According to the Detroit Jewish News’s Steve Stein, a team of Jewish athletes from Metro Detroit, Grand Rapids and New York teamed up together to represent the Winged Wheel at the Maccabi Games in Israel:
Resplendent in their Detroit Red Wings-style uniforms, hockey players from Detroit and Grand Rapids gave it their best shot a long way from home. They didn’t win a medal at the JCC Maccabi Games last month in Israel. They won just two of five games.
But the memories they made during their three-week stay, that included the week-long Maccabi Games and two weeks of immersive educational travel around Israel with other athletes ages 14-17, will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
“Going on that tour around Israel was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Mason Marcus. “To take in all those significant sites in Israel with Jewish kids my age was great.”
Nine players representing Detroit, two representing Grand Rapids and four representing New York City made up one of the eight teams in the Maccabi Games hockey competition.
The Detroit/Grand Rapids/NYC team practiced just four times before the Maccabi Games began. Three practices were at the Farmington Hills Ice Arena. One was in Israel, where the NYC players joined with their Michigan teammates.
“We were competitive,” said Detroit/Grand Rapids/NYC coach Mark Weiss. “There were some very good teams there.”
