MACCABI 2010

I'm leavin' on a jet plane

2010-08-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our time in Baltimore at Maccabi was so much fun. But everything must come to an end. I can't wait for the reunions. Next year in Philly or Israel!

Nap time

Fred and baby Carlos

We're back!!!!!!!

Closing Festivities

2010-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Closing festivities were awesome! We got to see all of our artists perform (quite the talented bunch) and there were also lots of other fun activities for everyone between performances.

Jonathan and the teachers tuning up the instruments, checking the sound, and giving us a great pre-show.

Jonathan rocked and we loved every second of it

Such a colorful pic Dan the ladies man

Pictures with the famous Jonathan Cohen

Rockin' out and dancin' about

"I believe I can fly"

Jazz and music world performed incredibly. Both those who had a trained ear and those listening to jazz for the first time were so impressed with how these kids sounded after just a week together.

In the lobby of the performance hall was the video created by TV/Film Production. Brian will be by later to show us what he did.

Fun and games outside

Gaga!!!

Brian played the voice of G-d in one of the skits the film crew shot.

Brian on camera and on screen on camera... so cool

The murals that Shannon helped the visual arts specialty create.

Enjoying the performances of our delegation-mates.

Erika and Alex showing us the great skits they created and practiced all week, both in large and small groups. (Warning: these pictures may be a little blurry as no flash photography was allowed).

Fear the turtle

Men in black #3

"And now we would like to welcome to the stage guest singer Jonathan Cohen!"

"Jon-a-than! Jon-a-than! Jon-a-than!"

Shannon headbanging to the music

So cute

Awesome inflatables

The world is jealous of our dance moves

Air guitar baby

Sweet hat

Final swim

2010-08-15T08:23:00.001-07:00

As competition came to a close our swimmers made us proud in the pool and the other athletes created a phenomenal cheering section.

Another medal for team RI-W... woohoo!

This picture was taken every day.

These girls dominated the competition.

Best DH's ever!

9 medals! That's more than Michael Phelps!

All of our swimmers walked away with medals.
Made me so proud!

Hang Time

2010-08-15T08:14:00.001-07:00

Hanging out at hang time

The only way to keep her quiet :)

Jon makes a good seat

Same height best friends

DOCAS - Days of Caring and Sharing

2010-08-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

Days of Caring and Sharing is a wonderful part of the Maccabi experience. For a couple hours during the week the kids take a break from their sports and arts specialties to take a look at the bigger picture.

Tikkun Olam is a Hebrew term meaning "repairing the world." Community service is an important value in Judaism. DOCAS helps these teens to take the first step.

For the first part of DOCAS, we were sung and spoken to by a group whose focus was health and AIDS prevention and awareness. They told us that in order to keep the world a healthy place, we must keep ourselves healthy.

There were two different projects that people participated in. One was decorating bags for adults and children hospital-bound due to HIV and AIDS. They filled the bags with toiletries donated by the teens and the Baltimore JCC distibuted them to local hospitals.

The second project was decorating garden boxes for area pre-schools. While some parts of Greater Baltimore are thriving with well-off families, others fall into a low-income bracket. There are many local nursery schools providing inexpensive day care to these children ages 2-5, but because of a lack of funds the facilities run a good program without much outer beauty. That's where we came in. These garden boxes will add life and color to the properties and planting flowers will be a fun learning experience for the little ones.

More competition

2010-08-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Another day of competition and more great performances by our athletes.

Everyone swam their hearts out.

Fay racking up the medals

Cheering FDH on

Basketball girls fueling up before a big game

Pump up speech to the team at half time

Rooting on our favorite soccer player

Go Aaron Go!

Dave & Busters

2010-08-15T07:04:00.001-07:00

Dave & Busters is a giant arcade. There is everything from skiball to air hockey to race car games, a pool hall, a dance floor and more. Best of all, it ws rented out exclusively to Maccabi. Everyone had a blast

ArtsFest Practice

2010-08-15T06:43:00.001-07:00

ArtsFest is a great learning experience for Jewish teens to improve the skill they have a passion for. Maccabi brings in brilliant, talented minds in a variety of fields to help the kids perfect their craft.

Shannon helped kids create beautiful murals that would be displayed during closing festivities

Jonathan is in his fourth year at Maccabi ArtsFest.
Thanks to his experience and knowledge from previous years,
he was able to help younger artists rock out in rock band.

Louis and Andrew loved getting to strum on the guitar all day.
The jazz and world music AIR (artist in resident) was so passionate
about the music that the electricity in the room was unbelievable.

Brian truly enjoyed TV/Film Production.
His face lit up when he told us about film's trip to
Maryland Public Television, the editing room,
and all the cool stuff behind the scenes.

Erika and Alex were shining stars in the acting/improv class.
They enjoyed learning important lessons from their AIR
about projecting your voice, staging, and much more.
They also collaborated in small groups to create their own skits
that would later be performed during closing festivities.

Competition Day 2

2010-08-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Day 2 started off strong with swimming. Hannah, Dan, and Fay all swam hard, made friends, and broke personal bests.

Dan and mom after a great race

Cheering the team on!

More medals! RI-W is really racking 'em up

Befriending the competition

"I'm starting to get the hang of playing with a cast," said Noah on Tuesday. And it must have been true because while his competition was tough, he kept both matches of the day very close. His opponents were really impressed with his skill level and desire to play on no matter the circumstance.

The fans

Hang time is a great part of the Maccabi experience. During down time kids can go hang out in this space and do so many fun activities, many of which help create friendships. There is inflatable basketball, air hockey, and foosball. The kids also enjoyed learning Hebrew words, playing Jew-perdy and of course band hero.

