Seventeen Jewish youth from the JCCs of Akron, Youngstown, Columbus and Cincinnati participated and competed in the JCC Maccabi Games in Albany, NY, Aug. 6-11. Nearly 700 youth from JCCs from Israel, Mexico and across North America spent the week competing in individual and group sports, reporting and participating in community service projects. 

Akron had the largest group in Team Ohio with eight athletes including:

• Jacob Looman who competed in Soccer,
• Haylie Mirman in Girls Basketball,
• Robert Deppisch in Baseball,
• Haley Zorn as a Star Reporter; and
• Jacob Oppenheimer, Zach Heckendorn, Hagen Leeds-Richman, Jack Sandel in Boys’ Basketball. 

All athletes played well in their sports and showed tremendous spirit/ruach throughout the games. We didn’t win Medals in sports, but we were considered one of the most popular and kindest delegations out of the 650+ youth who attended the annual games. Congratulations to all the athletes, and Haley Zorn’s Gold Medal for completion of the Star Reporter program!

Shaw JCC’s Program Director Scott Zorn was the adult leader at the games. Zorn was impressed with the maturity and ruach of all the Team Ohio delegation. “The experiences and new friendships is something that will last forever. All our delegates can’t wait to come back next year. They spoke of how much they enjoyed being with Jewish kids from all around the world, giving back to community, healthy competition with other teams, and their appreciation to their host families.” Zorn hopes to take 15 to 20 delegates to next year’s games in Orange County, California. Registration information will be available in late December on our website at www.shawjcc.org.