Team Winnipeg’s
2006 JCC Maccabi Games Experience

The first JCC Maccabi Games were held in Memphis in 1982, with 300 athletes participating. The annual event is now held in multiple sites (2006 host communities were Phoenix, AZ, Vancouver, BC, Stamford CT) to accommodate the thousands of people who take part. Each host city plans for housing, transporting, entertaining, and chaperoning the athletes, as well as organizing the Days of Caring and Sharing. On this day, athletes devote their time and energy to working with community organizations to build homes for the poor, hold carnivals for handicapped children, clean empty lots, and other social-action projects.
Since the Games’ inception, 120,000 teens have participated in this community and character-building event. While boys predominated in the early years, the number of female participants has increased yearly. A growing number of delegation heads are women and women also make up half of the volunteers at the JCC Maccabi Games.
Team Winnipeg took off for the 2006 JCC Maccabi Games on the morning of Sunday, August 13th. We had a very smooth, relaxing flight out and were warmly welcomed by our Delegation Head, Mark Spencer and the transportation volunteers from Vancouver. After loading up our gear on a school bus we proceeded to the Greater Vancouver JCC where we received a tour, snacks, JCC Maccabi Games water bottle and t-shirt, and some important information regarding the Games. We then had a Team Winnipeg photo taken in our sharp new team uniforms. Following the photo shoot, the team met up with their host families at the JCC. After getting acquainted with the host family and getting settled in their new home away from home, the Team attended the spectacular Opening Ceremonies at the Pacific Coliseum in downtown Vancouver. It was an exciting evening with over 2,000 athletes, coaches and delegation heads from all over the world marching in with their teams. Following the entrance of all of the participating delegations, we witnessed some beautiful singing (Canadian, American and Israeli anthems), dancing, speeches and a tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes who were killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The evening ended with the traditional blowing of the shofar following by the lighting of the torch declaring this year’s Maccabi Games officially open.
Monday, the athletic competitions began followed by an evening spent with the host family. Some of the athletes had a B.B.Q. hosted by their host family while others went out to explore Vancouver.
On Tuesday, the athletes continued to compete in their respective sports in a Round Robin format. Tuesday evening’s party took place at the Plaza of Nations, the former site of the 1986 World Fair. Everyone enjoyed the B.B.Q., battle of the bands, an Israeli arts and crafts market, dancing, pin trading and lots of mingling.
The round robin competitions continued on Wednesday followed by an evening at Playland, a carnival-like entertainment center with rides and great atmosphere. All of our athletes also took part in Days of Caring and Sharing one half day during the week where they volunteered in a community project.
Thursday saw some of our athlete’s compete in semi-final and final events. Katie Haber played in a semi-final game and put forth a good effort. Rachel Cosman and Ronna Joudan also enjoyed a fun week of playing tennis against a number of competitors from all over North America as well as Israel. Jonathan Fridson and Joey Frohlinger played with great enthusiasm on a mixed soccer team (Winnipeg 2, Edmonton 2, Vancouver 8, also referred to as Team Edvanpeg or . They met some great guys, played lots of soccer, and enjoyed the experience. The team placed 6th out of 11 teams.
David Nepon and Zach Gilmore also joined some other fellow basketball players from Vancouver 2, Milwaukee 2, and Atlantic County 3, to form a mixed team.
Under the great leadership of Coach Renee Opperman, this team who had also never played together before, placed an impressive 9th out of 22 teams.
And lastly, 15 year old Mitchell Billinkoff blasted through the round robin to the semi-finals and then on to the gold medal final. It was a very exciting match against Bryce Bernstein from Australia as Bryce won the first game. Mitchell then came back to win the next two games which meant they had to duke it out in a 5th and final game.
Mitchell had a very good match and made us all proud by bringing home a silver medal. Considering there were 16 competitors in his division, this is a very impressive showing. Congratulations to Mitchell and all of the Team Winnipeg athletes for your efforts, sportsmanship and enthusiasm both on and off the playing field.
On Thursday evening, all of the athletes, coaches, delegation heads and volunteers gathered for one final celebration at the Closing Ceremonies which were hosted at the beautiful University of British Columbia campus. The athletes could either show off their dance moves with music performed by a live band and/or enjoy a multitude of inflatable games (ie. Sumo wrestling) located across the field in another building nearby. A B.B.Q. was also put on this evening to ensure that none went hungry. The Closing Ceremonies included some speeches, a video with highlights from the week, and the official closing of the Games with the torch going out. It was a terrific week thanks to phenomenal weather, lots of great volunteers, new friendships made, skills honed, many pins and uniforms traded, and new sights seen.
The Coca-Cola Company is the continental sponsor of the JCC Maccabi Games. The relationship between Coke and the Jewish Community Center Movement has been a catalyst to the tremendous growth of the Games. Coca-Cola continues to support the goals of the Games as well as provide valuable resources to the Continental Governing Body, the many host communities, and to the participants themselves. Coca-Cola is the provider of dollars, substantial product, JCC Maccabi Games water bottles, and T-shirts. We thank the Coca-Cola Company for their outstanding support of the JCC Maccabi Games and the JCC Movement.
Thanks very much to our tennis coach Roland Burrell and our basketball coach Renee Opperman for volunteering their time and energy to Team Winnipeg both before and during the 2006 JCC Maccabi Games. Your positive energy and work was very much appreciated by all involved. Thanks also to Mark Spencer, our Delegation Head, for his assistance this year with the behind the scenes work of getting Team Winnipeg ready to roll, and for chauffering me around Vancouver during the Games!

