Bottom row, from left, Kyla Katz (star reporter) of Albany/Guilderland, parents Drew Katz and Darcy Katz-Marra; Talia Levin (soccer) of Delmar, parents Dan and Julie Levin; Maya Colman (swimmer) of Albany, parents Dave and Jen Colman; Elina Grigoreva (soccer) of Niskayuna, parents Anton Belenky and Tatiana Belenky; Aviva Kaminsky (tennis) of Vestal, parents Tara and Alex Kaminsky.
Top row, from left, Kassandra Petrone (assistant delegation head) from the Schenectady Jewish Community Center; Aidan Katz (baseball) of Albany/Guilderland, parents Drew Katz and Darcy Katz-Marra; Liam Furmansky (soccer) of Canandaigua, parents Joseph Furmansky and Rebecca Von Rhedey; Jack Colman (ice hockey) of Albany, parents Dave and Jen Colman; Isaac Edelson (baseball) of Altamont, parents Andrew Edelson and Carrie Fassett; Drew Katz (delegation head) from the Albany Jewish Community Center.
The Capital Region Jewish Community Center Maccabi delegation returned from Detroit, Michigan this past August with nine medals in baseball, soccer, and swimming.
The JCC Maccabi Games is an international Jewish teen Olympic style event that ran for six days in Detroit. Each teen competed in one sport or took the star reporter option during the week.
Local teens met others from various U.S. cities, and from other nations that included Canada, Mexico, Ukraine, and Israel. In addition to the sports, all of the delegation had opportunity for social engagement events at the Little Caesars Arena, Novi Stadium Hub, and the Detroit JCC. One of the tzedakah projects that all in the delegation participated in was making dolls for Israeli children in hospitals.
Those local JCC teens that did not medal in a sport received a Midot medal based on compassion, respect, and Jewish peoplehood during the week, according to event organizers.
Next summer, the Capital Region team hopes to travel to Pittsburgh or Tuscon to attend the Games.
