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SPORTS

May
Franklin.
Tomorrow,
Wimbledon.

Franklin's Junior Tennis Program

is open to members and non-members alike. Geared to those
between the ages of 3 and 18, instruction is provided on an
individual basis at all levels. Sessions fill up rapidly, so call
and register today or stop by at 29350 Northwestern, just
west of Franklin Road in Southfield.

Fall Session Begins
September 9th

To register, or for more information, call:

352-8000

WZPS/Haim Ziv

Ext. 38.

FITNESS & RACQUET' CLUB

Vida Baslana plays basketball for the Eletzur Sela Club in Rishon
Lelion.

The JCC Health Club

Soviet Aliyah
Affects Sports

.

Check Us Out!

DANNY BEN-TAL

Special to The Jewish News

N

Indoor/Ourdoor Pools & Tracks

Tennis", Racquetball & Squash

Basketball & Walley ball

Steam, Sauna & Whirlpools

StairMasters, lifecycles, Versaclimber

Nautilus, Treadmills, Rowing Machines & more

V

Weight Rooms & Aerobic Classes for all levels

Interest charge, initiation fee or
hidden expenses

V

Savings from $150•275

......
SA.
111MININD

additional cost for tennis court fees
• $275 savings for 18.25 year olds only
• Good September 1991 only
• must not have been a Health Club member in past year
▪ some restrictions may apply

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44

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1991

yes

no

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For further information, -please contact the
Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit
MEMBERSHIP DEPARTMENT at
6614000, ext. 265, 266.

o Israeli sportsman
has ever won an
Olympic medal. But
all that might change at the
1992 Barcelona Olympic
Games as the present influx
of immigrants from the Soviet
Union brings with it a clutch
of world-class athletes in
many sporting spheres.
Local observers talk of half
the Israeli delegation in
Barcelona speaking Russian.
Although only two or three
Soviet immigrants can
realistically stake their claim
to a place in the Israeli Olym-
pic squad at this stage, a
number of others have
registered results close to
Olympic minimum qualifying
standards. Meanwhile, many
other leading Soviet Jewish
sportsmen look to be Israel-
bound.
Sporting excellence was
often a passport to a secure
and relatively affluent
lifestyle in the eastern bloc
countries. Top athletes'
lifestyles were governed by
the state which so generous-

ly sponsored them. But, as
Israel Athletics Association
(IAA) secretary Avi Stein
points out, "The Soviet im-
migrants will have to get us-
ed to a different system here.
While athletics is seen as a
respectable profession in the
Soviet Union, here in Israel it
suffers from a chronic lack of
funds, amenities and public
support."
Of all the track and field
athletes to have arrived in
Israel this past year, 23-year-
old Vladimir Ostrovski is
seen as the best medal pro-
spect. One of the world's top
ten 20 kilometer walkers, he
has been adopted by sports-
mad Kibbutz Ha'Ogen since
his aliyah in September. Yet
can the life of a kibbutz ulpan
student allow him to main-
tain his grueling training
schedule?
"An athlete must put in
some 50 hours of training a
week if he wants to make the
grade in modern interna-
tional competition," says Mr.
Stein. Although Mr. Ostrov-
ski is now coached by a fellow
Soviet immigrant, Bat Yam-
based Arcadi Floskin, the
IAA is currently negotiating