Day 6: Bronze medal winners!

Great day to be from Phoenix!!!
The 1,500 Maccabi athletes arrived at Hebrew University in Jerusalem from far-flung corners of Israel. Our boys and girls had spent two nights with host families in Ashkelon, about an hour from the capital. After unloading the buses, the kids put their belongings in a baggage area and headed toward the stadium with one soccer field inside a big track and field track.
In our bronze medal game against Columbus, Ohio, we started well by playing great defense and controlling the ball. About 12 minutes in, Brett saw an opportunity to push up into the attack: he took possession at mid-field, passed ahead to Gino, kept running toward goal, received a perfect pass back, and curled a clinical finish around a diving keeper. 1-0.
In the game's last 15 minutes, Gino added two terrific goals to make it 3-0. Final goal tallies: Gino 6, JZ 2, Brett 2. Aaron played 5.5 quarters in goal and only let in 6 goals, which is phenomenal for his first games ever as a keeper! He has definitely found his calling.
After our game we cheered on Scotty Levine in tennis (lost in a tie-breaker but still won the silver medal) and the 15-and-under boys basketball team, which won a truly epic rematch with Boca Raton. With our soccer boys cheering and chanting non-stop for an hour and a half, Phoenix won the overtime thriller by ONE POINT to remain undefeated and take the gold.
THEN, enjoyed a fantastic closing ceremonies, replete with montages of highlights from the week and live performances from the Arts Fest participants. Excellent singing and dancing, with a special appearance from the hot new a capella singing group "The Maccabeats." Crowd sang along with many of the hits.
Finally, drove in buses to our youth hostel/hotel in Jerusalem, where we'll stay the next four nights.
Great tournament, Phoenix! Now let's enjoy sight-seeing in the Holy Land....

Day 5, Shabbat Shalom!

No pics from our athletes, as they are down in Ashkelon staying with host families Friday and Saturday nights. Many of the coaches got some badly needed Rest & Relaxation at a hotel in Netanya, just 20 miles up the coast from Tel Aviv. Two weeks ago, a disgruntled Israeli set up a tent along a street in Tel Aviv and told Facebook friends he was protesting the high costs of apartments, food, and taxes that are burdening the middle class. Each day, more tents sprang up, and tonight, 30,000 Israelis (plus Coach Adamo, pictured above) marched and chanted in the streets. It was equal parts political action, street theatre, and Woodstock, with the most popular chant being:
"Ha'am, doresh, tzedek chevreti!" ("The people demand social justice.")
Among others, Doctors have gone on strike in the past week, protesting relatively low pay and long hours compared to doctors in Europe and especially the United States. (Example: a highly-trained radiologist in Tel Aviv might 70 hours a week for an annual base pay of $70,000 U.S. dollars, while he or she pays $1,000 a month to rent a 1-bedroom apartment. With the current salaries, it is extremely difficult to support a family and/or purchase a house.)
One major bone of contention: the "charedim" (extremely religious, orthodox Jews including chasidics) receive massive subsidies from the government to support their large families, while they are not required to serve in the Army or even to work. Several religious parties represent important swing votes in the Knesset, however, and thus they are able to maintain control over subsidies for families with numerous children, payments to orthodox men who wish to pray rather than have jobs, the ability of a woman to be granted a divorce ("get") so that she can escape an abusive marriage and/or remarry, and the growth of controversial settlements in West Bank areas with Biblical significance.

Day 4, Sharing & Caring

Friday morning, the Phoenix delegation went with 100 other Maccabians to an underfunded community center in Kiryat Shmona. Our kids and those from Denver and several other cities worked to beautify the center: weeding and removing rocks then planting flowers and small trees; creating benches from old tires, cement, and pottery shards; and painting four LARGE murals on walls that previously featured only flecked paint and rust stains. After working our tushes off, we returned to the Maccabi games hub and loaded buses bound for our 2-day home stays. Phoenix went to Ashkelon down south--we'll reconvene in Jerusalem Sunday, where highlights will include the 15U boys basketball team and Scott Levine in tennis playing for gold medals, and the 17U boys soccer squad going for a bronze.

Day 3: FANTASTIC win in quarters!

Phoenix beats the "Continental Team" of strong players from 9 US cities!

Defense led by Brett and Bryan, terrific goal keeping by Aaron, and great hustle by everyone kept it 0-0 until 6 minutes to go when the magic happened: Lorenzo passed up the sideline to Gino, who beat two defenders to the middle and ripped a left-footed shot for the game winner!

Next game: 0-0 at halftime against very strong Memphis team in the semi-finals, with Brett and Gino coming tantalizing close to scoring. We lose 0-2, but play in JERUSALEM Sunday for the bronze medal in the consolation bracket. Kids are psyched!

Heading to community service project ("Sharing and Caring") at 6:30 a.m. Friday, then to host families for two nights.....

Day 2: hard-fought 1-2 loss, dramatic 2-1 victory

Great looking team! Phoenix/Tucson, Maccabi 2011, Israel


Josh, Lorenzo, and JZ with not-quite-lifesized Yossi Benayoun,
the greatest Israeli player in history. Yossi scored highlight-reel
goals for Liverpool before being transfered to Chelsea last year.
To watch 33-sec video of JZ's great PK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Rlyqh-NY8


Noah's sprained ankle was a tremendous babe-magnet.
Here Israeli dancer Tzilil offers rest and relaxation.


