\Th
because after such a wonderful experi-
ence, we'd like it to continue."
Nationally the totals are up, to
4,900 athletes in four cities —
Houston, Columbus, Cherry Hill and
Rochester, N.Y. Last year, the two sites
of Detroit and Charlotte, N.C., drew
a total of 4,000 competitors.
Cost isn't the only factor in the
Detroit decline. Maccabi is being held
earlier this year, when some athletes are
still in camp or involved with other
summer commitments. Other students
won't be competing because they don't
want to miss the practice and tryout
sessions for their high school sports.
"We were looking to have more visit-
ing athletes, but it dropped off some
due to school sports," noted
Shana Cantor, assistant games
director in Columbus. Cantor
said Columbus, a third-time
host of the games, had more
housing than visiting athletes.
In Detroit last summer,
many Maccabi athletes were
shuttled back and forth from
Maccabi events to high school
workouts, which Cantor
expects to occur in Columbus
for her athletes. "I'm not sure
if schools would be as accom-
modating if the community
wasn't hosting," she said.
Detroit's Friedman noted
that the week isn't meant to
be a sports camp.
"The biggest problem is
that the demands on a kid
roday are so high that
they're torn," he said. "The
kid who goes to Maccabi
decides that's what he or she
,,
really wants to do.
Said Jeff Fox, one of the
girls soccer coaches, "Anyone
playing a fall sport can't
afford to go away. If a ninth-
grade boy is hoping CO make
his high school soccer team,
he can't miss the week of workouts."
Andy Gordon, a boys soccer coach,
agreed. He helped train 16 players last
year; a majority of them were eligible
again this year. But only four tried out
and none of them ultimately decided
to play. Just five of last year's 30 play-
ers on the 13- and 14-year-old teams
will compete this year; the team will
use four players from Pittsburgh to
round out the roster.
"We'd have gone for the fun of it
but the cost was too much," said Brad
Edelson, 14, a West Bloomfield High
School freshman who, along with his
16-year-old brother Jeff, tried out and
made the team.
Brad has aspirations of making the
WBHS varsity team. "There'd have
been no chance to make varsity or
junior varsity if I went," he said. "I'd
have been on the freshman team if
there was one. My brother is almost
guaranteed to be on varsity, but if he's
at tryouts, he can earn a starting spot."
Brad suggested that the games be
held at the beginning of summer to
attract teens who otherwise would
miss them because of camp, and not
make them have to choose between
their school sports and Maccabi.
Anne Littman, a Bloomfield Hills
Cranbrook High School sophomore
playing on Fox's soccer team, said she
might not have played this year if she
hadn't solidified her spot on her
school's varsity basketball team last fall.
"Since I know I already have a spot
on the team, it's not as big a deal," she
said, noting that her coach is already
unhappy that she's missing the presea-
son basketball training. "If I wasn't
already on, I probably wouldn't have
played Maccabi."
Fox contends that he'd be able to
field a full team of Detroit athletes if
the timing was better. "When we
found out the dates, most of the 30
girls that tried out said they couldn't
make it because they don't come back
from camp until the next week," he
said. "The nine kids that are going
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Detroit Jewish News 11