Sophia
and Becca
Garfinkel
Two Twins, Two Paths
Steve Stein
Contributing Writer
T
he Garfinkel twins of West
Bloomfield have gone their sepa-
rate ways since graduating from
high school. But in many ways, they're as
close as ever.
Becca Garfinkel is a freshman at the
University of Michigan. She's a walk-
on catcher on the U-M softball team, a
national powerhouse that has won four
consecutive Big Ten Conference cham-
pionships and made 17 straight appear-
ances in the NCAA tournament. The
Wolverines were 53-6 last season.
"Right now, I'm a bullpen catcher:'
Becca said. "Two of the bullpen catchers
from last season graduated, so they need-
ed someone. I've always been a huge fan
of the U-M softball team. I thought if I
ever had a chance to be on the team, I had
to give it a shoe
Sophia Garfinkel is a freshman at the
College of Wooster (Ohio). She's a forward
and midfielder on the Wooster women's
soccer team, one of the top programs
in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes
Region. She played in eight games this fall
for the Scots, who went 9-7-3.
"College soccer is a faster game than
I'm used to, but I think I'm able to help
my team because of my speed:' Sophia
said.
Even though each twin is an outstand-
ing athlete with a lengthy resume of high
school honors, they're attending college
on academic scholarships.
They chose their schools for their scho-
lastic offerings, not because they were
recruited to play sports there.
"Obviously, we both value education
very much',' Becca said. Each sister gradu-
ated from high school with close to a 4.0
grade point average.
Becca hopes to go to law school, and
perhaps manage a nonprofit organization
someday. Sophia hopes to go to medical
school.
The twins turned 19 on Dec. 20. Becca
is older, by 24 minutes, but the 5-foot-8
inch Sophia is a half-inch taller and "more
mature than I am:' Becca said with a
laugh.
Becca graduated from the International
Academy in Bloomfield Hills, but she
played sports at Bloomfield Hills Andover
High School. Sophia graduated from
Andover.
Softball was Becca's top sport in high
school. She was mainly a catcher in the
three years she played at Andover.
Sophia played soccer for four years
for the Barons. A forward, she led the
team in scoring as a freshman with 12
goals. Andover was an Oakland Activities
Association division champion in her
junior season.
Becca and Sophia also played volleyball
and basketball at Andover. They were on
the same volleyball team as juniors and
seniors, and the same basketball team
when they were seniors.
They're glad they took advantage of the
opportunity to play on the same teams, but
are equally as happy that their major athletic
passions are different.
"I made the Andover softball and soc-
cer teams when I was a sophomore, and
I'm happy I decided to go with softball so
I could focus on that sport:' Becca said.
"But it was fun playing with Sophia on the
same teams:'
"Whether or not we were on the same
team, we pushed each other, and that
helped both of us," Sophia said.
Golf Travel Packages
Bids are still being accepted for three
silent auction golf travel packages
offered at the Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation's Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame induction dinner in November.
The packages are for the 2012 Masters,
Ryder Cup and Pro-Am at Pebble Beach
tournaments.
Contact foundation executive director
David Blatt at (248) 592-9323 or dblatt@
michiganjewishsports.org for more infor-
mation. fl
Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com .
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Rick & Ken Bloom
Bloom Asset Management
January 5 • 2012
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