It has been a little over a week since we have all been back from the Maccabiah games in Israel. Almost all the pictures taken over the 3 week trip have been posted somewhere on the internet. Most of them on Facebook. We have tagged eachother hundreds of times to make sure everyone gets the photos they are in and even the ones we aren't in. I have uploaded about 250 pictures myself and have collected over a half dozen news articles which we (the futsal team) are featured in. (If you want copies please let me know).
Over the past week, most everyone I have talked to weather it be from the futsal team, soccer teams, softball ....(yes I know... its a sport....the girls won the gold so we have to be nice), the administration, the judo team, fencing, swimming, cycling, basketball, and volleyball we are all in agreement. We all wish we were still in Israel. I dont know what its like where you live but here in Cleveland its been raining and it might have reached a high of 77 degrees.
I WISH I WAS STILL IN ISRAEL...sitting on the beach or the pool, walking the streets or the market, trying to talk to the non English speaking Israelis and other people from around the world. Man was that a great trip.
So if you have been following the blog you would have noticed that after we beat Finland on Friday there was no other post to the blog until now. Well that is because of a few reasons. One, the internet over there is expensive and not very good. Two, we were on the beach or the pool almost every day and the sun fried our brain so we couldn't write anything. Three, way to time consuming to worry about writing anything since our days were packed with nothingness. And lastly four, besides drinking, sitting on the beach, eating and a little bit of shopping we didn't do anything. Well a few (4) of us made our way to watch the girls open soccer team beat Israel in the finals.
Now since we have been back a few of us have been working on trying to organize ourselves for the Australia games in December of 2010. YES!!! we are doing this again. As of right now there is no budget worked up (that will be done in April of 2010) so we do not know what this will cost us. The number I was given was somewhere between $5000 and $7000 per player. I laughed and said in that case I will raise $10,000 for every player on the team. Thats when Jed Margolis laughed at me and said good luck. Um...I think we should work it out with Finland, England, and a few other teams to just meet every year in a different location and party and maybe play some futsal. As it turns out, the England team wants a rematch against us...you know to show that our beating them the first time was a mistake...just like a revolutionary war was...ha....and Finland said if we would like to go to Finland they would be more then happy to hook us up and take us out. As it turns out they are very nice guys who like to have fun. They said there are about 15000 Jews in all of Finland...I said there are more then 15000 Jews in all of Cleveland. They were surprised when I said I have more synagogs in my tourn then they have in their entire country.
So at least we have that going for us. Lastly the Australians are very friendly and have envited us to visit them any time we want. I have their contact info along with the guys from England and Finland if anyone (I mean IAN) ever wants to venture over...or backpack in that part of the world.
So with all that being said....Ladies and Gentelman thank you for following us on this trip. We will continue to update this blog when new information is presented to me. I will also be updating our web site and the facebook page. Please let me know if you would like to add anything to the blog and if you would like to follow us on our trips around the world in person. (We would just have to raise more money if you want to come along)
Till then....happy days and futsal dreams from the Team.....CHEERS!!!
(I am not a dork.....)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Friday July 17
So yesterday was yesterday...today is what matters. We have an early morning game vs the 4th seeded team in the tournament Finland.
Let me just tell you this....we can't advance unless we win and the Mexico / Guatemala game ends in a tie. Well...we went into the game with nothing to lose. Finland has to win to advance so this game means everything to them. Well we just wanted it more I guess. At the end of the game the score was 9-3 in our favor.
Every was telling us how big a win that was for our side. The australians told us that the team for finland was mostly made of the guys from the last maccabiah games. This was the 4th best team going into this tournament and they have played together for years. The cool thing is we didn't just beat them...we killed them. So after the game we celebrated...and what's the best way to celebrate a win against finland? With multiple bottles of finlandia vodka. Kind of funny ...right.
After that game we have nothing to do but hang out at the beach and the pool...meet new people and party like a rock star.
We are having problems with the internet at the hotel so I am posting this from my phone. I will try to work everything out so we can continue updating the blogg but if its not you understand why. Hope everyone back home is doing well...we will see you soon.
Let me just tell you this....we can't advance unless we win and the Mexico / Guatemala game ends in a tie. Well...we went into the game with nothing to lose. Finland has to win to advance so this game means everything to them. Well we just wanted it more I guess. At the end of the game the score was 9-3 in our favor.
Every was telling us how big a win that was for our side. The australians told us that the team for finland was mostly made of the guys from the last maccabiah games. This was the 4th best team going into this tournament and they have played together for years. The cool thing is we didn't just beat them...we killed them. So after the game we celebrated...and what's the best way to celebrate a win against finland? With multiple bottles of finlandia vodka. Kind of funny ...right.
After that game we have nothing to do but hang out at the beach and the pool...meet new people and party like a rock star.
We are having problems with the internet at the hotel so I am posting this from my phone. I will try to work everything out so we can continue updating the blogg but if its not you understand why. Hope everyone back home is doing well...we will see you soon.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday July 15th
Today we play Brazil at 7:10pm. So we again take a lazy day at the hotel so we can stay out of the sun and rest for the game. A few of us went for a walk down the street and others hung out. Nothing big.
Its now time to get on the bus for the game. The bus is here on time and so we get on with the Brazilian team. Kind of odd taking a bus with your opponent to the game. While on the bus the Brazilians starting banging on drums and singing. We look at each other and contemplate joining in or singing some American song louder then them so we mess with their mojo. The only problem is there isn't one song that we all know to sing. So we dont.
So here is the recap of the game....they were good...very good.
We got back on the bus and when we go to the hotel we changed and hit the club hard...I mean HARD!!! We had to drown our sorrows somehow.
I just woke up now and I am going to hit the beach...We have a day off today so it's on.....
Its now time to get on the bus for the game. The bus is here on time and so we get on with the Brazilian team. Kind of odd taking a bus with your opponent to the game. While on the bus the Brazilians starting banging on drums and singing. We look at each other and contemplate joining in or singing some American song louder then them so we mess with their mojo. The only problem is there isn't one song that we all know to sing. So we dont.
So here is the recap of the game....they were good...very good.
We got back on the bus and when we go to the hotel we changed and hit the club hard...I mean HARD!!! We had to drown our sorrows somehow.
I just woke up now and I am going to hit the beach...We have a day off today so it's on.....
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday July 14th
Today we play our second game. The game is at 6:45 pm so we have the entire day for nothing. Im telling you we really did nothing. We woke up for breakfast and some of us took our clothes yet again to get washed. After breakfast we went back to bed. We woke up again and went to lunch. After lunch we stayed awake but just watched tv. Some of the guys spent time with their families but the rest of us stayed in and out of the sun.
At 5:00pm we met downstairs to catch the bus to go to our game. The bus was late...but when it finally got to the hotel it was only big enough for 10 people. We were willing to make it work but the driver was unwilling. So we had to call for a bigger bus which took another 30 minutes. As soon as it got to the hotel we got on and headed to the game. We were stuck in traffic for a long time. We even went to the wrong facility to start with. This driver, I swear was on drugs. We almost killed one lady on a motorcycle. We went into areas of Tel Aviv, that I am sure more people who live here have never seen. It was the longest and weirdest roundabout way to get to the field.
We finally got to the facility 20 minutes before the game started. Remember the game is at 6:45 and we were suppose to leave at 5:00pm. The weird part of the entire thing was that Argentina was not at the facility either. We got changed and on the court and thats when we knew they were here too. I was hoping for a forfeit. We warmed up and got ready for the game.
