By Sharon Wisch-Ray

Maccabi fever spreads to Tarrant County

A highlight of 2015 is sure to be the Maccabi Games, which will be held Aug. 2-7 in and around Dallas. There is an information session for parents and interested athletes at 6 p.m., Thursday Jan. 8 in the Zale Auditorium at the Aaron Family JCC, 7900 Northaven Road in Dallas. You can get many of your questions answered at that meeting. There is a wealth of information as www.dallasmaccabi.org.
In next week’s issue we will have a full list of the tryout schedule, but want to emphasize that this is an opportunity open to Jewish kids in Tarrant County as well.
The advantage of having the games locally is that it is less expensive for the athletes to participate since there is no air travel involved.  In addition, as we were literally putting this week’s paper in the hopper, Federation Executive Director Bob Goldberg advised me that there would be some scholarships available for Tarrant County athletes.
The Endowment Committee of the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, chaired by Larry Brunell, has made available a limited number of scholarships for Tarrant County Jewish athletes who qualify to participate in the Dallas 2015 Maccabi Games. For scholarship information, please contact Bob Goldberg at 817-569-0892 at the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth & Tarrant County.
This opportunity only comes around locally every 10 years. The last time Dallas hosted the games was in 2005. At that time, our family hosted two baseball players from Baltimore. Our kids weren’t even old enough to participate, but the feeling of being a part of a several thousand person Jewish effort was overwhelming for all of us.
Since then our oldest Benjamin, played on the baseball team at the Philly games in 2011 and Sam, 14, played on the 16-U baseball team last summer in Boca.
Both boys will tell you that they gained more than just the experience of competing. They have maintained friendships with other Jewish teens they met both on their Team Dallas delegation and from other cities and even countries.
In addition to the social benefits, each athlete participates in an organized community service project JCC Cares. Both of our boys came away with a deepened sense of Jewish pride from their Maccabi experience.
Check out the schedule next week and head over to Big D for tryouts. Better yet, take on a volunteer role. You won’t regret it!
Wishing everyone all the best for a Happy & Healthy New Year. Please send your news to me at sharonw@texasjewishpost.com.