80 Local Athletes, 2 Cities: An Experience of a Lifetime

The Rockland JCC of West Nyack sent delegations to two cities this year at the Maccabi Games, and amidst the wins and the losses in both Denver and Baltimore, marketing director Wayne Brown clearly observed that the overall experience is "something the kids will never forget."

The girls 16U soccer team, directed by co-coaches Brian Raines of New City and Brian Smith, also of New City, captured a gold medal and also captured the attention of Brown, a veteran coach of more than 20 years who this year managed for the first time at the Games.

"We were eliminated on Wednesday (Aug. 4) and were able to watch the gold medal game the next day," noted Brown, who directed the 14U baseball team, just one year after it earned a silver medal in Westchester. "The girls were phenomenal. It was like watching a professional game."

Rockland dominated the opposition, with a huge 40-10 bulge in goals. Twice Rockland beat the host team, Denver. It also beat Chicago twice and defeated San Francisco, Atlanta and Vancouver en route to the championship.

"To the untrained eye we played a wonderful game of soccer for a week," understated Coach Raines, a former Division III player at Ithaca. "I knew we had a very good team, but I didn't know we'd be this good. We had a lot of talented travel players, but you never know how they will play together."

The goal-scoring barrage was led by Alyssa Fenenbock of Upper Saddle River, N.J. She scored 16 goals including eight on the last day with four each in the semifinals and final. Jacky Gold, fittingly enough, was the gold-medal goalie, protected by a defense led by Shelby Freedman of Westwood, N.J.

Brown's baseball team, which included his son Russ -- the youngest player on last year's team -- and Ricky Meyers -- the son of former pro and co-manager Glenn Meyers – was able to play six games in three days. "We didn't medal," Brown said. "But remember, we played baseball four hours a day. We spent another 10 hours doing various activities, community service, spending time with host families. It's something we'll never forget."

For his part, Dr. Jeffery Schnapper of New City, who managed the 16U baseball team, he will never forget a Houston left-hander who eliminated his team.

"He just shut us down, it was that simple," said Schnapper, noting that his team did show flashes of power in other games. For instance, Eric Kaplan had a grand slam and a two-run homer while Ian Adler blasted a two-run shot. And the team also had solid pitching from A.J. Fishberg, who went the distance and struck out 13 to pick up a 5-1 victory.

"The kids had a great time, but I like to have a good time and win a medal," added Schnapper, perhaps spoiled by his history of having won a silver and a gold in the previous four years. "It's a little bit of a disappointment, but you can't win all the time."

Overall, the Rockland JCC sent approximately 50 kids to Denver and another 30 to Baltimore.

Schnapper and Brown, in the wake of yet another successful trip to the Games, are already looking forward to the 2012 Maccabi Games when the Rockland JCC of West Nyack will be host for the first time. Those Games will have a special significance, too, because the entire theme will be the remembrance of the 40-year anniversary of the Munich 11, honoring the 11 Israeli athletes who were massacred by terrorists that day in Germany.

"The regular Olympics don't acknowledge it, as if it never happened," Schnapper said, astonishingly.

"Because of the way the Olympics handled the massacre is why the JCC Maccabi Games always includes a memorial ceremony within their Opening Ceremonies," noted Brown. "The Munich 11 memorials range from candle-lighting and reading 11 bios to showing a film tribute of the Israeli members who were killed to having a child of one of the athletes come out and give a poignant speech. The 2012 Games here will be huge."