We started the same way. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon in midfield, Mike up top.
We played even with Argentina for most of the first half. They scored 2 goals near the end of the half and at half time they were up 2-0. We were upset with the score but it was much better then what it could have been. The Argentina team has been working together for years. Our team has been together for almost 2 weeks now.
The second half on the other hand sucked. They scored 5 more that half, 3 of them were all our teams fault which should not have happened. But it did and they scored. The game ended 7-0, we lost our first game. CRAP!!!
We went to get on the bus to head back to the hotel and realized the bus was not at the facility. We were stranded. So we stayed and watched the next game. It was Estonia vs Brazil. To our surprise Estonia scored the first goal. Our entire team went crazy for Estonia. They have been having a very hard time losing to Finland 7-3 and US 11-3.
So they scored first followed by the unrelenting domination from the Brazilian side. At half time the score was 12-1. OUCH is right.
We left at half because the bus finally showed up. This time it was a different driver, thank the lord. But as it turns out this guy must have been a relative because he too got lost. He took us to 2 different hotels before he would listen to us saying MARINA TEL AVIV. He actually called someone to find out where we were staying because why would Americans know what is going on. It took this man who spoke no English and what it seamed as very bad Hebrew, 45 minutes to 1 hours to get us back to the hotel which is maybe 25 minutes away with traffic. It was an unreal day.
No one was hurt...only our pride was a bit lacking. Oh and to make things worse...we got back at 10:00pm (our game was over around 8 or a little after) and dinner stops at 9:00pm. We complained and they let us make our own sandwiches. They gave us cold cuts (turkey and salami) some bread, some humus, and salad. So it was us, a few guys from Hungry and Denmark (they spell it DANMARK)
Today could have been worse...but it was one of those days that you wish didnt happen. Lets just hope we get a better result tomorrow. Till then....
At 5:00pm we met downstairs to catch the bus to go to our game. The bus was late...but when it finally got to the hotel it was only big enough for 10 people. We were willing to make it work but the driver was unwilling. So we had to call for a bigger bus which took another 30 minutes. As soon as it got to the hotel we got on and headed to the game. We were stuck in traffic for a long time. We even went to the wrong facility to start with. This driver, I swear was on drugs. We almost killed one lady on a motorcycle. We went into areas of Tel Aviv, that I am sure more people who live here have never seen. It was the longest and weirdest roundabout way to get to the field.
We finally got to the facility 20 minutes before the game started. Remember the game is at 6:45 and we were suppose to leave at 5:00pm. The weird part of the entire thing was that Argentina was not at the facility either. We got changed and on the court and thats when we knew they were here too. I was hoping for a forfeit. We warmed up and got ready for the game.
We started the same way. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon in midfield, Mike up top.
We played even with Argentina for most of the first half. They scored 2 goals near the end of the half and at half time they were up 2-0. We were upset with the score but it was much better then what it could have been. The Argentina team has been working together for years. Our team has been together for almost 2 weeks now.
The second half on the other hand sucked. They scored 5 more that half, 3 of them were all our teams fault which should not have happened. But it did and they scored. The game ended 7-0, we lost our first game. CRAP!!!
We went to get on the bus to head back to the hotel and realized the bus was not at the facility. We were stranded. So we stayed and watched the next game. It was Estonia vs Brazil. To our surprise Estonia scored the first goal. Our entire team went crazy for Estonia. They have been having a very hard time losing to Finland 7-3 and US 11-3.
So they scored first followed by the unrelenting domination from the Brazilian side. At half time the score was 12-1. OUCH is right.
We left at half because the bus finally showed up. This time it was a different driver, thank the lord. But as it turns out this guy must have been a relative because he too got lost. He took us to 2 different hotels before he would listen to us saying MARINA TEL AVIV. He actually called someone to find out where we were staying because why would Americans know what is going on. It took this man who spoke no English and what it seamed as very bad Hebrew, 45 minutes to 1 hours to get us back to the hotel which is maybe 25 minutes away with traffic. It was an unreal day.
No one was hurt...only our pride was a bit lacking. Oh and to make things worse...we got back at 10:00pm (our game was over around 8 or a little after) and dinner stops at 9:00pm. We complained and they let us make our own sandwiches. They gave us cold cuts (turkey and salami) some bread, some humus, and salad. So it was us, a few guys from Hungry and Denmark (they spell it DANMARK)
Today could have been worse...but it was one of those days that you wish didnt happen. Lets just hope we get a better result tomorrow. Till then....
Monday July 13th
So today we had our first game of the tournament. I have posted a game report a bit earlier so everyone knew about it as soon as we could. Today was a very nice day. We got the first win in the history of Maccabi Futsal. Not a bad feeling. So when the game was over some of the guys stayed to watch Brazil play Finland. The rest of us went back to the hotel. The Brazil game ended 11-2 in favor of Brazil so we have to watch out for them because they are a very good team.
We changed and hung out a bit back at the hotel. The day was pretty much just us hanging out. The players who's family came to watch hung out with them and everyone else just did whatever. Aaron, our trainer Allen and myself went for a walk to see some of the things around the hotel.
At 4:15pm we had to be back at the hotel and dressed for Opening Ceremonies. We wore white shoes, our Adidas Kacki shorts, our dark blue button down USA top and a really bad straw woven hat. (we really didn't like it, it didn't really fit my head, but it was a very hot item of trade for everyone.)
We get to Ramat Gan Stadium and are led like sheep into a very large fenced in area. This area was big enough to hold all 9000 some odd people walking in the opening ceremonies. They had food, water, popsicles, and shade for everyone. This is the start of the trading. I mean OMG...everyone wants everything. The only problem is that we need to walk wearing our own gear...as soon as we are done its fair game to get rid of everything. People are trading shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, jackets, hats. At the end of the ceremony you can not tell who is on what team. I left with a Turkey polo, South Africa shirt, Holland hat, and my USA shorts since no one wants them. I even traded my bag to Brazil for their team bag.
But walking into the stadium (we all got pictures of it) surrounded by THOUSANDS of people was unreal. To make things cooler the prime minister and the president were both in attendance and made speeches. We just had some problem understanding Hebrew. But it was so amazing.
We were stationed on the left side of the main stage. We were given props so we could add something to the show. But again we were to excited and wrapped up in trying to trade ourI gear that we really dropped the ball on that. I think one of the coolest things about the ceremony was when Jason Lezak was one of the torch runners and he lit the torch in the stadium.
To be really honest I cant tell you what was going on, on stage. I was not paying attention. Like I said I was trading my gear. What I do know about the show is from watching my brothers mini videos of things he noticed while he was trading. I mean Aaron got a shirt from Palou. They only have 1 junior swimmer and 2 coaches. Aaron got the coaches shirt.
So to sum it up...we will have to go back at watch the opening ceremonies on Direct TV channel 366 when we get back to Cleveland. Until then I will just keep on trading my gear like everyone else.
We changed and hung out a bit back at the hotel. The day was pretty much just us hanging out. The players who's family came to watch hung out with them and everyone else just did whatever. Aaron, our trainer Allen and myself went for a walk to see some of the things around the hotel.
At 4:15pm we had to be back at the hotel and dressed for Opening Ceremonies. We wore white shoes, our Adidas Kacki shorts, our dark blue button down USA top and a really bad straw woven hat. (we really didn't like it, it didn't really fit my head, but it was a very hot item of trade for everyone.)
