Maccabi athletes dance
the night away on the
Bob-Lo cruise.

An Evening Away
From Competition

Athletes board the Bob-
Lo boat after a day of
competition.

26

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1990

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

T

he boys from
Australia said they
were especially fond of
the girls from Philadelphia.
A few boys from Mexico said
medals were nice, but
meeting girls was even
better.
"You meet lots of girls,"
said two-time bronze
medalist karate competitor
Carlos Mochon. "You meet
lots of other people, too."
Such was the conversation
Thursday night aboard the
Boblo boat, which cruised for
three hours along the
Detroit River with athletes,
coaches and chaperones for
the Jewish Community
Centers North American
Maccabi Youth Games.
They danced to the music
of DJ Eric Harris and mun-
ched on junk foods like hot
dogs, cotton candy and
nachos. Beer kegs were shut
off for the gala party.
There were old friends and
new friends and people who
just met.
Walking arm-and-arm
were softball champion
Stephanie Kaplan, 15, of Los
Angeles and Shelby Ross,
16, of Washington, D.C.,
whose team had already
been eliminated in soccer.
They met on Wednesday.
"Maccabi is about making
friends and keeping them,"
Ross said. "And we are keep-
ing our religion going. I've
never seen so many Jews in
one place."

"More than anything, you
get new friendships,"
Kaplan added.
Noticeably absent was the
11-member Israeli basket-
ball team. They were resting
at their host homes for
Friday's game against
Atlanta, which they won.
A handful of Israeli
athletes were on board.
Their concerns were a bit
different from the other
youngsters.
Hadas Hawlena, 15, of
Haifa, was happy with her
gold medal in the long jump
and a silver medal in the 100
meter run. But she had been
reading the news this week
and had deep concerns about
life in her home country,
where fears about war have
abounded since Iraq invaded
Kuwait on Aug. 2.
"I know many people in
Israel in the Zahav (army),"
she said. "They are so scared
there will be a war with
Iraq.
"I feel safe here, but I feel
safe, too, in Israel."
Adi Cohen, 16, of Tel Aviv,
likes to talk about his 100-
meter run. It was so close,
but not close enough to get a
medal. Cohen came in fourth
place.
"They're just talking in
Iraq. Nothing will happen,"
he said. "The media is blow-
ing the situation up. It is not
as bad as the media thinks.
"The reason there won't be
any war is because the U.S.
is too big for them (Iraqis)
and they know it," Cohen