Hanging at the Hub: A space for the younger Maccabiah set

It was toward the end of Maccabiah 2013 and teen athletes were swarming the “End of Maccabiah” party at the Hub, the recreational space set up for the “junior” athletes at Netanya’s Wingate Institute. They were cooling off on the inflatable water slides and pools, clambering up the rock climbing wall, and jumping on the trampolines, while a DJ spun tunes nearby.

“The Hub is basically an Olympic village for youth,” said Itamar Cohen, the Hub’s manager. “This is our first time doing it, and it’s been an overwhelming success.”

The Hub — or the MaccHUBiah, as the organizers called it — was appropriately located at Wingate, Israel’s premier sports facility, which has been hosting many Maccabiah events, particularly for the junior competitions.

Approximately 1,600 athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 came to Israel from abroad to compete in the various Maccabiah junior events, according to Yarden Naim, the Hub’s education coordinator. Many of the young athletes stayed in people’s homes and hotels in the country’s center, said Naim, and tended to stop in at the Hub before and after training sessions and competitions.

“They choose whether to come here or not,” she added. “It’s open 10 hours a day, from 9 in the morning until 7 p.m. Each coach builds his players’ schedule, and dedicates some time for the athletes to hang out here, at the Hub.”

At previous Maccabiah Games, a minority of the junior athletes spent their free time trashing hotels and wreaking other sorts of havoc, to the dismay of hotel managers and the Maccabiah organizers. Counselors were stationed at the hotels to spend time with the athletes, yet the optional activities on offer weren’t enough to attract the teens and keep them out of trouble. It was those kinds of problems that precipitated the birth of the Hub at this year’s games, which end Tuesday.

“They can’t stay in the hotels [during spare time],” said Naim. “It simply wasn’t an option.”

Working with the teen members of Maccabi Tzair, the youth movement associated with the Maccabi World Union — the international Jewish sports movement that organizes the Maccabiah — Naim, Cohen and the rest of the Hub staff planned activities for the junior athletes, creating a place to unwind and have fun as well as learn about Israel and Judaism.

“The goal is for them to have fun through educational means,” emphasized Naim. “For example, we had a workshop about the army, where the athletes played paintball, while learning a bit more about the IDF and its day-to-day work.”

During Jewish leadership day, pictures of Israeli prime ministers were placed on the rock climbing wall, and climbers chose which rock to grab next, based on the chronological order in which the prime ministers were in office.

For the teens helping out at the Hub, the activities were an opportunity to be part of the Maccabiah. The athletes cooperated for the most part, said Noa, one of the Maccabi Tzair volunteers.

“They’re usually tired,” she said. “But when we arrange an activity, they go along with it.”

The Hub was clearly popular with the teenage athletes. Open to Maccabiah participants alone, it included a “chill-out zone,” a kind of outdoor living room; and the neighboring “cyber zone,” a spacious air-conditioned tent with 70 laptops and six flat-screen TVs where the athletes were busy uploading pictures to Facebook, Skyping friends and family back home, or simply surfing the web.

“I think I’ve learned quite a bit,” said Joseph Wagman, a 17-year-old cyclist representing Great Britain. “Here everyone can get together; there’s always lots going on so everyone’s having a lot of fun, I think.”

One of the highlights for the athletes was meeting fellow Jewish teenagers, including their rivals.

It was that sense of community that pleased the Hub organizers. They mentioned in other interviews that the athletes were even switching and wearing one another’s team jerseys, clearly bonding and connecting with one another.

“You meet new people,” said Sammy Eskinozi, a Turkish tennis player. “That’s the best part.”