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.