Detroiters
compete for
medals at the
Maccabi
Games in
Cleveland.

PHOTOS BY NEIL GLOGER

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

Having a ball: Members of Detroit's girls' softball team take a timeout after a Maccabi game.

Flag-Waving Maccabians

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28

Detroit flag
bearers pause
before leading
Detroit into the
parade of cities.

t was a stirring moment last week when the Detroit delega-
tion flag-bearers marched into Shiffman Hall at the
Maple/Drake Jewish Community Center during a pre-Mac-
cabi Games team meeting of athletes, parents and coaches.
With hundreds clapping along with the music, the flag-bear-
ers made their way through the crowd and onto the stage.
The group included four-year Maccabi athletes Elite Ben-
Ozer (girls tennis), Niki Berlin (girls volleyball), Joey Edwards
(boys soccer), Emily Friedman (girls softball), Ben Hurvitz
(boys volleyball), Aaron Kobernick (wrestling), Jackie Lesh-
man (girls soccer), Stacey Rothenberg (girls volleyball) and
Kevin Schwartz (swimming).
Fifth-year Maccabi athlete Jeffrey Horowitz (boys volley-
ball), the 10th Detroit flag-bearer, was still at camp the night
of the meeting.
MORE THAN 7,500 coaches, athletes and their families
from 68 cities in the United States and five other countries
were in Cleveland for the Maccabi Games.
The athletes were housed in more than 900 Jewish homes
in the Cleveland area. Nearly 1,000 hotel rooms were need-
ed for the remaining visitors. ED