in Israel July 5-26 celebrated the first return to the Holy Land for JCC Maccabi since 2011. The 1,000-plus athletes spent their first eight days engaged in athletic competition along the Mediterranean coast, from Ra’anana to Haifa. After all the competitions were completed, the teens then hopped on buses for two weeks of touring the country with a sports lens.

Aside from the usual Israeli hot spots, the tour included stops at Kfar Maccabiah Hotel, which has a sports complex, rafting down the Jordan River, surf lessons and a mega party event sponsored by RootOne, which also provided significant subsidies for the visiting athletes.

In Israel, Vancouver’s athletes competed in baseball, hockey and volleyball. Thanks to support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, the delegation there included participants from Vancouver’s partnership region of Etzbah HaGalil in Israel’s north, who joined the hockey team.

photo - The Vancouver/Alberta combined hockey team at the JCC Maccabi Games in Israel — The Vancouver/Alberta combined hockey team at the JCC Maccabi Games in Israel. *(photo from JCCGV)*

Ayla Greenberg, who represented Vancouver on a mixed team with players from San Diego and Long Beach, said one of her fondest memories from the competition in Israel came after they played against a team from Ukraine and she bonded with some of her opponents.

“We talked about volleyball and being in Israel and how cool it was that we got to play with people we have never met,” said Greenberg. “It showed me that sports and competition were able to bring hundreds of teenagers from all around the world together in Israel and, no matter our differences, we were able to make friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.”

Greenberg went on to share her favourite story of the touring portion of the trip, when she arrived at the Western Wall.

“When I first got to the wall, there was a child next to me who was crying and her mother was on the other side of her,” explained Greenberg. “The child looked up at me and grabbed my hand and stopped crying. As I stood at the wall next to this child, I was extremely proud of being a Jewish woman and couldn’t help but be excited about the future and how I can make a difference in the world.”

The delegation in Israel included Greenberg, Tanner Barnett, Brody Winkler, Eli Tonken, Jesse and Ari Filkow, as well as Israelis Shay Rachevski and Josh Losinsky. They were joined by hockey coach Marie Vondracek and me, in my role as delegation head.

photo - The golden moment for the U16 soccer team in Fort Lauderdale, which included Vancouver’s Sam Perez (second to left) — The golden moment for the U16 soccer team in Fort Lauderdale, which included Vancouver’s Sam Perez (second to left). *(photo from JCC Maccabi Fort Lauderdale)*

In that capacity, I also traveled to Fort Lauderdale. The delegation attending the week-long games there Aug. 4-11 competed in hockey, baseball, soccer, basketball and swimming.

Team Vancouver brought home four medals, including two gold and one bronze for swimmer Daniel Litvak, and a gold medal for the U16 soccer team, which included Vancouver’s star striker, Sam Perez.

photo - Daniel Litvak with his gold medal, for winning the 100 freestyle swimming relay at the JCC Maccabi Games in Fort Lauderdale — Daniel Litvak with his gold medal, for winning the 100 freestyle swimming relay at the JCC Maccabi Games in Fort Lauderdale. (photo from JCCGV)

The Vancouver delegates in Florida also included Sierra Brosgall, Laylah Bronstein, Ouri Tzvella-Sculnick, Bryson Lexier and Matai David. They were led by chaperone Mark David and me.

Next year’s JCC Maccabi Games will be hosted in Detroit and Houston, while a new Israel tour program will be offered for teens who want to experience Israel with a focus on sports.

This was a very special summer for the JCC Maccabi Games and the spirit and energy were incredible. These teens returned home with a long list of life-changing experiences and a connection to Israel and the Jewish peoplehood that will stick with them for life.

photo - Nava and Mark David with their Western Canadian Championships gold medals — Nava and Mark David with their Western Canadian Championships gold medals. (photo from JCCGV)

Softball victories

The day after arriving home from chaperoning Team Vancouver at the JCC Maccabi Games in Fort Lauderdale, Mark David resumed his position as head coach of the Richmond Islanders U15 softball team, as they competed in the Western Canadian Championships Aug. 11-13. David’s team, which included his daughter, Nava David, had a big weekend, winning the tournament and taking home the gold.

