At last month’s JCC Maccabi Games in Israel, two soccer players from Potomac, Aiden Abergel, 16, and Adam Field, 17, found themselves on an international team. Along with other Americans, their teammates included Ukrainian, Moroccan and Israeli teens.
“It was a great experience,” Field said, “We met a lot of people, traveled a lot and played a lot of soccer.”
The games brought young athletes to Israel from 10 countries and across four continents. The boys’ soccer team won their first match against a team of Alabama and New York athletes, but lost their second match 9-2 against students from the Bay Area. They were able to make a comeback in their third game, tying 5-5 against Israeli athletes.
“That was our best game,” Field said, in an interview before the group left Israel to return to the United States. “We were down 5 to 1 with seven minutes left and we came back. That’s what brought us together. It was a big turnaround.”
Abergel, Field and their teammates cemented first place, winning against Atlanta.
Field said the international group grew close, unhindered by the lack of a common language.
“They taught us some French and we taught them some English,” Field said, “We were able to laugh and joke even though we weren’t speaking the same language.”
“It was nice to meet new people from all over the world,” Abergel said.
The team won their three playoff games, with the last one going into penalties.
“Our Israeli goalkeeper made a great save and then ended up scoring the winning penalty,” Field said.
After the games, Abergel and Field toured Israel with the rest of the delegation, sponsored by the Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. They spent a night in Bedouin tents, volunteered at a food-packing organization in Tel Aviv, walked through underground water tunnels in Jerusalem and held a service at the Western Wall for participants who had not celebrated a bar or bat mitzvah. Abergel said his highlight was swimming in the Dead Sea; Field enjoyed their group’s sunrise hike up Masada.
They also learned about wheelchair basketball and got to try it for themselves.
“It was a cool experience you don’t see that every day,” Abergel said. “And to learn about how people play basketball and compete in their own way. It gets your arms tired, too.”
In Jerusalem, the Washington group saw demonstrators against the Israeli government’s legislation to limit the power of the Supreme Court.
“Everything we saw was very peaceful,” said Renee Brodsky, head of the Greater Washington delegation from North Potomac. “Families with young kids to older people, everything in between. Most of them were carrying flags or had the flags draped around them.”
The JCC Maccabi Games will continue in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Aug. 6–11. Abergel and Field will be busy with training for the Churchill High School varsity soccer team. Brodsky, however, will be the delegation head for Greater Washington again, leading 50 athletes and 10 coaches.
This is Brodsky’s 25th summer being a part of the Greater Washington delegation at the JCC Maccabi Games. She began volunteering when her own kids went through the program, getting involved to advocate for better uniforms. Since then, she has helped with various components of the games, from booking travel to acting as an assistant delegation head.
“I do whatever they need me to do,” Brodsky said. “Everybody says, ‘Why do you want to go?’ But to me, they’re my Maccabi family. I really got to know a number of the kids and I truly miss them.” ■
Molly Zatman is a freelance writer.