We get to Ramat Gan Stadium and are led like sheep into a very large fenced in area. This area was big enough to hold all 9000 some odd people walking in the opening ceremonies. They had food, water, popsicles, and shade for everyone. This is the start of the trading. I mean OMG...everyone wants everything. The only problem is that we need to walk wearing our own gear...as soon as we are done its fair game to get rid of everything. People are trading shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, jackets, hats. At the end of the ceremony you can not tell who is on what team. I left with a Turkey polo, South Africa shirt, Holland hat, and my USA shorts since no one wants them. I even traded my bag to Brazil for their team bag.
But walking into the stadium (we all got pictures of it) surrounded by THOUSANDS of people was unreal. To make things cooler the prime minister and the president were both in attendance and made speeches. We just had some problem understanding Hebrew. But it was so amazing.
We were stationed on the left side of the main stage. We were given props so we could add something to the show. But again we were to excited and wrapped up in trying to trade ourI gear that we really dropped the ball on that. I think one of the coolest things about the ceremony was when Jason Lezak was one of the torch runners and he lit the torch in the stadium.
To be really honest I cant tell you what was going on, on stage. I was not paying attention. Like I said I was trading my gear. What I do know about the show is from watching my brothers mini videos of things he noticed while he was trading. I mean Aaron got a shirt from Palou. They only have 1 junior swimmer and 2 coaches. Aaron got the coaches shirt.
So to sum it up...we will have to go back at watch the opening ceremonies on Direct TV channel 366 when we get back to Cleveland. Until then I will just keep on trading my gear like everyone else.
Monday, July 13, 2009
USA vs Estonia
We just got back to the hotel from the game. I would like to inform everyone that we took it to Estonia and beat them 11-3. We should have scored more but we didn't.
The starters were:
Aaron in goal
Josh in defense
Simon and Ian in midfield
Mike as forward
-----
The game started with Estonia scoring first with in the first 2 minutes. Followed by Ian scoring our first goal 45 seconds later. Then we opened it up. Mike had goal number 2, then Josh, Jared (me) had the 4th and what would turn out to be the game wining goal...oh yeah...go me.
David had the fifth goal and then we went into half time...Half time score USA 5 , Estonia 1.
We took a break and went back to our very well air conditioned locker room and talked and got ready for the second half. Sergio was detained by the Maccabi USA news team as they interviewed him at before he could get to the locker room.
As soon as we stepped on the court to return to our bench, the news group called over me and Aaron and wanted to talk to us about playing in the Maccabiah games as brothers on the same time. We answered questions and then the second half started. We turned it on again and put in another 6 goals and giving up 2 more. Simon had number 6, Ian scored the 7th. Simon then stepped up again and had goals number 8 and 9 which gave him the first hat trick of the tournament for our team. David scored the 10th goal and Ian followed up with #11 for his hat trick to end the game 11-3.
We all played very well and were very happy with the result. We just wish we didnt give up as many goals as we did. The best thing about this game, besides us winning our first game in the tournament and 6 of the 11 people on the team having a goal or more, was the Ron Carner the over all sports chairman for Maccabi USA came to our game. After the game Ron called me over to congratulate me on the teams win. He is very happy and impressed with the team we put together. The first ever win for the first ever Maccabi USA Futsal team to play in the Maccabiah games. This is a great feeling right now...but also right now we have to get ready for Argentina tomorrow...that will be a tough team. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
The starters were:
Aaron in goal
Josh in defense
Simon and Ian in midfield
Mike as forward
-----
The game started with Estonia scoring first with in the first 2 minutes. Followed by Ian scoring our first goal 45 seconds later. Then we opened it up. Mike had goal number 2, then Josh, Jared (me) had the 4th and what would turn out to be the game wining goal...oh yeah...go me.
David had the fifth goal and then we went into half time...Half time score USA 5 , Estonia 1.
We took a break and went back to our very well air conditioned locker room and talked and got ready for the second half. Sergio was detained by the Maccabi USA news team as they interviewed him at before he could get to the locker room.
As soon as we stepped on the court to return to our bench, the news group called over me and Aaron and wanted to talk to us about playing in the Maccabiah games as brothers on the same time. We answered questions and then the second half started. We turned it on again and put in another 6 goals and giving up 2 more. Simon had number 6, Ian scored the 7th. Simon then stepped up again and had goals number 8 and 9 which gave him the first hat trick of the tournament for our team. David scored the 10th goal and Ian followed up with #11 for his hat trick to end the game 11-3.
We all played very well and were very happy with the result. We just wish we didnt give up as many goals as we did. The best thing about this game, besides us winning our first game in the tournament and 6 of the 11 people on the team having a goal or more, was the Ron Carner the over all sports chairman for Maccabi USA came to our game. After the game Ron called me over to congratulate me on the teams win. He is very happy and impressed with the team we put together. The first ever win for the first ever Maccabi USA Futsal team to play in the Maccabiah games. This is a great feeling right now...but also right now we have to get ready for Argentina tomorrow...that will be a tough team. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
Sunday July 12th
Well its finally here. The first day of the tournament. We don't have a game but as it turns out the open futsal game between Brazil and Argentina is the very first game of the competition. So last night we told everyone about going to the game, what time to be at breakfast and what time we would be leaving. So in the morning we meet up with Josh, Mike, Aaron, Sergio and myself. No one else shows up for breakfast.
So we eat and go to the hotel lobby and try to get a ride to the game. The first bus left at 6:45 and the second bus is leaving at 8:30am. The first game starts at 8:30 so we got 2 cabs because we didnt want to miss the game.
We got to Zisman Hall and went into the stands to watch the first game, Argentina vs Brazil. That game starts off slow and methodical. Both teams play the ball around well but its not to physical of a game. Brazil scores first off a deflection from an Argentina defender. Then with about 2 minutes left in the half Argentina ties it up 1-1.
The second half was a totally different game. Both teams were physical and it was a more fast past game. Around half time the junior Brazilian teams showed up to cheer with drums and music and it was very distracting for Argentina. But both teams worked hard and in the last 15 seconds of the match Brazil puts it away for the win. For the next 10 minutes they were singing and dancing and just being ridicules.
The next game was Finland vs Estonia. Both these teams started to warm up and we realized that each team only had 1 ball per team. No one comes prepared ....except for us who brought 8 balls. So this game is totally different from the one we just watched. Estonia looked clueless but they ended up scoring 3 goals against Finland. Where as Finland is bigger and they look stronger but they too made a lot of mistakes. So this game finished 7-3...Finland had control for most of the game but they let up and pushed to far up and that let Estonia score a few times. (I forgot to mention that Estonia's Goal keeper got a red card and will be out of the game against us...)
I think we should be set for tomorrow but we have to work hard and not let up at all.
After the game we jump on the bus with the teams and head back to the hotel.
We rested a bit after lunch and then at 3:00pm we went for a team run. Then had a meeting at 4:15 to talk about the game and our team.
At 6:00pm we left to go to Kfar Maccabiah for a pre tournament dinner. This dinner was unreal. The food was ok...everything else was sick. Imagine a rock festival with 5 side stages and 1 main stage, cross that with a normal circus without the animals, throw in the performers from Circus De Solie from one of the Las Vegas shows and enough food to feed over 9000 people....yeah it was intense.
We left early because our bus in the morning was leaving at 6:45 am for our 8:30 game. We wanted to get some rest so at about 9:00pm we got together and went to the bus to go to the hotel. As we were leaving we heard the techno remix for Havanagela.
I really wish we could have stayed longed because I got the feeling something really cool was about to happen. We will just have to wait until the 19th Maccabiah games to experience it all again.