“These underdogs played with heart, determination and teamwork and came out on top with a gold medal,” the coach said. “It all came together with every player contributing in their own way.”

In other softball news, after a slow start to the season, the Purple Meshugeneh Cobras finished strong, winning the 2023 JCC Softball League championships.

photo - The Purple Meshugeneh Cobras won the 2023 JCC Softball League championshi — The Purple Meshugeneh Cobras won the 2023 JCC Softball League championship. *(photo from JCCGV)*

Kyle Berger is Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver sports coordinator, and a freelance writer living in Richmond. For more information about the JCC Maccabi Games or the Vancouver JCC’s upcoming year-round programming, email Berger at [email protected].

The comics rise again on Feb. 20

Kyle Berger, left, and Scotty Aceman, co-producers of Rise of the Comics. (photo from Rise of the Comics)

The outer limits of the laugh-o-meter will be tested on Feb. 20 at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s Rothstein Theatre, when a group of Canada’s top funny people step on stage for A Night of Shticks & Giggles, presented by local comedy producer Rise of the Comics. This will be the third Shticks and Giggles show to raise money for the JCC Maccabi Games.

Headlining the event is Julie Kim, a two-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee for stand-up, who has performed at comedy festivals around the continent and appeared on CBC’s The Debaters and Laugh Out Loud. Her YouTube videos have amassed millions of views and, in 2018, she released her debut comedy album, Outside Voice.

Among other topics, Kim’s routine delves into modern parenting and various cultural issues, sometimes involving life seen from an Asian perspective. Yuk Yuk’s comedy club co-founder Mark Breslin called her “smart, funny, with enough self-awareness to deconstruct her life in a very sophisticated way.”

Other acts in the show, which Rise of the Comics describes as its “best line-up to date,” include Robert Peng, who bills himself as “an unemployed engineer who turned to stand-up comedy out of desperation”; New Zealander Sophia Johnson, “the one who keyed your car but probably shouldn’t have told you that”; Sean McDonnell, who Canadian comedy star Norm MacDonald has praised as “a fantastic talent”; and Brett Nikolic, a maven on Mountain Dew-flavoured weed.

Rise of the Comics is the brainchild of Vancouver stand-up comedian Scotty Aceman, who will also be on stage at Shticks & Giggles. Starting off as a weekly 30-minute program on Shaw Cable with the same name in 2015, the show has highlighted the work of many stand-up comedians who got their start on the local scene, such as Dino Archie and Ivan Decker, who has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Aceman, a University of British Columbia and B.C. Institute of Technology graduate, switched to comedy five years ago, after a 20-year stint in a sales job with Rogers in the corporate wireless phone department.

“Leaving the cellphone business after 20 years was a tough call,” he said. “But you have to chase your dreams. People would ask me, ‘What about my dignity and respect?’ I’d say dignity and respect went out the window the minute I had a Thursday morning bar mitzvah!”

In 2019, Aceman brought in Kyle Berger as co-producer of Rise of the Comics. Berger, sports coordinator at the JCCGV, will be the master of ceremonies for the Feb. 20 Shticks & Giggles.

Before joining the crew, Berger, in his role as JCC Maccabi Games delegation head, had hired Rise of the Comics for a fundraiser. He credits Aceman for allowing him to get his stand-up feet wet, with a debut performance at the Charqui Grill in Kitsilano in 2018.

“Stand-up was one of those things on my bucket list to do by the time I turned 40,” Berger told the Independent. “Scotty (and my then-girlfriend, now fiancée) were both big helpers in getting me up there on stage for a five-minute routine. My fiancée had had enough of me saying I was going to do it.”

