Detroit Maccabi's volleyball teams
are in a rebuilding year, but banking
on a strong tradition.

Above: Marci Cohen
practices setting the
ball.

Right: Ken Bertin
gives some tips to
Jesse Bernstein.

I.

ll wo veteran coaches have just
three months to mold Detroit's
JCC North American Maccabi
Youth Games' volleyball teams.
Detroit's teen teams in all sports
will attend the games scheduled
to open Aug. 18 in New Jersey.
For volleyball coaches Kenneth Bertin
and Sam Skeegan, putting competitive
teams together is no easy task since, as
Bertin says, "Basketball is the darling of the
Maccabi Games and volleyball is the weak
sister."
Nevertheless, Skeegan and Bertin expect
both the boys and girls Detroit volleyball
teams to be competitive. The girls have the
best chance to medal since all but one of the
players have previous Maccabi experience.
However, winning a medal is not a pri-
ority. "I won't drive my kids," says Bertin,
"but I will make sure that they are compet-
itive enough not to be embarrassed. I tell

YAACOV D. SCHOLAR SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

the kids that the most important thing is
just to get to the games. The second thing
is the games themselves."
Skeegan and Bertin team-coach both the
boys and girls teams. While both coaches
are well versed in all aspects of volleyball,
Bertin is strongest in team selection and
management, while Skeegan specializes in
technique.
"We should do all right," says Skeegan,
"but a lot depends on the kinds of teams that
Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco
send; they're the strong teams. I expect the
girls' competition to be much stiffer than the
b oys'."
Bertin is even more optimistic than Skee-
gan about the girls' chances. "I expect the
girls to bronze at least, but they have a good
chance at silver or gold," he says. "All of our
players are great ball handlers, even though
taller girls are not usually known for that."
Leading the girls team into the Maccabi

Games and playing middle blocker position
will be 15-year-old, 5-foot-8-inch Sarah
Schreiber, who is coming back for her sec-
ond year of Maccabi volleyball. Schreiber
plays freshman volleyball and junior varsi-
ty softball at Walled Lake Central High
School.
"Sarah is the team's best all-around play-
er," says Bertin. "She was great last year
and will be phenomenal this year. Sarah
has great hands for setting, she's a tremen-
dous hitter and blocker, and she really un-
derstands the game. Over the past year, she
had a lot of training playing for the Walled
Lake freshman team, an undefeated team
and one of the leading high-school volley-
ball teams in the state."
Schreiber likes Maccabi for more than the
competition. "It's lots of fun, and you get
to meet lots of people," she says. She is very

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