Lets get up for tomorrow...our first game of the tournament vs Estonia. BRING IT ON!!!!!
So we eat and go to the hotel lobby and try to get a ride to the game. The first bus left at 6:45 and the second bus is leaving at 8:30am. The first game starts at 8:30 so we got 2 cabs because we didnt want to miss the game.
We got to Zisman Hall and went into the stands to watch the first game, Argentina vs Brazil. That game starts off slow and methodical. Both teams play the ball around well but its not to physical of a game. Brazil scores first off a deflection from an Argentina defender. Then with about 2 minutes left in the half Argentina ties it up 1-1.
The second half was a totally different game. Both teams were physical and it was a more fast past game. Around half time the junior Brazilian teams showed up to cheer with drums and music and it was very distracting for Argentina. But both teams worked hard and in the last 15 seconds of the match Brazil puts it away for the win. For the next 10 minutes they were singing and dancing and just being ridicules.
The next game was Finland vs Estonia. Both these teams started to warm up and we realized that each team only had 1 ball per team. No one comes prepared ....except for us who brought 8 balls. So this game is totally different from the one we just watched. Estonia looked clueless but they ended up scoring 3 goals against Finland. Where as Finland is bigger and they look stronger but they too made a lot of mistakes. So this game finished 7-3...Finland had control for most of the game but they let up and pushed to far up and that let Estonia score a few times. (I forgot to mention that Estonia's Goal keeper got a red card and will be out of the game against us...)
I think we should be set for tomorrow but we have to work hard and not let up at all.
After the game we jump on the bus with the teams and head back to the hotel.
We rested a bit after lunch and then at 3:00pm we went for a team run. Then had a meeting at 4:15 to talk about the game and our team.
At 6:00pm we left to go to Kfar Maccabiah for a pre tournament dinner. This dinner was unreal. The food was ok...everything else was sick. Imagine a rock festival with 5 side stages and 1 main stage, cross that with a normal circus without the animals, throw in the performers from Circus De Solie from one of the Las Vegas shows and enough food to feed over 9000 people....yeah it was intense.
We left early because our bus in the morning was leaving at 6:45 am for our 8:30 game. We wanted to get some rest so at about 9:00pm we got together and went to the bus to go to the hotel. As we were leaving we heard the techno remix for Havanagela.
I really wish we could have stayed longed because I got the feeling something really cool was about to happen. We will just have to wait until the 19th Maccabiah games to experience it all again.
Lets get up for tomorrow...our first game of the tournament vs Estonia. BRING IT ON!!!!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday July 11th: A day at Gordon Beach
Today we had a day off from everything. All stores are closed...well most are closed and we were on our own to get transportation to and from a facility we had to book. So we didn't organize anything and just hung out. Breakfast was early as usually and most of the team slept through it. A few of us on the other hand were up and at breakfast to start our day right.
At breakfast Aaron, Sergio, our trainer Allen, and I all figured we would go to the beach and get some sun. We talked to everyone else who decided to go their own ways for the day. Some people went to the hotel roof top pool, others went for a walk, and a few stayed in the rooms and slept off the night before.
At 10:00ish we were on the beach outside our hotel laying on chairs under an umbrella. It cost 60 shekels to get 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas. Its not a lot of money but it sucks having to pay for it. Also for a future note to everyone reading this...make sure to bring water with you to the beach...a 6 pack of 1.5 litter bottles is 9.90 shekels outside the beach...on the beach 3 bottles of 8 oz water is 33 shekels....we learned the hard way.
At this time of day there were not a lot of people on the beach. As the day went on it started to fill up very fast. The sand on the beach was very similar. When we got there it was hot but you could walk on the sand as long as you did it quickly. The later it got the hotter the sand became. When I say its hot I mean stick your hand in a boiling pot of oil and then throw it into the microwave for about 20 minutes...that should be close.
The water on the other hand was cool and clear. You could see the sand and the fish at the bottom of the water around your feet. The water splashed to your knees as the waves rolled in. As you walk out farther towards the break wall the water gets deeper but doesn't get past your shoulders until you get really far out. We are only in the water for maybe half an hour before we get out and go back to the chairs.
We do this a few times, beach to water to beach, all the wile looking at all the beautiful ladies in very small swim suits. We have yet to find "THE BEACH" (if you don't know what I mean then don't worry about it) but as soon as we do we will make sure to take pictures of everyone else and not of ourselves.
Around 3:00pm we packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel for lunch. None of us realized how much sun we truly got that late morning early afternoon. But we figured it out by dinner time when it hurt to move.
After dinner most of us went to bed and tried to sleep off some of the sun we got that day. Others went out and partied it up a bit. Tomorrow marks the start of the tournament. We are not playing but the rest of the teams in our bracket are so we are planning on watching them play so we can get a feel for what we are getting our selves into.
At breakfast Aaron, Sergio, our trainer Allen, and I all figured we would go to the beach and get some sun. We talked to everyone else who decided to go their own ways for the day. Some people went to the hotel roof top pool, others went for a walk, and a few stayed in the rooms and slept off the night before.
At 10:00ish we were on the beach outside our hotel laying on chairs under an umbrella. It cost 60 shekels to get 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas. Its not a lot of money but it sucks having to pay for it. Also for a future note to everyone reading this...make sure to bring water with you to the beach...a 6 pack of 1.5 litter bottles is 9.90 shekels outside the beach...on the beach 3 bottles of 8 oz water is 33 shekels....we learned the hard way.
At this time of day there were not a lot of people on the beach. As the day went on it started to fill up very fast. The sand on the beach was very similar. When we got there it was hot but you could walk on the sand as long as you did it quickly. The later it got the hotter the sand became. When I say its hot I mean stick your hand in a boiling pot of oil and then throw it into the microwave for about 20 minutes...that should be close.
The water on the other hand was cool and clear. You could see the sand and the fish at the bottom of the water around your feet. The water splashed to your knees as the waves rolled in. As you walk out farther towards the break wall the water gets deeper but doesn't get past your shoulders until you get really far out. We are only in the water for maybe half an hour before we get out and go back to the chairs.
We do this a few times, beach to water to beach, all the wile looking at all the beautiful ladies in very small swim suits. We have yet to find "THE BEACH" (if you don't know what I mean then don't worry about it) but as soon as we do we will make sure to take pictures of everyone else and not of ourselves.
Around 3:00pm we packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel for lunch. None of us realized how much sun we truly got that late morning early afternoon. But we figured it out by dinner time when it hurt to move.
After dinner most of us went to bed and tried to sleep off some of the sun we got that day. Others went out and partied it up a bit. Tomorrow marks the start of the tournament. We are not playing but the rest of the teams in our bracket are so we are planning on watching them play so we can get a feel for what we are getting our selves into.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday July 10th
Today we got to sleep in. Breakfast at the hotel is from 6:30 to 10:00am and yes we slept in but we did make it to breakfast. More of the same food...salads, hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, cheeses, fish, for some reason they had pasta and these cooked eggs in a marinara sauce. All of it is good but its weird having salad for breakfast. I'm sure if we ate more vegetables and salads for breakfast in American, Americans wouldn't be so fat.
