Athletes from Gezer Region have special tie to Kansas City

A decades-long partnership between Kansas City and the Gezer Region of Israel will take center stage at the JCC Maccabi Games from August 2-7.

Gezer, a sister city of Leawood, Kansas, and Jewish Federation of Kansas City have collaborated for more than 30 years.

For the first time, a delegation of teams from Gezer will travel to Kansas City to compete in the games. They will compete as part of the local delegation in 15-and-Under boys 5-on-5 basketball, 15-and-Under boys 3-on-3 basketball and 17-and-Under baseball.

“We are so incredibly excited to welcome athletes from our sister city,” said Taly Friedman, Jewish Federation of Kansas City director of community impact and partnerships. “The Jewish Federation has a longstanding relationship with Gezer, and our relationship is personal. Members of the Gezer community have welcomed Kansas Citians to their community over the past 20-plus years, sharing their Jewish community with us.”

The Gezer mayor and rabbi have both visited Kansas City, as have a delegation of teenagers, but this is believed to be the first time that teens will compete athletically in the city.

“Having the Gezer teams compete [with us] unites us in the deep tradition that connects people across the world,” Friedman said. “This is one way we can say that their teens are our teens. Their Jewish community is also uniquely part of our Jewish community.”

The Maccabi Games will feature Jewish athletes traveling to Kansas City from across the United States as well as Gezer, Bulgaria, Romania, Panama, Mexico and Ukraine.

Jewish Federation established its formal partnership with Gezer in 1996. Alan Edelman, who was associate executive director of Federation at the time, has traveled to Israel nearly 40 times, often with Jewish students. Edelman said while visiting religious and historic sites is significant, it is even more important for the students to build long-lasting relationships with Israelis.

Kansas City, Gezer and baseball

In Gezer is a “Field of Dreams,” a baseball field where many of the Israeli teens coming to the Maccabi Games have been playing and training. This venue and its quality is a direct result of efforts made by Kansas City back in 1997.

While basketball is incredibly popular in Israel, baseball has not caught on in the same way. The notable exception is in Gezer, thanks to the efforts of David Leichman, who made aliyah from New York City to Gezer and brought his love of baseball to the Jewish state.

(He also passed it on to his son, Alon, who grew up to play college baseball in California. Earlier this year, Alon Leichman made history when he became the first Israeli to work as a head pitching coach for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Colorado Rockies, who will host the Kansas City Royals from July 31 to Aug. 2.)

In 1979, Leichman initiated the construction of a baseball field in Gezer, which was used by local kibbutzim as well as visiting Americans. By the time Israel was prepared to host the Maccabiah Games in 1997, however, the field was in disrepair.

Leichman reached out to Edelman and then-Federation Executive Director Bob Gast, who connected him with George Toma, the legendary Royals and Chiefs groundskeeper known as “The Sodfather,” “The Nitty Gritty Dirt Man” and “The Michaelangelo of Grass.”

Toma traveled to Israel to work on the field, restoring it for the Maccabiah Games. Even after that, the field was of such high quality that the kibbutzim could use it.

“George Toma brought a shovel and a rake with him,” Gast said. “He started working on the field by himself, and the kibbutzim asked, ‘George, what can we do to help?’”

Toma, who is now 97 years old and retired, was in his mid-60s when he traveled to Israel for this project. He and Leichman traveled across Israel to find just the right combination of dirt for the field. He utilized his knowledge of turf management, seed germination and soil dynamics to build a professional-grade field.

“Whenever George saw dirt he wanted, he told Leichman to stop,” Gast said. “He’d say, ‘Stop, I want this dirt.’ George built the field of dreams for Kibbutz Gezer. Maintaining a major league-caliber turf field under the blazing Middle Eastern sun required world-class expertise.”

Because of the Kansas City-Gezer connection, many in the kibbutzim are Royals fans. In fact, the first MLB game that a young Alon Leichman attended was a Royals-Tigers matchup.

“Today, the ‘Field of Dreams’ stands as a testament to what happens when community planning meets world-class passion,” Gast said.