Berger said, “Scotty’s reputation within the local comic community is a great asset. Nowadays, Rise of the Comics does all sorts of things, including parties in people’s living rooms. And, last year, we were hired by the Chutzpah! Festival to put on a show.”

Rise of the Comics currently works with a roster of more than 50 stand-up performers of all styles and experiences, and tailors its shows to any situation. They have created performances at such diverse venues as Hy’s Steak House, the Jericho Arts Centre and Ronald McDonald House, among others. Their gigs can cover everything from clean to dirty, social commentary to observational, but always, they say, with an emphasis on the funny.

Berger promises that he and fellow Shticks & Giggles comedians are likely to make mention, in one way or another, that their show is backed by the foundation created by Dr. Neil Pollock, a leading Vancouver male sexual health and circumcision expert, and his wife Michelle.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at m.bpt.me/event/4499277. For more information about Rise of the Comics, visit riseofthecomics.com.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Local athletes have lots of fun

The silver-medal-winning volleyball team at the JCC Maccabi Games in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (photo by Kyle Berger)

They weren’t the largest delegation at the JCC Maccabi Games in Fort Lauderdale this past August, but Team Vancouver’s 13 athletes certainly made their presence felt.

photo - Jada Wilson, left, and Sydney Cristall at the opening ceremonies of the games in Fort Lauderdale, Aug 7 — Jada Wilson, left, and Sydney Cristall at the opening ceremonies of the games in Fort Lauderdale, Aug 7. *(photo by Kyle Berger)*

No moment stood out greater than when the six local girls joined with four others from around North America – meeting for the first time at the games – to make up a volleyball team. They ended up taking the silver medal, beating out more experienced teams from New York, Massachusetts and California. Leah Serlin, Leah Schwartz, Jada Wilson, Julia Tregobov, Sydney Cristall and Simone Killas, aged 13-16, formed the core of the team coached by Jack Serlin. Despite not practising as a full squad until arriving at the games, the group came together and lost only to the host city’s team of all 16-year-old club players in the finals.

“For a new team facing several challenges, to be able to beat out teams who train and play together all season, such as Bensonhurst (Brooklyn) and Orange County, is quite an achievement,” said Jack Serlin. “It was such an overall feeling of pride and satisfaction seeing the girls come together as a unit, genuinely grow to like and play for each other, and perform so well on the court and have so much fun off of it.”

Serlin said he is already considering plans to battle for the gold medal next summer. “The fact that all the eligible girls can’t wait to come back next year is truly a testament to how successful we were and what an incredible experience the JCC Maccabi Games are regardless of your background or from where you come,” he said.

photo - Rachel Bugis, left, and Magalee Blumenkrans celebrate after a big soccer victory — Rachel Bugis, left, and Magalee Blumenkrans celebrate after a big soccer victory. *(photo by Kyle Berger)*

The Team Vancouver delegation was also made up of soccer players Josh Bugis, Rachel Bugis, Magalee Blumenkrans and Saul Kalvari. Zach Moldowan joined a baseball team from North Miami Beach while Jackson March won a couple of bronze medals in table tennis and Sydney Swick from Winnipeg joined the Vancouver delegation and took home a couple of medals herself.

“The JCC Maccabi Games is awesome every time I go,” said Kalvari, who attended his second set of games this summer. “The people you meet are amazing, from all over the world, and everyone is there for the same reasons. It’s great to be surrounded by so many Jewish teens just there to have fun.”

The JCC Maccabi Games are an annual multi-sport event hosted in different North American cities each summer. Jewish teens from around the globe compete in the Olympic-style event. The JCC Maccabi Arts Fest runs parallel to the games, engaging teen artists, who participate in workshops with a final performance or show at the end of the week. The games and arts fest attracts more than 3,000 Jewish teens each summer.

For more information on the JCC Maccabi Games and next year’s events, contact me at [email protected].

Kyle Berger is Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver sports coordinator, and a freelance writer living in Richmond.