A Sleepy Beginning After a long bus ride, Detroit's Maccabi athletes enjoyed the opening ceremonies in Baltimore. ALAN HITSKY Associate Editor altimore — As 2,600 ath- D letes stood around the in- terior hallways of the Baltimore Arena on Sunday, Karen Sklar and Jodi Shapiro risked getting trampled. Sprawled in the middle of the floor amid hundreds of milling athletes, Detroit soft- ball coach Sklar rested her head in the lap of one of her ballplayers, Heather Meyers. "I'm not tired," Sklar pro- tested as her eyes started to close. "I'm just resting my back after the 12-hour bus trip." Shapiro slumped against the wall, head down, resting. "I'm doubly exhausted," said the four-year veteran of Mac- cabi swimming meets. She had just returned from camp in time to board the Maccabi buses Saturday night at Con- gregation Beth Achim. And she didn't get much sleep on the bus. That story was repeated over and over as the Detroi- ters and more than 60 dele- gations from the United States and seven foreign countries lined up for the pa- rade of athletes which opened the 1992 Jewish Community Centers North American Maccabi Youth Games in Bal- timore. At the far end of the build- ing, the Windsor delegation stood in groups, prepared to precede host city Baltimore into the jammed arena. More than 12,000, including ath- letes, their families and mem- bers of the Baltimore Jewish community, filled the seats upstairs. The alphabetical pa- rade of delegations would take 45 minutes to complete, and Nadine Diner of Windsor was prepared to wait. While teammates stood, Diner sat on the floor, leaning against her pole with the Windsor banner. Back on the fringe of the Detroit delegation, 13-year- old table tennis player Jon Nyquist was conducting the first recorded trading session of the Baltimore Maccabi Games. Jonathan Lieberman and two friends from the Hamil- ton, Ontario, delegation had waded through the crowd to find Nyquist, a close friend from summer camp in On- tario. There was a quick swapping of delegation pins, as well as the usual banter- ing of who was going to beat whom in table tennis. Although he had been away at camp, Nyquist said,"I've been working out all summer for this." Upstairs, after a few intro- ductions, the parade of ath- letes was announced. The roar of the near-capacity crowd shook away the cob- webs and brought the resting athletes to their feet. As they slowly filed into the arena, each delegation was intro- duced and their television pic- ture filled the large screen behind the podium. It was reminiscent of the 1990 games in Detroit and the opening ceremonies at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The delegations paraded around the arena to the roars of the crowd, then climbed the stairs and filled the lower stands. But as often happens at the Maccabi Games, the athletes altered the script. Af- ter the Baltimore delegations were appreciatively received in their black uniforms, or- ange arm bands and Orioles caps on their heads — there is a pennant race on, after all — the flagbearers of several delegations raced back onto the floor. In time to the music, they ran around the arena, waving their banners and exhorting the crowd to join them. The impromptu celebration lasted 15 minutes. Brief welcoming speeches Continued on Page 74 Detroit's delegation is led into the Baltimore Arena at last Sunday's opening ceremonies. 72 FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 1992 , - AMY' Detroit delegation members congregate before Sunday activities begin. Hot Trades Business was booming on and off the Maccabi fields. ALAN HITSKY Associate Editor B altimore — "They made us go to bed early," De- troit volleyball player David Young said of his host family. By early, Young meant 12:30 a.m. after the opening ceremonies. And his host woke him at 6:30 a.m. Mon- day so he could be at Catonsville Community Col- lege by 8. Detroit played three vol- leyball games Monday morn- ing. The boys and girls teams were in action at 8, but Young's coed team, playing in the boys bracket, was not scheduled to take on Philadel- phia until 10. So Young sat behind the bench while the 8 o'clock teams warmed up. Wearing a bandana, he spotted a tall Washington, D.C., player wearing a kippah. The two sat down to trade team pins. "I really don't have a lot of experience playing volley- ball," said Young. "The coed team only has one player with experience. But I went to try- outs and practices — I came home from camp a month ear- ly to practice with the team." Volleyball is a girls varsity sport in Michigan high schools, but Young has played volleyball in gym classes at North Farmington High School. Detroit's three volleyball teams, under coaches Kenny Bertin, Jason Gold and Sam Skeegan, practiced three times a week during the sum- mer at the Jewish Communi- ty Center. Detroit's boys soccer team was not expected to do well in Baltimore. The team does not have the size and experience of past Detroit soccer squads. But Detroit took on a highly rated, bigger squad from Or- ange County on Monday morning and played the Cal- ifornians to a standstill. Showing a lot of grit on a field that sloped like a slant- ed table top, Detroit lost to Orange County, 1-0, on a sec- <