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Young Israelis Meet Krickstein
On West Bloomfield Court

MIKE ROSENBAUM

Special to The Jewish News

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46

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1992

aron Krickstein still
holds the men's record
as the youngest per-
son to ever win a professional
tennis tournament. But the
Grosse Pointe native was the
oldest "kid" on the court
recently when he attended a
benefit in West Bloomfield for
the Israel Tennis Centers.
About 200 people gathered
at the Hills of Lone Pine sub-
division to watch the annual
fund-raising exhibition. Ten-
nis Centers' spokeswoman
Leora Gertler introduced five
Israeli children ages 8-13 who
performed drills with their
coach, Ronnen Moralli. Then
Gertler said, "There is
another kid here who I forgot
to introduce . . . Aaron Krick-
stein."
Krickstein, ranked 12th in
the world, joined the young-
sters in drills on the clay
court. He hit forehands, back-
hands, volleys and smashes
with the same enthusiasm as
the children. Moralli, mean-
while, instructed his young
charges in Hebrew and jok-
ingly prodded Krickstein in
English to "move it!"
Afterward, Krickstein call-
ed the Israeli players "a lot of
fun to be with. They're very
intelligent and they've got a
lot of talent."
A light-hearted atmosphere
remained throughout the
event, which concluded with
a post-exhibition dinner at
the home of Edna and Phil
Minkin, across the street
from the court. But the ex-
hibition had its serious side
as well. It raised over
$100,000 for the Tennis
Centers, according to
Seymour Brode, owner of
Southfield's Franklin Rac-
quet Club and chairman of
the board of the Detroit
chapter of the Israel Tennis
Centers Association.
With this year's 40-plus city
tour nearly over, Detroit has
given more money than any
other city so far, said Brode,
who frequently attends ex-
hibitions in other cities.
"Detroit is a unique city. I
schlep all over the country —
Chicago, Minneapolis, In-
dianapolis, Des Moines. It just
seems that Detroit is always
on top. They're great givers."
Brode said he generally ex-
pects between $40,000 and
$50,000 from a Detroit exhibi-
tion. But this year, many new
people donated, including 32
new founders who donated at

Aaron Krickstein and five young Israeli players met at an exhibition
in West Bloomfield.

least $1,800 each. Not all the
givers were Jewish. Brode in-
vited all of his neighbors from
the Hills of Lone Pine, and
many donated.
The original idea behind
the Israel Tennis Centers was
to give all Israeli children —
regardless of religion, race or
national origin — something
productive to do and to keep
them off the streets. Since
then, the Centers concept has
grown beyond everyone's ex-
pectations. Over 200,000 kids
have played at 11 Centers
located throughout Israel, ac-
cording to Ronnen Moralli.

With this year's
40-plus city tour
nearly over, Detroit
has given more
money than any
other city so far.

Some world-class players
have come up through the
program, including Amos
Mansdorf and Davis Cup
teammate Gilad Bloom.
Another potential Israeli ten-
nis star with a perfect tennis
name is 14-year-old Anna
Smashnova, the 1991 French
Open junior champion, who is
also a product of Israel Tennis
Centers.
The latest Center, in Beer-
sheba, has about 300 Bedouin
children. "Each community
wanted their own Center,"
Moralli explained.
Moralli, who also learned
his tennis at the Centers, said
that he only took five top
students on tour because
school is still in session and
they will have to make up
some schoolwork when they
return to Israel.

The players all came from
different Centers, but during
their pre-exhibition warm-up
drills and exercises, they mov-
ed together like an experienc-
ed team. Moralli said
although the group had only
been together for three days,
the discipline learned at the
Centers allowed the players to
quickly form a cohesive unit.
The touring group includes
Russian-born Gilad Gitlin,
13. The Centers are helping
many Russian immigrants
adapt to their new country,
young Gitlin said. He dis-
covered the Jerusalem Center
within a week of his arrival
from Minsk. He not only
started to play tennis at the
Center, but also took Hebrew
classes there. "I learned real-
ly fast," he said, picking up
the language in three
months. Also, "I started to
know new friends."
The Centers employ 26
adult immigrants from the
former Soviet Union as
coaches.
Krickstein said he has
visited many of the Centers.
His record-setting first pro
tournament championship
was won in Israel, at the
Aviv Center when he was 16.
"The Centers are great for
the kids," he said. "If I was a
youngster I think it would
have been great for someone
like me who enjoyed tennis at
an early age."
The Tennis Centers pro-
gram will only improve in the
near future "because all the
players who didn't make it as
professionals are coming back
as coaches," said Moralli, who
was once ranked 70th in the
world as a junior player. "So
we're getting better coaches
now. Before, we started from
zip. Now it's like a circle
that's closing." 0