40 | AUGUST 4 • 2022
SPORTS
A
fter a two-year hia-
tus caused by the
COVID-19 pandem-
ic, the JCC Maccabi Games
are back.
They’re being held this
week (Aug. 1-4) in San Diego,
California. Eighteen Detroit
athletes, two chaperones and
delegation head Karen Gordon
are participating in the revival.
That’s a small group of ath-
letes by Detroit standards.
But even though this is the
40th Maccabi Games, in many
respects the sports, social and
cultural event for Jewish teens
around the world is starting
from scratch because of the
two-year layoff and navigating
through unchartered territory
because of the pandemic.
The JCC Association of
North America, which over-
sees the Maccabi Games, set
strict rules for participation
this year with the pandemic
still a part of everyday life.
Each of the approximately
1,500 athletes and 300 coaches
in more than 60 delegations
from the U.S., Canada, Great
Britain, Israel and Mexico had
to have two negative COVID
tests within 72 hours of travel-
ing to San Diego.
Everyone — including about
1,200 volunteers and 600 host
families — had to be vaccinat-
ed and boosted to participate
in the Maccabi Games.
Protocols are in place for
athletes and other Maccabi
Games participants testing
positive for COVID in San
Diego.
Before she left for San
Diego, Gordon said she was
confident all will go well.
“I have a feeling a lot of
people there will wear a mask
when appropriate,” she said.
“I know I will. I’ll be
responsible for 18 kids and
two adults, and that includes
keeping them healthy. I love
our two chaperones, but
they’ve never done something
like this before and it would
be a lot to throw at them if I
got sick.”
The two Detroit chaperones
are Donna Sklar and Sloan
Lemberg. Each has Maccabi
Games experience.
Donna is Karen’s sister-in-
law. She was Detroit’s tennis
coach at the 2008 and 2019
Maccabi Games hosted by
Detroit.
Lemberg was a four-year
dancer for Detroit. With
Detroit not having any full-
time coaches this year, she’s
been working with the three
Detroit dancers.
Scott Hutton, parent of a
Detroit hockey player, is help-
ing coach a hockey team made
up of players from Detroit,
New Jersey, New York and St.
Louis.
Dan Mizukovski, parent of a
New York player, also is help-
ing coach the team. Hutton
and Mizukovski are coaching
during games. They have no
other responsibilities with the
team.
Detroit did not have enough
athletes to form a team in any
sport, so Detroit team sport
athletes were paired with ath-
letes from other delegations.
Here are Detroit’s athletes:
— Hockey: Aiden Ben-
Ezra, Brennan Gesund, Lucas
Hutton, Braylon Juszak.
— 14U baseball: Drew and
Eli Edelstein, Ari Gottlieb,
Alexander Scheinfeld.
— Dance: Emily Feinstein,
Addison Fenster, Madison
Kraft.
— 16U girls basketball:
Grace Kleinfeldt, Layla Hill.
— 14U 3-on-3 boys basket-
ball: Ari Ellis, Spencer Sherr.
Detroit flag-bearer Grace Kleinfeldt: ‘I couldn’t miss out on
going’ to the revived JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego.
California Dreaming
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Grace Kleinfeldt shows off her dribbling skills during a Frankel Jewish
Academy girls basketball game last season.
FRANKEL JEWISH ACADEMY
NANCY BERMAN
Back in 2019, Grace
Kleinfeldt won a sil-
ver medal in doubles
table tennis at the
JCC Maccabi Games
hosted by Detroit.