Maccabiah Games drawing Penn athletes

This July, over 40 Penn students and alumni will embark on a three-week journey to Israel for the experience of a lifetime. It will certainly be a learning experience but not in the usual sense.

These Penn affiliates will be participating in a very special event — the 19th World Maccabiah Games. With approximately 9,000 participants expected from over 70 nations, the Games are the third largest international competition, behind the Olympics and the Pan-American Games.

The Games draw some of the top Jewish athletes from all over the world and bring them together in Israel once every four years. Individual sporting events do not take place in one specific city, but instead are dispersed at locations throughout the country during the two weeks of competition.

After rigorous tryouts held in various American cities, the following Penn students prevailed and have been selected to represent Team USA: Alyssa Baron (basketball), Alex Elias (swimming), Ariel Fieldman (track and field), Shelby Fortin (swimming), Elysse Gorney (softball), Jackie Kates (basketball), Max Kurtzman (soccer), Michael Markovitz (futsal), Yarden Odinak (squash), Ira Schlosberg (fencing), Jennifer Shulkin (tennis) and Sydney Turchin (softball).

Zack Rosen, a 2012 graduate currently playing for an Israeli basketball team, will also join Penn students and alumni for the competition. The remaining Penn representatives are alumni.

The Maccabiah is much more than an athletic event though. Historically, participants leave Israel with a strong bond that effectively connects them to each other, Israel and the Games.

Additionally, for many Penn athletes, the event has special meaning — connected to honoring family traditions and celebrating Jewish heritage.

Inspired by his grandfather’s Maccabiah gold medal in the butterfly over 60 years ago, Kurtzman wanted to do the same.

“I’m going for gold. I really want the second gold in my family,” he said.

Kurtzman’s grandfather and immediate family will be traveling with him to cheer him on, which “makes it even more special,” he said.

Kates is also motivated by family gold. After watching her older brother win with the U.S. juniors’ basketball team eight years ago, she decided then and there that she wanted to follow in his footsteps.

At the same time, she wishes to gain a lot more from her trip than just hardware.

“Although we will practice and play as hard as possible to win, it is the journey and experience that will be most memorable,” Kates said.

Besides experiencing great international competition, Maccabiah athletes are given the opportunity to tour Israel and explore their Jewish identities.

Growing up playing junior Maccabi events in soccer, Markovitz has never been to Israel for the World Maccabiah Games, or as he referenced them, “the big leagues.”

He is excited not only to compete but also to see the country for the first time.

“I just want to cover myself in mud [at the Dead Sea],” he said.

In contrast, Turchin has already been to Israel twice but believes this will be a “completely different experience than the past times.”

As Penn’s athletes prepare for the Games, they know they will have the opportunity to represent the United States abroad and compete against some of the fiercest international competition in the world.

SEE ALSO

It doesn’t get better than Baron for Penn women’s basketball

For Penn soccer’s Kurtzman, the wins will come

Zack Rosen has high hopes for pro career

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.