After breakfast Aaron, Sergio and I walked down the beach just to take a look. Its maybe 10:30 am and the sand was hot. Very soft, white sand that is hard to walk in because it moves like silk under your feet. The sand thats near the side walk has some stones and shells and yes some trash so it doesn't look the best. But as you walk away from the hotels towards the water, the sand becomes unbelievable. There are sand volleyball courts, sand soccer courts (with goals) and footvolley courts (don't ask what it is...think about it first) right by our hotel. Now towards the water there are chairs and umbrellas for people to use. At this time there are a fair amount of people walking, running, playing, and sun bathing on the beach. We walk at the waters edge just enough to get our feel wet. The water is a bit cool as it splashes up to us. With the temperature outside reaching over 100 degrees at this time its was very nice to feel the water on our feet.
At 11:00am Sergio had to attend a coaches meeting so we headed back towards our hotel. I was talking to my friends last night and they referred to our hotel as the one that looks like a cruise ship. From a distance the hotel looks like the top 6 decks or so of a ship. Its an odd shape...I will take a picture and post it so you can see what I am talking about.
We met up with some of the guys back at the hotel and we just hung out and rested for the day. Some guys went to the pool and others walked a bit on the beach. But at 12:30pm ( even though we just had breakfast not to long ago) we grabbed a quick lunch and set out for our game against England. (We were given a booklet with 3 tickets for every day. The tickets are for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything is included and if we miss a meal we miss that meal.)
We are all ready for the game. Everyone is in the lobby, England and US all ready to go. The bus is set to come at 1:00pm and pick us up at the hotel. Well...we sat and sat and sat...we talked to the other team and got to know them a bit. At 1:35 pm the bus showed up. We all got on and set off to the court. As we left the hotel, the bus driver almost hit a pole that holds the hotel together. Kind of funny but really scary. We all thought we were going to hit it...even the bus driver. It took us a bit to get the bus out so we were late to our own game. The best thing about going to the game with your opponent is that if your late, they are late and you don't have to forfeit the game.
We arrived at Marom Nave a little after 2:00pm. We all went inside, changed and got on the court to warm up. The facility had the actual balls we will use for the games so we used those in our scrimmage. To our surprise England wore Orange Jerseys and we were in white. Our team warmed up together and then Sergio set the line up. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon at midfield and Mike up top. (Ian Weinberg was named the captain of the team)
We start the game with the ball and start moving it around the court. We came out hard and fast and with in the first 8 to 10 minutes Ian scored our first goal, unassisted. Every player on the team got to play a good amount at this game. We all have the understanding that we will play to win and playing time in not guaranteed. 4 minutes before half time England cut through the defense and slotted the ball in the goal to tie up the game. At half time we worked out some things and pumped everyone up again to take the court.
We played a strong second half and scored again. This time it was Josh who scored to put us one goal up. England stepped up their game and works very hard to get that second goal to tie up the game. They step so far up that with one poke we get a break away and the ball is back in their net. This time the goal was scored by David so we are now up 3-1. England pushes their keeper up to get more of an attack and thats when we take advantage of the open goal with Mike stealing the ball and scoring our 4th goal to win the game 4-1.
Not bad for a team who has only played 1 game and has practice together for 1 week in Israel. I just hope this doesn't give us too much confidence and we go lightly into out other games.
After the game we get back on the bus with the England team and head to the hotel for yes another meal....We change and get ready for shabbot dinner. Now as I am getting ready to go to sleep I just heard that the girls softball team and the girls tennis team and coming to Tel Aviv to visit. I think we will be going out again tonight.
We have nothing planned for tomorrow and we were told that we could not practice because of the sabbath. I guess we will just have to go to the beach and suffer. OH WELL. Its a tough life.
After breakfast Aaron, Sergio and I walked down the beach just to take a look. Its maybe 10:30 am and the sand was hot. Very soft, white sand that is hard to walk in because it moves like silk under your feet. The sand thats near the side walk has some stones and shells and yes some trash so it doesn't look the best. But as you walk away from the hotels towards the water, the sand becomes unbelievable. There are sand volleyball courts, sand soccer courts (with goals) and footvolley courts (don't ask what it is...think about it first) right by our hotel. Now towards the water there are chairs and umbrellas for people to use. At this time there are a fair amount of people walking, running, playing, and sun bathing on the beach. We walk at the waters edge just enough to get our feel wet. The water is a bit cool as it splashes up to us. With the temperature outside reaching over 100 degrees at this time its was very nice to feel the water on our feet.
At 11:00am Sergio had to attend a coaches meeting so we headed back towards our hotel. I was talking to my friends last night and they referred to our hotel as the one that looks like a cruise ship. From a distance the hotel looks like the top 6 decks or so of a ship. Its an odd shape...I will take a picture and post it so you can see what I am talking about.
We met up with some of the guys back at the hotel and we just hung out and rested for the day. Some guys went to the pool and others walked a bit on the beach. But at 12:30pm ( even though we just had breakfast not to long ago) we grabbed a quick lunch and set out for our game against England. (We were given a booklet with 3 tickets for every day. The tickets are for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything is included and if we miss a meal we miss that meal.)
We are all ready for the game. Everyone is in the lobby, England and US all ready to go. The bus is set to come at 1:00pm and pick us up at the hotel. Well...we sat and sat and sat...we talked to the other team and got to know them a bit. At 1:35 pm the bus showed up. We all got on and set off to the court. As we left the hotel, the bus driver almost hit a pole that holds the hotel together. Kind of funny but really scary. We all thought we were going to hit it...even the bus driver. It took us a bit to get the bus out so we were late to our own game. The best thing about going to the game with your opponent is that if your late, they are late and you don't have to forfeit the game.
We arrived at Marom Nave a little after 2:00pm. We all went inside, changed and got on the court to warm up. The facility had the actual balls we will use for the games so we used those in our scrimmage. To our surprise England wore Orange Jerseys and we were in white. Our team warmed up together and then Sergio set the line up. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon at midfield and Mike up top. (Ian Weinberg was named the captain of the team)
We start the game with the ball and start moving it around the court. We came out hard and fast and with in the first 8 to 10 minutes Ian scored our first goal, unassisted. Every player on the team got to play a good amount at this game. We all have the understanding that we will play to win and playing time in not guaranteed. 4 minutes before half time England cut through the defense and slotted the ball in the goal to tie up the game. At half time we worked out some things and pumped everyone up again to take the court.
We played a strong second half and scored again. This time it was Josh who scored to put us one goal up. England stepped up their game and works very hard to get that second goal to tie up the game. They step so far up that with one poke we get a break away and the ball is back in their net. This time the goal was scored by David so we are now up 3-1. England pushes their keeper up to get more of an attack and thats when we take advantage of the open goal with Mike stealing the ball and scoring our 4th goal to win the game 4-1.
Not bad for a team who has only played 1 game and has practice together for 1 week in Israel. I just hope this doesn't give us too much confidence and we go lightly into out other games.
After the game we get back on the bus with the England team and head to the hotel for yes another meal....We change and get ready for shabbot dinner. Now as I am getting ready to go to sleep I just heard that the girls softball team and the girls tennis team and coming to Tel Aviv to visit. I think we will be going out again tonight.
We have nothing planned for tomorrow and we were told that we could not practice because of the sabbath. I guess we will just have to go to the beach and suffer. OH WELL. Its a tough life.
Thursday July 9th
Today we will pack up our stuff and move to the Marina Tel Aviv Hotel. Last night on the way to the Club we drove past the hotel and sow how close it is to the Beach. The hotel looks so cool from the outside....
