Sixteen local Jewish teens recently attended the 2023 JCC Maccabi Games and Access in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, representing the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City (The J). The Kansas City delegation won more than 25 medals.
The teens and Coaches Bob Hennecke, Maggie Osgood-Nicholls and Kathy Bates participated in athletic competitions, community service projects and social activities with 1,800 Jewish teens from 64 different communities around the world. Included in this annual event were delegations from Mexico, Argentina, Great Britain, Israel, Ukraine and cities in North America.
Kansas City teens participated in basketball, dance, soccer, swimming and volleyball competitions, winning more than 25 medals between the 16 of them. The participants and their awards were:
Basketball
- Naftali Tilove (3-on-3 basketball (14U))
- Hudson Weikal (3-on-3 basketball (16U))
- Silver (team)
- Gold (tournament MVP)
Dance
- Sydney Kort
- Silver (lyrical solo (16U))
- Silver (jazz duo (16U))
- Silver (contemporary group (16U))
- Gold (Israeli group (16U) with Team Atlanta)
- Drew Liss
- Bronze (jazz solo (16U))
- Silver (jazz duo (16U))
- Silver (contemporary group (16U))
- Gold (Israeli group (16U) with Team Atlanta)
- Ariel Palan
- Silver (contemporary group (16U))
- Gold (lyrical solo (16U))
- Gold (Israeli group (16U) with Team Atlanta)
- Ruby Sokol
- Silver (lyrical solo (14U))
- Silver (contemporary group (14U))
- Gold (Israeli group (16U) with Team Atlanta)
Soccer
- Ben Rosenthal
- Gold (team (16U))
- Aiden Zack (14U)
Swimming
- Lauren Brand
- Bronze (4x100 freestyle relay)
- Silver (4x50 medley relay)
- Silver (4x200 medley relay)
Volleyball
- Sabra Bergh
- Bronze (team)
- Maggie Goldberg
- Bronze (team)
- Saphire Hobbs
- Bronze (team)
- Hannah Markiewicz
- Bronze (team)
- Maya Rumple
- Bronze (team)
- Macy Schroering
- Bronze (team)
- Tatum Schroering
- Bronze (team)
The JCC Maccabi Games is an Olympic-style sporting competition held each summer in North America and is the largest organized sports program for Jewish teens in the world. The week of competition also features an array of cultural and social activities.
The 2024 Kansas City delegation will be forming in December 2023. For more information contact Bob Hennecke, sports and recreation director of The J, at (913) 327-8005.