A delegation of 28 local Jewish teen athletes recently returned from Houston, Texas, after competing at the 2024 JCC Maccabi Games, and 22 of them medaled across multiple sports.
The JCC Maccabi Games is an Olympic-style sporting competition held each summer in North America and is the largest organized sports program for Jewish teens in the world. The week of competition also features an array of cultural and social activities. This year, more than 1,200 Jewish teens from across North America, Israel, Great Britain, Argentina and Ukraine competed at the Houston games.
In addition to the local athletes winning medals in basketball, dance, swimming, tennis, soccer, volleyball and bowling, they had the opportunity to connect with Jewish teens across the world.
“I am so proud of our Kansas City Maccabi delegation,” said Bob Hennecke, director of sports and recreation at The J and Kansas City Maccabi delegation head. “Not only did they have successful games, medaling in a variety of sports, our teens were praised throughout the week for exemplifying what it means to be a Maccabi athlete through their kindness, sportsmanship and competitive spirit.”
Several athletes and coaches were recognized through the awarding of midot medals for exhibiting the values of Maccabi. The coaching staff was composed of Bob Hennecke, Arlo Hennecke, Maggie Osgood-Nicholls, Jason Sautter, Ben Heger, Gabe Perez and Michael Liss.
The Kansas City delegation grew from 16 teens in 2023 to 28 teens this year. The age limitation for competitors expanded from 13-16 years old to 13-17, which means the athletes who competed this year will be eligible in 2025.
“We are already making plans to expand this program for 2025 and beyond to involve more of our Kansas City Jewish teen population,” Hennecke said.
The 2025 Kansas City delegation will be forming in December 2024. More information is available by contacting Hennecke at (913) 327-8005.
2024 KC Maccabi athletes:
Basketball
Barak Alon (16U)
Zack Blinn (14U)
Josh Bourke (16U)
Ayden Mooney (16U)
Charlie Scharf (16U)
Gabe Sherry (14U)
David Wasserman (16U)
Hudson Weikal (16U)
Nathan Weiner (16U)
Zach Wieland (14U)
Shya Zeldin (16U)
Gus Zitron (14U)
Teddy Zitron (14U)
Bowling
Eli Nathan
Jacob Williams
Dance
Brooklyn Birnbaum
Logan Nicholls
Maddy Sokol
Soccer
Gus Glaser (16U)
Bennett Gordon (16U)
Aiden Zack (16U)
Hudson Zack (16U)
Swimming
Lauren Brand
Ethan Davydov
Henry Davydov
Tennis
Brody Feldman
Volleyball
Maya Nathan (14U)
Maya Rumple (16U)
