I To Life!

4111111111111.01111111111.111111.0111014.110101111111111110-

SPORTS/TEENS

They're Ice Dancing
Across The Country

Steve Stein

Jewish Heritage Night

Special to the Jewish News

eginner's luck? Not when it
comes to the young ice
dancing team of Joshua
Leggett and Laura Perry.
Competing in their first regional
meet of the season, the Eastern
Great Lakes Regional
Championships in Carmel, Ind.,
Joshua and Laura placed fourth in
the juvenile dance division. That
qualified them to participate in
the 2006 U.S. Junior Figure Skating
Championships Nov. 30 through
Dec. 3 in Westminster, Colo. The
top four finishers in the regional
earned national berths.
Joshua, who turned 10 last week,
lives in West Bloomfield and is a
fifth-grader at Keith Elementary.
Laura, 9, of Bloomfield Hills, is a
fourth-grader at Way Elementary.
They've been skating together for
two years, training at the Detroit
Skating Club in Bloomfield
Hills.
Earlier this year, Joshua and
Laura took first place in pre-
juvenile couple dance at the
Ann Arbor Spring Invitational
and second place in juvenile
dance at Skate Cleveland.
Joshua also competes indi-
vidually. He has 15 practice
sessions on the ice per week,
takes ballet and ballroom
dancing lessons, and works
with an off-ice trainer. ❑

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization and Temple Beth El recently held a
Jewish Heritage Night for Jewish teens. The program featured the Late
Night Players, a group of five Brandeis University graduates, who per-
formed a comedy improvisation for 200 young people. After the per-
formance, the troupe led a discussion about Judaism, humor and the
role of Jewish comedians in the entertainment industry.
Shown at the event are, standing second from left, Stacey Oberman,
17, BBG Jewish Heritage chair, and, standing fourth from left, Mitchell
Adler, 15, AZA Council aleph shaliach — onstage with the Late Night
Players.

B

JCC HOOPS

They're hooping it up day and night at the
Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.
"Our Kenny Goldman Youth Basketball League
is booming," said Bruce Wineman, JCC sports
and recreation director. "We had about 60 kids
in the league five years ago. This fall, we have
close to 600 on 55 teams."
Wineman expects from 700-800 youths will
play during the winter session, which will
begin in January. Boys and girls from kinder-
garten through 10th grade play in house and
open leagues.

November 24 • 2005

BBYO Fall Conclave

Laura Perry and

Joshua Leggett

Teams practice once a week and play on
Sunday, but another game day may be sched-
uled during the winter. Players interested in
joining the league for the winter session should
contact Wineman at (248) 432-5498 by Jan. 5.
An evaluation day for house players is sched-
uled for Jan. 8.
The Goldman league is affiliated with the
NBA and WNBA, which provides instructional
materials for players and
coaches. ❑

Send your sports news to sports@thejewishnews.com .

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization's Fall Conclave, held Nov. 4-6 at Camp
Maas in Ortonville, featured the theme of sisterhood and brotherhood
for its 220 teen participants from Metro Detroit and Ann Arbor.
BBYO members enjoyed a Shabbot song session and services,
learned about efforts to save the people of Darfur in a social responsi-
bility program, and participated in a workshop about "dating, mating
and relating." Chapter cheer sessions, competitive games and a toga
party rounded out the weekend.
Senior AZA members shown participating in the Shabbat sing-a-
long are, from left, Eric Dropkin and Max Weberman of Jolson AZA;
Gabe Dell of Shaprio AZA; Eric Berlin of Kishon AZA; and Brad Garon
of Shapiro AZA.

New USY Board

The USY group at Adat Shalom Synagogue recently held elections for
a new board. The new officers are: president, Shera Dines; religious
education vice president, Hannah Posen; social action/tikkun olam,
Sammi Supowit; membership/Kadima, Daniel Rosenblum; communi-
cations, Danielle DePriesr; Israeli affairs, Allie Shipper.

NCSY Shabbaton

NCSY will have its Fall Shabbaton in Pittsburgh Dec. 1- 4. Teens
(grades 9-12) from Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cinncinatti,
Akron and Pittsburgh will enjoy music, food and friends. For
information, contact Rabbi Moshe Paley, (248) 914-8369 or
PaleyNCSY@aol.com .

25