My JCC Maccabi Games Experience

My JCC Maccabi Games Experience

Santos Olumese | Team Long Beach 2023 Competitor

My name is Santos Olumese and I had the experience of going to the JCC Maccabi Games® 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I participated in basketball three-onthree tournament representing the Long Beach Alpert Jewish Community Center and brought home the silver medal. Our team was a combination of Tucson, Virginia Beach, and New Jersey. We were undefeated until the last game.

The JCC Maccabi Games® were a great and fun experience. I became good friends with my roommate who was playing baseball, and the host family was wonderful.

To start off the experience, we were dropped off at LAX by our parents and flew as a group to Miami. We went to Miami Beach, and we spent the weekend together with the contingent from Orange County and West Los Angeles for a Shabbaton. We all got dressed in white for Shabbos and got to hang out at the beach. On Sunday, we volunteered with JCC Cares making packages for kids starting the new school year, practicing the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam and giving back to the community. Our hosts, Mrs. Cheryl and Mr. Howard, were fabulous. They opened their homes to us and even did my laundry because I played every day and the jersey needed to be washed. They watched me play my first and last games. They dropped my roommate and me off, and they made me chocolate chip cookies.

JCC Maccabi® was so cool because there were kids from Ukraine, Israel, South Africa, and all over the United States that participated. It was really neat to see so many Jewish kids together. The Opening Ceremony took place in Amerant Bank Arena, which is home to the Florida Panthers. We walked in representing Long Beach with beach shirts and showed up on the big positron screen. We heard about the Munich massacre and heard from real Olympians. The idea is that we were all there together as Jewish kids competing but united.

We got to go on excursions like extreme sports with laser tags and mini golf. It allowed us to interact with all the athletes.

The Closing Ceremony had a silent DJ and was really a celebration for five hours including poker tables, mini basketball, foosball tables, food, and fun. It gave me a greater connection to the JCCs around the country and world. I really appreciate all the people that donated so that we could participate in the Maccabi games. It was truly an experience. I am so glad that I got to participate. I think it would be great if other people could attend.

I had always seen the poster of the people in the hallway going towards the swimming pool at the Alpert JCC and I always wondered about what that was. Now I know that the Maccabi Games is an exceptional experience. I have lifelong memories and made lifelong friends. Thank you to the sponsors, staff, and volunteers who made it all possible.