So we went to bed this morning at about 6:00am. When I turned out the lights the sun was coming up. We called the front desk to get a wake up call for 8:00am so we could pack, get check out and get to the bus by 9:00am. When the phone rang...Aaron, Jeff and myself started getting mad but we all jumped out of bed feeling like a million bucks and get our things together. Every player on the team was packed and eating breakfast by 8:45am. All bags and players were in the bus before 9:00am. Everyone was so on the ball today despite only Kfar Maccabiah again but this time for the closing of precamp and a nice lunch. We get to Kfar about 10:00 and we found that the meeting is set of after lunch and lunch starts at 12:30pm. WE WERE SO MAD!!!!!!
So we did what anyone in our spot would do...we jumped in the pool. We went back to the bus, grabbed our bathing suit and as fast as we could we jumped into the pool.
We were joined by other people we have met since we have been in Israel. Some of the boys were sun bathing with the girls on the soccer team. But before we knew it lunch was about to start.
We walked into the lunch room which was a nice covered patio which looks like something you would use at a very large expensive wedding. Hundreds of tables and lots of food. In the middle of the room was a long table filled with vegetables, salads, and fruit. Past that table against the wall of the room was a 30 food long stretch of desserts. So far we are hooked. And then on both sides of the room, opposite the vegetable table was the main course. Pasta, chicken, potatoes, and green beans. Everything looked amazing...but the food was by far the worst we have had since we arrived in Israel. Oh well....you cant get everything perfect.
After lunch we went to the meeting. At this meeting they announced who was going to be the flag bearers, we were introduced to the American Ambassador to Israel along with the heads of the Maccabi Organization. They talked to us about our responsibilities of being an American athlete in and international competition, our role in the opening ceremonies, and our expectations as the American delegation. It was a nice pump up pep talk and the last time we will see some of our friends in the delegation.
We got back on our bus after saying good by and good luck to our new friends and we headed to our new hotel. We were on the bus with the Table Tennis team, the Beach Volleyball team consisting of 2 guys, and one other team that I can not remember right now. Everyone was dropped off and we were now headed with the Volleyball team to the Marina Hotel.
We finally arrived and checked in. Every futsal team in the tournament except for Russia and Argentina are with us at the Marina Hotel. As soon as we walk in we are greeted by the people in charge of the Futsal tournament (since this is the Futsal headquarters) and they told us we had to get on a bus and go to training. We quickly ran our bags to our rooms and get our gear together for training. We ended up going to Moram Nave which is one of the venues for the tournament...I think we have one game at this location. We ran a few drills got a sweat going and played a bit. We felt very good running around on the court.
We were there for about an hour and then returned to the hotel to rest. Some of the guys went to sleep after we all had dinner. A few guys went to the roof top pool / bar / night club located at our hotel. We were told its a very popular spot...we are so pumped. A few guys went walking around the area to check out whats around us. I went and hung out with a friend of mine from high school who moved out to Israel 9 years ago.
We all found the bed early that evening....we are so tired and run down. Its going to feel good to get some sleep and not have to tour in the morning.
So we went to bed this morning at about 6:00am. When I turned out the lights the sun was coming up. We called the front desk to get a wake up call for 8:00am so we could pack, get check out and get to the bus by 9:00am. When the phone rang...Aaron, Jeff and myself started getting mad but we all jumped out of bed feeling like a million bucks and get our things together. Every player on the team was packed and eating breakfast by 8:45am. All bags and players were in the bus before 9:00am. Everyone was so on the ball today despite only Kfar Maccabiah again but this time for the closing of precamp and a nice lunch. We get to Kfar about 10:00 and we found that the meeting is set of after lunch and lunch starts at 12:30pm. WE WERE SO MAD!!!!!!
So we did what anyone in our spot would do...we jumped in the pool. We went back to the bus, grabbed our bathing suit and as fast as we could we jumped into the pool.
We were joined by other people we have met since we have been in Israel. Some of the boys were sun bathing with the girls on the soccer team. But before we knew it lunch was about to start.
We walked into the lunch room which was a nice covered patio which looks like something you would use at a very large expensive wedding. Hundreds of tables and lots of food. In the middle of the room was a long table filled with vegetables, salads, and fruit. Past that table against the wall of the room was a 30 food long stretch of desserts. So far we are hooked. And then on both sides of the room, opposite the vegetable table was the main course. Pasta, chicken, potatoes, and green beans. Everything looked amazing...but the food was by far the worst we have had since we arrived in Israel. Oh well....you cant get everything perfect.
After lunch we went to the meeting. At this meeting they announced who was going to be the flag bearers, we were introduced to the American Ambassador to Israel along with the heads of the Maccabi Organization. They talked to us about our responsibilities of being an American athlete in and international competition, our role in the opening ceremonies, and our expectations as the American delegation. It was a nice pump up pep talk and the last time we will see some of our friends in the delegation.
We got back on our bus after saying good by and good luck to our new friends and we headed to our new hotel. We were on the bus with the Table Tennis team, the Beach Volleyball team consisting of 2 guys, and one other team that I can not remember right now. Everyone was dropped off and we were now headed with the Volleyball team to the Marina Hotel.
We finally arrived and checked in. Every futsal team in the tournament except for Russia and Argentina are with us at the Marina Hotel. As soon as we walk in we are greeted by the people in charge of the Futsal tournament (since this is the Futsal headquarters) and they told us we had to get on a bus and go to training. We quickly ran our bags to our rooms and get our gear together for training. We ended up going to Moram Nave which is one of the venues for the tournament...I think we have one game at this location. We ran a few drills got a sweat going and played a bit. We felt very good running around on the court.
We were there for about an hour and then returned to the hotel to rest. Some of the guys went to sleep after we all had dinner. A few guys went to the roof top pool / bar / night club located at our hotel. We were told its a very popular spot...we are so pumped. A few guys went walking around the area to check out whats around us. I went and hung out with a friend of mine from high school who moved out to Israel 9 years ago.
We all found the bed early that evening....we are so tired and run down. Its going to feel good to get some sleep and not have to tour in the morning.
Wednesday July 8th
Today marks the last day of our pre camp training. We woke up and grabbed some food for breakfast. We jumped on the bus and headed out to Kfar Maccabiah. This is where the mens and womens teams were staying. It was a nice facility but again the futsal court wasn''t the best. It was hard and an old tennis court. So we played a bit got a nice sweat going and then jumped in the pool.
The bus picked us up again and like every other day we headed back to the hotel for lunch.
So as soon as we got back, I went to see if my laundry was done. I went to pick it up and as it turned out all my clothes were cleaned, folded, and really smelling nice. The best part of it was I wasn't missing anything either. What a deal. It just costs 50 shekels which i think is about $12 maybe. Oh well.
So today was a bit different. We went to get lunch but they didn't have lunch set for us. We were told to get on the bus at 11:15am and we would have lunch on the bus. Everyone was hungry and very tired. We find out that we will be eating not on the bus but in a Druze village up north. The ride is about 2 hours or so and we spend most of that time talking to the softball team and listening to the tour guide.
Finally we show up at the Druze village. A young Druze women gets on our bus to show us the area. Her name is Hanan and no we did not hit on her. She was cute but she told us a story that she could not be involved with someone who is not part of the Druze culture because if she were to marry some out from the outside she would be thrown out of the village and perceived as being dead to her family. Yeah...thats a little heavy and she ended by telling us that you can not convert to be a Druze so we had no chance with her.
We walked from the bus threw the village to where we were going to have lunch. It was a nice little room that looked like a normal living room. One coffee table in the middle of the room and the walls were lined with couches. We sat down and talked about her culture and what its like being in Israel as a Druze Women. After about 20 minutes or so she had the food brought in for all of us. We were set into groups of 4 or 5 and we were given a large medal plate with humus, pita, nan bread with zatar, rice, salad, meat and beans. When we were finished they gave us some cookies and very sweet hot tea.
