Detroit swimmers
and coaches
are a happy bunch.

Signs of support (below)
from the stands.

Luckily no one was hit, and the
crowd of 12,000 at the Convocation
Center let out a loud cheer.
Only a corner of the banner re-
mauled up. It read, "Welcome to
the ... 1994 JCC Maccabi."
RABBI Rob Toren sang the
U.S. and Canadian national an-
thems during the opening cere-
monies. Not to be outdone, the
enthusiastic Australian and
Mexican athletes later sang their
national anthems, too.
DR. BEN BERGER, father of
slain Israeli Olympic athlete David
Berger, lit the Maccabi flame dur-
ing the opening ceremonies.

Less than 12 hours later, it was
announced that Ilich Ramirez
Sanchez (alias Carlos the Jackal)
had been captured by French au-
thorities in Sudan.
Many believe Carlos was the
mastermind behind the massacre
of 11 Israeli Olympians — includ-
ing David Berger, a weightlifter
— at the 1972 Games in Munich.
THE EMCEE at the opening
ceremonies was Joe Tait, popu-
lar radio play-by-play announcer
of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the
National Basketball Association.
He formerly held the same post
with the Cleveland Indians, who

were scheduled to be home to face
the Oakland Athletics during the
week of the Maccabi Games. Those
contests were wiped out by the
baseball strike.
Jacobs Field, the Indians' new
stadium, is just a couple blocks
from the Convocation Center.
PROVIDING the music at the
opening ceremonies was the
Yiddishe Cup Klezmer Band, a
well-known Cleveland musical
group.
THE GOLD, silver and bronze
medals presented to athletes were
made in Israel. CI

Their Theme Song. On The Road Again

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

B

any and Adele Berlin
were determined to see
their daughter Niki par-
ticipate in her fourth and
final Jewish Community Centers
Maccabi Youth Games.
Family responsibilities didn't
allow Barry and Adele to stay
in Cleveland overnight, so they
did the next best thing.
Yes, they made the 402-mile,
six-hour round-trip drive from
their home in Huntington Woods
to suburban Beachwood High
School four straight days.
The Berlins embarked on the
daily journey to watch Niki and
the Detroit girls volleyball team
compete for the North American
Maccabi championship. The
squad ended up earning the

bronze medal in the seven-team
field.
`They weren't that bad," Barry
insisted about the drives. "We
left at 6 or 6:30 in the morning
the first three days and about 5
o'clock the last day.
"After the volleyball, we
stayed to watch other sports or
have lunch. The latest we re-
turned home was 7 o'clock.
"We only ran into bad weath-
er once, on the final day. We hit
some dense fog in Ohio on our
way to Cleveland but we walked
into the gym during warmups,
so we didn't miss a thing."
On the first three days, the
Berlins made the drive in their
Chrysler LeBaron. When that
car had to go into service, they

switched to their Toyota Celica.
`They're both convertibles and
they have CD players," Barry
said. "We listened to everything
from classical to hard rock to folk
music during the drives. On the

"The drives weren't
that bad."

Barry Berlin

last day in the fog, it was Eric
Clapton."
Niki, 16, played basketball
and softball in her first two years
of Maccabi competition.
Volleyball was her sport the last
two years, and she won bronze

medals each time.
"The Maccabi Games are
great for Jewish kids," Barry
said. 'The Jewish experience is
wonderful, plus they get a chance
to pursue a sport they enjoy and
meet other Jewish athletes their
age from all over the country and
the world."
Niki, who hopes to play'varsi-
ty girls basketball, volleyball and
softball during her upcoming ju-
nior year at Berkley High School,
agrees with her father about the
Maccabi Games.
"Even though I'm disappoint-
ed I didn't win any gold medals
in my four years, I'm really go-
ing to miss playing Maccabi
sports," she said. "Hopefully, I
can come back as a Detroit vol-

leyball coach. I learned so much
about volleyball from my
Maccabi coaches.
"I switched to volleyball after
playing basketball and softball
because it's my favorite sport. I
also thought that was the sport
in which I'd have the best op-
portunity to win a gold medal."
Niki was a key player for the
1994 Detroit Maccabi girls vol-
leyball squad. A fine server and
setter, she also was constantly
offering encouragement to her
teammates.
Barry and Adele Berlin are
both teachers at Roosevelt
Middle School in the Oak Park
School District. Barry is a social
studies teacher and Adele is a
special education instructor. I]

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