42 | NOVEMBER 14 • 2024 
J
N

F

rom introducing themselves 
to each other just before their 
first game to gold medal 
winners.
That’s the amazing story of the 
multi-delegation 16U girls soccer 
team coached by West Bloomfield 
resident Alex Vinter that won a gold 
medal at the JCC Maccabi Games 
hosted by Detroit this summer.
Players from Detroit, Cleveland, 
New Orleans, New York and New 
Jersey were on the 12-member 
team.
Their journey to the gold medal 
was one of redemption. The team 
(let’s call it Detroit for simplicity’s 
sake) beat two teams in the medal 

round that it had lost to earlier in 
the competition.
Detroit fell behind and won in 
overtime in each medal round 
game. It didn’t allow a goal and 
scored three goals in the two 
overtime periods. Overtime lasted 
30 minutes in each game and didn’t 
end with a sudden-death goal.
“This really was a great group of 
girls. I had a blast coaching them,” 
Vinter said. “They supported each 
other emotionally and during 
games. Win or lose, they remained 
positive with each other.
“In the last two games, they rose 
up as a team to play some great 
soccer. It was some of the most 

exciting soccer I’ve had the privilege 
to coach.”
Detroit went 2-2 in the games 
it played before the medal round. 
How did it win the gold?
“I’d like to say the magic was my 
coaching, but that’s not true,” Vinter 
said. “It took us four games to get a 
feel for what everyone does. We lost 
10-5 to Toronto in the last of those 
four games, but I feel we started to 
jell at the end of that game.” 
Vinter did some juggling to fill 

the positions, but he didn’t need to 
worry about the goalie. Detroit’s 
Natalia Ben-Ezra filled that spot.
“I was lucky to have an 
experienced goalie,” he said. “That’s 
the most specialized position on the 
field.”
New Orleans’ Liliane Arjmand 
was the team’s leading scorer. She 
scored in overtime in each OT 
game. 
Detroit’s Charlie Rokicsak should 
have been playing in the 14U age 

Back-to-back overtime victories earned a 
JCC Maccabi Games gold medal for a 
16U girls soccer team with players from 
Detroit and four other delegations.

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
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Jenna and Alex Vinter 
and their gold medals.
The 16U girls soccer gold medal 
winners gather for a team photo. 

Charlie Rokicsak receives a Midot 
Medal from Alex Vinter after the 16U 
girls soccer gold medal game.