Our tour guide got us together and we were on our way to the bus again. As we are driving she told us more about the area and where we were heading. We were on our way to the Sea of Galilee also called the Kinneret. We were headed there for a delegation beach bbq. The Galilee is sitting right on the Golan Heights so we are surrounded by nice high mountains so the view of the area was amazing.
We get out of the bus and see the Kinneret. Even though it is called a Sea it is really a very nice size fresh water lake. This body of water, just like the Dead Sea is evaporating. We don't really think about it much. We pick a spot, drop our bags and walk to the waters edge. Thats when it hits us. We see the old docks and the old walkway to the water. They had to extend the walk way about 100 yards or so to reach the new lower water level. The beach is covered in shells and sand. The water is warm but very nice to sit in. They have boats running all over the lake and dragging all kinds of inflatable toys all for us to play with. This is a public area but the only people there are the USA Maccabi teams. We swim in the water and jump off the docks. We ride the banana boats and get thrown off when they turn sharply. There are also some water slides at the park which really makes us question things. Why, if there is a water shortage in Israel, are there so many water parks? Kind of strange right.
We hang out here for a very nice long time. We go in and out of the water, getting sun all day long. We are talking to our new friends wishing them luck in the games and wishing we could have been playing in the water more. This is what we all really wanted to do. Its great walking around Israel and seeing history, but we really enjoy spending time with all the players in the delegation and most of all spending time in the water and not on a bus.
We have dinner and not long after finishing we got back into our bus groups and recapped the week we have spent together. Everyone had a chance to say something about the trip that made an impression on them. It took about 45 minutes but it was nice that the overlying theme of the group was that spending time with Jewish athletes in Israel is an unbelievable experience that we are all very fortunate to be apart of.
We had a nice long day and the only problem is that we had a very long dive back to the hotel. We all fall asleep and as soon as we get back we get changed and head out to catch a cab and go out for the first time.
We hooked up with the girls soccer team at a place called Clara Fashion Club. I can honestly say that I have never been in a place like this before. Its a very large club on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. We had to get chosen to enter the club in the old style of Studio 54....I only know because I sow the movie. So we get to the front of the group and tell them we are part of the USA delegation here for the Maccabiah Games. Thats all we needed to say to get in. I didn't think anything of it but it makes things really cool...at least for us.
We walk into the club and its packed with people everywhere. One of the guys works it out with the bar and we get a table with bottle service. I didn't really know what that meant until he told me thats the only way we can sit down and have our own table with couches...pimp LA style. So we did it up and had a blast dancing and hanging out with everyone. At 3 in the morning people in the club started to leave. Yes, 3 in the morning people started to go home. It was a Wednesday night and our team stayed at the club until 5:00am. We figured we would have some fun since we didn't have training in the morning. I'm telling you....we picked a great team to hang out with....all the boys on the futsal team get a long great and we all enjoy spending time together. I just hope we play that well too.
We are moving to our new hotel in Tel Aviv in the morning...see you then.
The bus picked us up again and like every other day we headed back to the hotel for lunch.
So as soon as we got back, I went to see if my laundry was done. I went to pick it up and as it turned out all my clothes were cleaned, folded, and really smelling nice. The best part of it was I wasn't missing anything either. What a deal. It just costs 50 shekels which i think is about $12 maybe. Oh well.
So today was a bit different. We went to get lunch but they didn't have lunch set for us. We were told to get on the bus at 11:15am and we would have lunch on the bus. Everyone was hungry and very tired. We find out that we will be eating not on the bus but in a Druze village up north. The ride is about 2 hours or so and we spend most of that time talking to the softball team and listening to the tour guide.
Finally we show up at the Druze village. A young Druze women gets on our bus to show us the area. Her name is Hanan and no we did not hit on her. She was cute but she told us a story that she could not be involved with someone who is not part of the Druze culture because if she were to marry some out from the outside she would be thrown out of the village and perceived as being dead to her family. Yeah...thats a little heavy and she ended by telling us that you can not convert to be a Druze so we had no chance with her.
We walked from the bus threw the village to where we were going to have lunch. It was a nice little room that looked like a normal living room. One coffee table in the middle of the room and the walls were lined with couches. We sat down and talked about her culture and what its like being in Israel as a Druze Women. After about 20 minutes or so she had the food brought in for all of us. We were set into groups of 4 or 5 and we were given a large medal plate with humus, pita, nan bread with zatar, rice, salad, meat and beans. When we were finished they gave us some cookies and very sweet hot tea.
Our tour guide got us together and we were on our way to the bus again. As we are driving she told us more about the area and where we were heading. We were on our way to the Sea of Galilee also called the Kinneret. We were headed there for a delegation beach bbq. The Galilee is sitting right on the Golan Heights so we are surrounded by nice high mountains so the view of the area was amazing.
We get out of the bus and see the Kinneret. Even though it is called a Sea it is really a very nice size fresh water lake. This body of water, just like the Dead Sea is evaporating. We don't really think about it much. We pick a spot, drop our bags and walk to the waters edge. Thats when it hits us. We see the old docks and the old walkway to the water. They had to extend the walk way about 100 yards or so to reach the new lower water level. The beach is covered in shells and sand. The water is warm but very nice to sit in. They have boats running all over the lake and dragging all kinds of inflatable toys all for us to play with. This is a public area but the only people there are the USA Maccabi teams. We swim in the water and jump off the docks. We ride the banana boats and get thrown off when they turn sharply. There are also some water slides at the park which really makes us question things. Why, if there is a water shortage in Israel, are there so many water parks? Kind of strange right.
We hang out here for a very nice long time. We go in and out of the water, getting sun all day long. We are talking to our new friends wishing them luck in the games and wishing we could have been playing in the water more. This is what we all really wanted to do. Its great walking around Israel and seeing history, but we really enjoy spending time with all the players in the delegation and most of all spending time in the water and not on a bus.
We have dinner and not long after finishing we got back into our bus groups and recapped the week we have spent together. Everyone had a chance to say something about the trip that made an impression on them. It took about 45 minutes but it was nice that the overlying theme of the group was that spending time with Jewish athletes in Israel is an unbelievable experience that we are all very fortunate to be apart of.
We had a nice long day and the only problem is that we had a very long dive back to the hotel. We all fall asleep and as soon as we get back we get changed and head out to catch a cab and go out for the first time.
We hooked up with the girls soccer team at a place called Clara Fashion Club. I can honestly say that I have never been in a place like this before. Its a very large club on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. We had to get chosen to enter the club in the old style of Studio 54....I only know because I sow the movie. So we get to the front of the group and tell them we are part of the USA delegation here for the Maccabiah Games. Thats all we needed to say to get in. I didn't think anything of it but it makes things really cool...at least for us.
We walk into the club and its packed with people everywhere. One of the guys works it out with the bar and we get a table with bottle service. I didn't really know what that meant until he told me thats the only way we can sit down and have our own table with couches...pimp LA style. So we did it up and had a blast dancing and hanging out with everyone. At 3 in the morning people in the club started to leave. Yes, 3 in the morning people started to go home. It was a Wednesday night and our team stayed at the club until 5:00am. We figured we would have some fun since we didn't have training in the morning. I'm telling you....we picked a great team to hang out with....all the boys on the futsal team get a long great and we all enjoy spending time together. I just hope we play that well too.