Lori Derraugh & Mark Spencer

The JCC Maccabi Games® have been offering a life- and personality-shaping experience to Jewish teenagers since 1982. At this Jewish Olympic style event, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of 14 sports in events spanning the week-long experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime. 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. The Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world – each summer over 6,000 Jewish teens participate in the Games. Over 100,000 teens have benefited from the JCC Maccabi Games since 1982. The energy and excitement make it a unique and unforgettable experience for every participant, from athletes to volunteers, from coaches to host families.

The following athletes, coaches and team officials represented Team Winnipeg at this year's Games: Mitchell Billinkoff (Table Tennis), Rachel Cosman, Katie Haber and Ronna Joudan (Tennis), Zach Gilmore and David Nepon (Basketball), Joey Frohlinger and Jonathan Fridson (Soccer), Renee Opperman ( Basketball Coach), Roland Burrell (Tennis Coach), Mark Spencer (Delegation Head), and Lori Derraugh (Assistant Delegation Head). The athletes have been working out at the Rady JCC as well as their respective training centres.

Athletes and parents have undertaken fundraising efforts to help offset the costs associated with the Games, while sponsors such as Sport Manitoba, the Rady JCC Sports Dinner, Great Promotional Products Company and Pizza Hut have made contributions to help facilitate the participation of athletes in the JCC Maccabi Games.
Deadline for 2007 application is February 23, 2007. Information session will be held on Monday January 29, 2007 at 6:00 P.M. at the Rady JCC. For further information contact either Mark Spencer (477-7543/mspencer@aspercampus.mb.ca) or Lori Derraugh (477-7459/lderraugh@aspercampus.mb.ca). For more details about the JCC Maccabi Games visit www.jccmaccabi.org 2007 JCC Maccabi Games information will be posted later on in the year.

The JCC Maccabi Games® have been offering a life-and personality-shaping experience to Jewish teenagers since 1982. At this Jewish Olympic style event, each athlete has the chance to participate in one of 14 sports in events spanning the week-long experience, creating memories that will last a lifetime. The JCC Maccabi Games can be called the Olympics for Jewish teens, but the Games serve a larger purpose than athletic competition. The Games also promote community involvement, teamwork, and pride in being Jewish. The Games are the largest Jewish teen event in the world – each summer over 6,000 Jewish teens participate in the Games. Over 100,000 teens have benefited from the JCC Maccabi Games since 1982. The energy and excitement make it a unique and unforgettable experience for every participant; from athletes to volunteers, from coaches to host families.

The JCC Maccabi Games are made possible with the generous help of many sponsors and volunteers who donate time and valuable resources, including our continental sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company. For more information about the JCC Maccabi Games, please visit our website at www.jccmaccabigames.org.

Congratulations to Ronna Joudan (Tennis) and Zach Gilmore (Basketball), Team Winnipeg’s female and male recipients of the Bert Knazen Best Sportsperson Award for the 2006 JCC Maccabi Games.



Candidates for this award are reviewed by the coaches, Delegation and Assistant Delegation Head based on the following criteria: Integrity, Menschlachite, Enthusiasm, Representation, Goodwill ambassador, Attitude, Ruach/Spirit, and Leadership. Both athletes displayed a positive attitude, great spirit (Ruach) and commitment to the JCC Maccabi Games Team. Ronna and Zach were a pleasure to work with and were excellent ambassadors for Team Winnipeg both leading up to and during the Games. They gave their very best effort always and demonstrated great integrity while doing so. The selection of these two recipients for this prestigious award was a unanimous decision by all involved.



The Rady JCC and Team Winnipeg greatly appreciate the support of the Bert Knazen award and the recognition of the importance that the JCC Maccabi Games experience is to young Jewish athletes.