Local Athletes Hit the Road for 2010 Maccabi Games

The West Nyack-based JCC Rockland is participating in the 2010 JCC Maccabi Games, taking nearly one hundred athletes to Denver, Colo., and Baltimore, Md., during the first two weeks of August.

This summer, almost 6,000 Jewish teens from all over the U.S., Canada, Israel, Mexico, Hungary, and Great Britain will share in the fun of competing and the pride of being part of a world-famous Olympic-style event filled with Jewish content and values. The host communities for the 2010 JCC Maccabi Games are: Denver, CO (Aug. 1-6); Omaha, Neb. (Aug. 1-6); Richmond, Va. (Aug. 1-6); and, Baltimore, Md. (Aug. 8-13).

The JCC Maccabi Games have been offering a life-and personality-shaping experience to Jewish teenagers since 1982.  At this Jewish mini-Olympiad, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of 15 sporting events, creating memories that will last a lifetime.  JCC Rockland will be sending athletes to participate in baseball, softball, soccer, bowling, golf and tennis.

The JCC Maccabi Games can be called the Olympics for Jewish teens, but they serve a larger purpose than athletic competition.  The games also promote community involvement, teamwork, and pride in being Jewish.  For example, athletes visiting host communities stay with local Jewish families.  This "home hospitality" is vital to the experience, representing the extended Jewish family and the value of welcoming the stranger.

Also, every set of games has a volunteer program called Days of Caring and Sharing, when athletes join with local community organizations to work on social-action projects.  Past Days of Caring and Sharing activities have included building homes for the poor, holding carnivals for handicapped children, cleaning parks, and packaging food to be given to the hungry.  The purpose is to teach tikkun olam (repairing the world) by example, so that these young people incorporate these values into their daily lives once they return home.

Among those taking players to the games is Dr. Jeffrey Schnapper of New City.

"My bags are packed and ready to go," Schnapper of New City told New City Patch Friday.

Schnapper, who operates an eponymous chiropractic office in Bardonia and only recently finished coaching the Rockland Dogs, a 16-year-olds youth travel baseball team, leaves for Denver, Sunday, with a coterie of players.

Schnapper will be coaching a fourth straight year at the games, having lost in the semifinals last year in Westchester after winning a silver medal two years ago in Detroit and winning gold three years ago in California.

Schnapper's sports background dates back to the celebrated era of the famed but now-defunct Deer Head Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament. His team, Schnapper Chiropractic, once captured back-to-back championships.

But his current interest is making a solid showing in Denver. Among the New City players who are proud to be representing the area are Jake Salesky (catcher/right fielder), Brandon Schnapper (pitcher/left fielder), Kory Majansky (center fielder), Matt Martin (outfielder) and Josh Foreman (pitcher-third baseman).