Seven routes to the Maccabiah

Jews from over 70 countries — from Brazil to Germany, from Australia to Canada — will compete in dozens of sporting disciplines in the pool, on the field and in the gym, when the 2013 Maccabiah Games open July 18 in Jerusalem.

With over 1 million water bottles and thousands of hotel rooms already paid for, preparations for one of the largest sporting events in the world are nearly complete. But it’s not the number of buses needed to transport participants or the renovated stadiums that take center stage, but rather the thousands of athletes.

As the event fast approaches, The Times of Israel spoke to seven athletes, representing different countries and various sports, and asked them to talk about the sport they play, their involvement in the Jewish community, and the Maccabiah — past experiences and expectations of the upcoming games. Here’s what they had to say:

Guy Elyahou, a 39-year-old from London, is captain of Great Britain’s cycling team and a pilot for the EasyJet airline.

“As a kid, I started cycling to school and back, and at the age of 18 or 19 entered my first competition,” Elyahou says. His involvement in the local Jewish community “varies and changes,” and in the past he’s been to Israel and on the IDF’s Marva program for oversea volunteers. “At the moment,” he adds, “I’m not very involved. [However,] in London 90 percent of your social circle is Jewish.”

Though he’s wanted to compete in the Maccabiah for some time now, the inability to take time off work and the difficulty to raise the necessary funds have prevented Elyahou from participating in previous games, and he says “I’m looking forward to just being in the Maccabiah.” He describes his expectations: “Doing the sport I love in Israel, at a high competitive level, with Jews from all around the world.”

David Bloom, 29, coaches Canada’s under-19 basketball team alongside his job as a coach at Montreal’s Concordia University. Besides sports, he enjoys spending time in the family cabin, where he practices his culinary skills.

Bloom recalls the start of his basketball career as a high school player and how he subsequently joined a local team and the JCC. The coach says he’s involved in the Jewish community. “I’m a member of a synagogue, which I attend from time to time… Most of my involvement is through sports.”

The transfer to the Maccabiah was natural for Bloom, who “played in and coached the JCC Maccabi games in Canada for three or four years” before leading the team to second place at the Pan Am Games.

Bloom describes his previous Maccabiah experience with the under-17 team. “The opening ceremony was the highlight. Walking out with your team, representing your country in front of everyone,” he says, adding that “seeing [Israel] and eating falafel” were also part of the “incredible experience.” This time round, he notes, “It’s a new group of kids, so I’ll be with them for their first experience. Also, we have a pilot project of pre-camp, which will include five days of training, touring and bonding.”

The 15-year-old Jasmine Genis is a member of Australia’s youth basketball team, who “wanted to play [basketball] outside school and started playing for Maccabi.” The Melbourne resident says she attends Jewish school at Bialik College, but doesn’t “really go to a Jewish youth movement because of school and sports.”

Genis says she heard stories about the 2009 Games from friends and their siblings, and they motivated her to join the team. “I heard they’d enjoyed the experience of being in Israel and playing against other countries.

“Seeing Israel, seeing what it’s like,” is how she describes her expectations of her first Maccabiah. “I’m looking forward to making a lot of new friends from all over the world, as well as getting closer to the people I’m going with. I’ve never been to Israel before and I’m really excited about coming, and looking forward to the competition.”

Born in Liverpool, 33-year-old netball player Lauren Isaacs moved to Tel Aviv more than four years ago and plays for Israel’s national team.

“I started playing netball in school,” Isaacs says, adding that “in England that’s the kind of sport girls play.” Though university took up most of her time and forced her to stop playing, Isaacs rediscovered the sport after her arrival in Tel Aviv, when she joined a local club, and later the national team.

The move between England and Israel has changed the way people around her define their Judaism, but Isaacs says that despite the differences most of what she grew up with in Liverpool remains part of her identity in Tel Aviv. Her Jewish life, she describes, “is less religious, more cultural… [It’s] a way of life, a culture I can share with people around me.”

Isaacs says attending the Maccabiah is “the closest I’ll get to participating in the Olympics,” and she views it as an opportunity to play with Israel’s national team in yet another competitive international setting. “I love sport and competition,” she elaborates, and “playing for Israel, in Israel — even against England — will be a great experience.”

London native James Gould — nephew of England’s ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould — is a member of Great Britain’s junior rugby squad. The 17-year-old says he “started playing at school. I enjoyed it more than other sports. so I joined a team.” Gould says that in addition to going to synagogue from time to time, he’s “been to a few [Jewish] summer camps” and “visited Israel a few times.”

“I really want to meet people from different cultures and countries,” Gould outlines his hopes for the upcoming Maccabiah. “The fact that we all have Judaism in common is also interesting.” The young athlete’s older brother played in the 2009 Games, and he remembers watching those games and the team members. “I want to enjoy it,” he sums up. “Fun, that’s the most important thing.”

David Jano, 27, is a freelance journalist who plays for Denmark’s soccer team and thinks he’s “not a typical athlete.”

“I’ve played football — or soccer, as they say in America — my whole life. It’s the biggest sport in Denmark,” he says of his connection to the sport.

Asked about his Jewish involvement, he says: “From the outside, people would say, ‘He’s very involved, very committed.’ I feel like I’m committed, but I’m not sure I’m very involved. I went to the Jewish elementary school, and now I’m on the board of the Jewish [sports] club, Hakoah Copenhagen.”

“The Maccabiah Games are very important to us,” Jano says. “We don’t have a large community, only 5,000-6,000 Jews, [and] Hakoah Copenhagen is a central part of it.” As a player on Denmark’s team, Jano participated in the 2007 European Maccabi Games in Rome. “There were only 2,000 athletes or so,” he recalls. “What I thought was big there will probably be much larger at the Maccabiah in Israel.”

Looking toward the July games, Jano knows his team isn’t the strongest one entering the competition, but states, “We’ll give the larger teams a run for their money.” Attending the Maccabiah is huge for the Denmark community, he says. “We have a football team and a swimmer, and for us being there is important. Being in the opening ceremony, putting Denmark on the map. We’re training hard.”

Gabby Goldach, a 20-year-old university student, is a field hockey player for Team USA, who has attended a Jewish summer camp since age 8 or 9. She says she hasn’t been as involved as she’d like to be in the Jewish community on campus.

“When I was 12, I joined my first team… I fell in love with it from there,” Goldach says, recalling her journey in the world of field hockey. “At some point I had to choose between camp and being a counselor and playing field hockey,” she says, adding that, if she has the option, she’d like to continue playing after the collegiate level.

“Coaches forwarded me an email” regarding tryouts for the Maccabiah, the Ohio native says, describing how she ended up joining the US delegation to the Games. “I went, and I got accepted.” Goldach says she likes situations where she gets to meet new people. “I’m super fortunate that the Games will be in Israel,” she adds.