The 2024 Team Dallas 16-U girls’ volleyball team won the gold medal for the first time since 2007 at the Maccabi Games in Houston Aug. 8, 2024. The volleyball champs sport their gold, from left: Maya Rothstein, Molly Wilkofsky, Leeam Ksabi, Jordyn Wilkofsky, Ella Sharoni, Coach Cheyenne Sewell, Sophie Weiner, Elinor David, Zara Menachemson, Shira Rahamim and Chloe Weiner.
By Noah Ohayon
On Sunday, Aug. 4, Team Dallas took 114 athletes and 26 coaches to the 2024 JCC Maccabi games in Houston. After bringing only 48 athletes last year, Dallas reestablished itself as one of the largest delegations at the games.
Following a week of fierce athletic competition and Jewish pride, Team Dallas walked away with 32 medals. However, the gold medal for the 16-U girls’ volleyball team was particularly special. It was their first time winning gold since 2007 and it carried on an important and meaningful legacy.
Before the 16-U girls’ volleyball final, Dallas delegation head Laurel Fisher asked Coach Cheyenne Sewell if she could speak to the team before their big game. Fisher explained that the last time Team Dallas won gold in 16-U girls’ volleyball was at the 2007 Maccabi Games in Houston, when she was the coach.
Team Dallas captured gold in the 2007 16-U volleyball competition. With their gold medals, from left, are Sarah Rohan, Camille Holiner, Kimberly Fishman, Alex Glazer, Noa Waks, Jamie Kleinman, Tracy Fisher, Emily Rohan and Coach Laurel Fisher.
The 2007 team was full of basketball players, and everyone was shocked when they beat undefeated Team Detroit in the semifinals. The gold medal match was hard-fought, eventually won in five games.
Also on that team was Fisher’s daughter Tracy (of blessed memory), who suddenly passed away from a pulmonary embolism in October 2009, the day before her 19th birthday. Fisher reminded the athletes of their “why” and the reason they play at Maccabi.
“To give these girls another reason to play with joy and purpose was what I was really trying to tell them,” Fisher said.
Fisher told the athletes that coming back to Maccabi every year, specifically helping and watching the volleyball team, is a part of her lasting bond with her daughter.
Team Dallas brought a delegation of 140 (114 athletes, 26 coaches) to the Maccabi games in Houston Aug. 4-9, 2024. The team earned 32 medals during the week of competition.
“For me, going to Maccabi is about creating an experience for the kids that is like the experience I had with Tracy, so the athletes have that love for the Jewish people and this Maccabi program,” she said. “It’s my connection to her and it was something we did together. It was important for me to bring her presence to the court that day.”
Going into their gold medal game, the athletes were not just playing for themselves but for Fisher, her daughter and the legacy of love and resilience that she represented.
For the first time in 17 years, the 16-U girls’ volleyball team earned the gold, beating the home team, Houston. Amid the celebration, the team realized they had been given an extra medal. Touched and inspired by Fisher’s story, the athletes asked their coach if they could honor her with the medal.
“When the girls brought me the medal, it was so unexpected,” Fisher said. “It was very touching that they wanted to share their win with me.”
This story is more than just one of athletic achievement — it’s a testament to the power of community, legacy and Jewish pride. Especially in today’s climate, teens need opportunities to be together in a place where they can show their Jewish pride and be inspired to take it back into their daily lives; this is what Maccabi does. As the Maccabi saying goes, “Sports is the vehicle and Jewish is the journey.”