Rockin' out at rock band

The basketball team faced the toughest competition of the tournament, a perennial winner, Team Israel. These girls have played together for years and the team chemistry showed. With no subsitutes due to injuries, it was in uphill battle. But Team RISJ played their hearts out and made the score closer than anyone would have imagined.

Cheering the team on

After the day's activities everyone was picked up for a night with their host families. Some families took the kids down to the harbor in Baltimore and others went to a pool party. It was nice getting to know their temporary parents and siblings and truly thank them for attending so many Maccabi events and cheering them on.

Power Plant Live

2010-08-10T10:29:00.001-07:00

Monday night all of the athletes, artists, coaches, and delegation heads loaded up the buses and headed down to the Baltimore Harbor. Right across from Pier 5 is an outdoor entertainment venue called Power Plant Live, rented out exclusively for Maccabi. There was a live band, a DJ, a lounge and lots of snacks.

Getting ready to go

The venue straight ahead

Live band all night

FBI pic #2

The door to nowhere

1st day of competition

2010-08-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

The first day of competition was awesome! Everyone played their hardest and gave everything they had. Some won, some lost, but all had fun.

Supporting the team

Hannah started the day off strong

Fay, "lil' bit"

Go Dan!

Photo finish

Looking spiffy in her Nike Hydra1

Go Swimmers!

Swimming day 1 was quite successful. It was a tough field, and a big one too, especially in the 13/14 age groups, but our swimmers stepped up to the competition. Hannah and Fay medaled in a relay together and Fay collected another 2 of her own. Look out Baltimore, Team Rhode Island - Worcester is here!

Basketball!

Go Allie, Daniella, Gabby, Hannah, and Haley!!!

Our basketball team combined with San Jose to create a diverse team. Basketball was placed in the toughest bracket of the games. Their first game was against Philadelphia, a serious medal contender. The girls gave it their all, but in the end, Philly was just too much for them.

Medals!!! There will be more where those came from!

Soccer!

Go Aaron!

Aaron is playing soccer on a very mixed team. They are calling themselves "5D" for 5 delegations. Aaron's teammates are delegates of Hartford, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and San Jose. Despite being a whole mess of boys who had never played together before, they beat the Houston/Virginia Beach team in the first game of the day. The second game was against a Los Angeles team that was tough competition. Every goal we scored was answered quickly and when the final whistle blew, 5D came up a little short.

Tennis!

Go Noah!

Broken arm and all, Noah stepped on to the tennis court with determination. (He even got the cast in red to show team spirit!) Because of the cast on his left hand and arm he's found tennis a more difficult game than he remembered just weeks ago. Everything from backhands to serving to simply getting the ball out of his pocket is not as easy as it once was. Such things could never break his spirit though and Noah trugged on through a morning and afternoon match. While the final scores were not quite what he had hoped for, he still had a smile on his face and a look of determination in his eye.

Angela! Angela! Angela!

Precious!

The other athletes came out to support their teammates

Go team!

The basketball team had an intense, close game against hometown Baltimore. The score was close the throughout. Despite knocking down jump shots, lay-ups and free throws, Baltimore came away with the W.

Team Rhode Island - Worcester will be back on the field, the court, and in the pool tomorrow hoping for even more success and fun in the days to come.

Opening Ceremonies

2010-08-09T04:58:00.000-07:00

Opening Ceremonies were awesome!

We marched from Johnny Unitas Stadium to the Towson Center at Towson University. As we made our way into the Towson Center, proudly displaying our banner, the delegation name was called and the kids all broke out into a "Rhode!" "Island!" chant. The stands were filled with parents, siblings, host families and other spectators. The energy was electric.

There were speeches and videos telling us about the history of Maccabi, the future (Israel 2011!) and Jews in the spotlight. We watched a dance that symbolized the bringing together for the first time of Maccabi Games and Maccabi ArtsFest. And then we celebrated. There was dancing, laughing, beach ball being thrown high into the air, and fun all around.

The delegation!

Games ArtsFest

Walking to the Towson Center

Making friends

Celebrate!

ISRAEL!!! FBI agents protecting us

Good Morning Baltimore

2010-08-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

Team Rhode Island-Worcester has arrived!

We landed at BWI at 8:30am.

We hopped on the bus to the JCC with Cincinnati and Dayton (and made new friends already!)

Once we arrived at the J we noshed and schmoozed before heading to orientation and a tour of the building.

Enjoy the pictures!

Heading to the airport Candids at baggage claim

On the bus to the J! FOOD!!!

Re-do!

HANG TIME!

ORIENTATION

AVOIDING THE CAMERA... GOTCHA!

Rockin' Dan's sweet shades

The preschool has very little water fountains lol

4 days away!

2010-08-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

We are only 4 days away from Maccabi 2010! This year we are headed to Baltimore, MD. For the first time ever Maccabi Games and Maccabi ArtsFest are coming together. Team Rhode Island is teaming up with team Worcester to arrive in Baltimore with 10 athletes and 6 artists.

Basketball:
Daniella Levine
Haley Medeiros
Hannah Meharg
Allie Robbio
Gabby Warshay

Soccer:
Aaron Libman

Tennis:
Noah Shea

Swimming:
Fay Laborio
Daniel Rabin
Hannah Sinrich

Jazz Band: (guitar)
Louis Boguslav

Rock Band: (piano)
Jonathan Cohen

Acting and Improv:
Erika Feeney
Alex Mollahan

Jazz and Music World:
Andrew Mollahan

TV/Film Production:
Brian Vinik