Two celebrated singers: Adamo from the party band Twice Baked
(book us for your wedding bar mitzvah, confirmation, bris,
annulment, funeral, etc.) and Brett Loewenstern from
American Idol...

Day 2: Phoenix/Tucson boys put together two complete games! 1st played Denver/Detroit/Houston, the best American team in the tournament. Starters all 17 year-olds, including two boys that play for Real Colorado Academy, the development squad for the MLS professional team. (The Israeli team is by far the best, but they have 18 and 19 year-old professionals, and our rules say 17 is the upper limit! Big scandal, btw.)

Denver/Detroit was really strong, but we held them without a goal for 29 minutes. Went into half down 0-1 after Aaron S made a half-dozen terrific saves, and then lightning struck about 5 minutes into the 2nd half: Shawn's thow-in was a laser, and Gino hit a stunning volley into the net to tie the game 1-1. We held off the onslaught for another 8 minutes before Denver scored to win it 2-1, but our boys fought hard till the final whistle. Case in point: Noah Z stretched his foot out to block yet another thumped shot, and the impact sprained his ankle! We learned back at the "hub" where we hang out between games that Israeli medics at SPORTING EVENTS do NOT have CRUTCHES! He's walking a bit this evening, however, so he'll still get to enjoy the rest of the Maccabi Games and tour, though he won't be able to play any more soccer.

This afternoon, played a terrific game against a Baltimore squad with the best goalie we've seen in the tournament. The Belassens combined for a great goal in the 1st half: Gino hitting a diagonal ball to Lorenzo pushing up along the right wing, Lorenzo crossing it back into Gino in the center, and Gino crushing the ball into the net.

In the 2nd half, we had about 6 breakaway attempts, but their keeper stopped us every time. In the meantime, B'more tied the score 1-1 with a quick counter-attack. Facing a disappointing draw in our final qualifying round game, we scored the decisive goal with about 8 minutes to play: Shawn fired in a low, scorching cross to the near post, where Jacob Z volleyed the ball hard and low into the corner of the net, past the diving keeper. A great combination for a well-deserved win!

We got the 4th seed in the blue division and will play the 5th seeded "Continental Team" in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning. We haven't seen them play, but a coach told me that they have a number of strong players culled from cities that only sent 1 or 2 kids to the Games. The winner plays in the afternoon in the semifinals and is guaranteed to play in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Peace out....Adamo

Day 1, Competition

Phoenix/Tucson with adoring, young Israeli day campers

Two good halves for the Phoenix/Tucson soccer teams, and two poor halves.

Game 1 v. Vancouver/Virginia Beach/Albuquerque/Metro West (with two really good Israelis as well) started well, with Gino crossing to Brett, who buried the shot into the net for a 1-0 lead. Playing on SUPER SMALL goals, unlike in American Maccabi competitions, and couldn't get one past their goalie despite great efforts from Gino, Brett, and Noah. Went into half up 1-0...
...but opponents unlocked the defense for 3 goals in the 2nd half, and Phoenix/Tucson fell 1-3.

Game 2 v. Orange County/San Diego started poorly, and Phoenix/Tucson down 0-3 at half.
HOWEVER, Gino laced one through the goalie's outstretched hands in the 1st minute of the second half, the Jacob Z beat two defenders and was 8 yards from the goal when he was fouled from behind. He fooled the goalie with a terrific penalty kicked that banged in off the post, and it was suddenly 2-3. After Aaron S made three heroic saves to keep us within a hair's breadth of tying the game, OC/SD put the insurance goal in the net with 2 minutes remaining. Last play of the game: Benji dribble up into space and put in a diagonal ball for Noah down the left wing, Noah "one-touched" a lovely cross that curled in to the far post for Brett, and Brett volleyed a hard shot perfectly toward the net...but their keeper made a diving save to push the shot wide of the post. Excellent game, terrific sportsmanship by both our squad and theirs.

Opening ceremonies after the games were epic--got back home to our nice dorms in the Golan (1 hour from the "hub" near Kvar Blum") at 1:00 a.m.!!!

Day 1, fun with IDF between games

Gino, Shawn, Israeli soldier, Jacob Z


Gino practices with (unloaded) Israeli weapon


Brett samples the latest hardware


Benji & Jacob Z: IDF (Israeli Defense Force) recruits?


Aaron with his game face on, JZ his wingman

Opening Ceremonies = AWESOME!!!

Noah, Jacob, Scott: opening ceremonies in Kiryat Shmona


Noah Bryan Aaron with Israeli singer/sign-carrier


Jacob Z with (male) athletes and (female) Israeli teenagers


Jacob Danny Gino with dancers


Aaron JZ and Israeli teens dancing in mosh pit with Israelis

Safe and Sound in Tel Aviv!

Phoenix to Tel Aviv

Photo in Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

Noah and Jacob Z wearing their father's uniforms for the Maccabi USA masters' team playing in Brazil, December 2011. Nice story by Pardes alum Erica Morris at http://www.jewishaz.com

New Uniforms! Arizona Maccabi 2011, Israel July 24-Aug 5

Arizona boys will play in style: seniors Aaron, Brett, Bryan, Gino, Jacob, & Josh; sophomores Lorenzo & Shawn; freshmen Ben, Benji, & Noah