We are moving to our new hotel in Tel Aviv in the morning...see you then.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday July 7th
Tuesday July 7th
Last night when we were at dinner we were told that we would be training on an actual hard wood Futsal court. So we were a bit excited but with the way things have been going we didn’t want to get to excited because it might not happen.
So we wake up again in the morning and go for breakfast. Every day we have had very similar meals for breakfast, eggs, bread, salad, fish, vegetables, and cake. We got on the bus this time with the Judo team. These guys are really cool. One guy was an alternate on the USA Olympic team in Beijing. Then there is Barry…
We finally arrive at Hadar Yoseph which is the Olympic training ground we were at when we played on the grass field. This court was perfect. We should have been training here all week. We felt great running, training, and playing on the hard wood. We scrimmaged and we are really starting to play like a team. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get together before the games and play. As we are leaving we get a chance to watch the USA gymnastics team work out a bit, the USA Judo team finish training, and an Israeli dance class work out. I don’t need to say it but you know what most of us were watching.
We are finally happy with the facility we played at so after practice we happily get back on the bus and go back to the hotel. Since we are leaving early on Thursday to have lunch at Kfar Maccabiah and then go to our competition hotel, most of us got our dirty clothes together and took it to the laundry room. The hotel set it up that for 50 shekels they will wash all our clothes. 50 shekels is about $12. It takes a full day to get the clothes back so we wanted to make sure we had them before we left on Thursday. Smart right…let’s just hope it works out the way it should.
We had about 20 minutes to grab lunch before we set out on a 2 and a half hour drive to the Dead Sea. On the way to the Dead Sea we stopped off at a gas station to use the restrooms. When we got off there just happened to be a camel sitting in the parking lot. Of course, being Americans we jump all over it and take pictures and pose with it some people even got rides. We finally got our things together again and back on the road. We cross over the green line and stop at 2 different check points. The armed guards let us through no problem but you should have seen the guns they were holding.
As we get to the Dead Sea we can see that the water level has been dropping. We were told that the water source that flows into the Dead Sea was been cut off and is being used by the people in the region for their everyday living. It’s sad to see that one day, because of human interference; the Dead Sea will be gone.
We are heading to a spa called Ein Gedi. This place had everything you would expect at a spa on the Dead Sea. Sulfur baths, steam room and sauna, a fresh or “sweet” water pool, message area, and lots and lots of showers. We went outside and covered ourselves in mud head to toe and then walked our way to the heavily salted water. On the walk they posted markers from the spa to the sea to show what the water level was at a certain year. It’s really sad to see how much the water level has dropped since 1996. Once at the water we put our towels down and walked into the water. The beach was covered with a 5 inch hard salt shell. You must wear shoes or sandals while on this beach because the ground is so hot and because the amount of salt. We walked into the warm salt water and the smallest of cuts, rashes, or opening in the body started to burn. If you can get over the salt “sting” then you submerge your body in the water and you will notice that your feet well start to rise to the top of the water. The next thing we knew we were all floating in the water. It’s a really cool feeling because you can just lay back and rest or read a book without an inner tube. The water of the Dead Sea has a very oily residue which is very good if you have dry skin. So all of our skin is now nice and smooth but very salty. We don’t get to stay there to long since we have to head off to Masada and then to the Bedouin Tent for dinner.
We take a 10 minute drive from Ein Geti to Masada. If you know nothing about Masada…go onto google and check it out. Masada is the Palace of King Herrod about 3000 years ago. Did I mention it was at the top of a mountain? Yeah that’s really the cool part. The last 2 trips I have been on made us walk up Masada. There is a “snake” path up the side containing thousands of steps. When we come with the athletic group we take a gondola up. Go figure. So once we get to the top we walk around looking at the storage areas, the cisterns, the living quarters, the open areas and the spa. Yes the spa. Apparently King Harrod felt it necessary to build a sauna at the top of the mountain. I asked the same question you are asking now…WHY would you want to have a sauna in the desert!! The answer I got was…Because he could. The place is amazing, the construction, the details in the mosaics, the inhabitants, and the destruction. The entire story of Masada is long and detailed but it’s all about doing what others could not, power, and death.
So now it’s time for dinner. We walked down Masada right to the busses. But on the way down a group of us bumped into Gold Medal Swimmer Jason Lezack ( I hope I spelled that right) Nice guy, took some pictures with him…of course this is the one time I didn’t bring my camera. Oh well.
Now let me tell you this….when we were told that we were going to a Bedouin tent for dinner we thought we were going into the middle of the desert and sitting on the ground and eating dinner. Sounds fair right? Well we did go into the middle of the Judean Desert and we did sit on the ground to eat dinner. What we didn’t expect was the Bedouin store, the dance club and the light up club style bar (without alcohol). We walked up to the complex on a nicely laid out carpet with torches lighting our way. Once inside they have set up 7 or 8 different stations with many kinds of fruit, appetizers, and desserts. We walked around a bit and took samples of everything. (on a side note: the watermelon here in Israel is so absolutely sweet and delicious and we eat some every day) Behind all the appetizer stations they have set up hundreds of tables for us to sit at and eat. We find our way into the back of the complex and take 4 tables under a tent. Most of the tables are in the open air and with the desert wind blowing the dust was everywhere so choosing to be under the tent was by far the best choice. Now, each table sits 8 people…then why did you take 4 tables Jared? Well so we could sit with the girls open soccer team of course. I know what I am doing when it comes to this kind of stuff. So the girls join us for dinner, coach and all. Since all the soccer teams are at Kfar Maccabiah and the Futsal team is at Shefiyem, we have not gotten to meet any of the other players. So we talked and ate. Not to freak anyone out but as we were sitting and eating one of the girls, Mike Coakley’s sister Raleigh, felt something crawling over her foot. She jumped up and screamed bloody murder. So this made everyone else freak out. People started screaming that it was a big spider but no one saw it yet. The next thing we know a 4 inch white scorpion darts out from under the table. (read that again….yes a scorpion) This brought over the Israeli soldiers that are with us along with the people running the dinner. One of the soldiers saw the scorpion and stepped on it. Most everyone was freaking out about that as well, but after 6 or 7 hard stomps and a long drag of his boot the thing was dead. Before we could pick it up and get rid of it, a cat ran by and took it for us. Just a little excitement before we eat.
So back to the meal, we have humus and pita and salads and drinks and vegetables and such to start our dinner. The next thing we know a large metal plate has placed in the middle of the table. There were 4 pounds of rice along with 3 different types of meat, more vegetables, and I think some raisons, enough food to feed 12 to 14 people easy. (um….that’s per table not for all 4 of our tables)
So we eat like typical Americans, grab and grab and grab but can’t finish anything. We have been working out every day and eating a lot of vegetables and fresh foods. Our eating habits have changed a bit so our stomachs are not as big as our eyes any more. So we leave a lot left on the table. Before we could get comfortable sitting on the pillows on the ground, music started to play which attracted everyone. As we approached we sow 3 belly dancers. We are all thinking hot, hot, hot baby….yeah. But in reality it was like holly crap, what the heck, and is that a guy?
We stayed for about 30 more minutes before getting back on the bus for our 2 and a half hour ride back to the hotel. We all fell asleep on the way home….that was a long day.
Last night when we were at dinner we were told that we would be training on an actual hard wood Futsal court. So we were a bit excited but with the way things have been going we didn’t want to get to excited because it might not happen.
So we wake up again in the morning and go for breakfast. Every day we have had very similar meals for breakfast, eggs, bread, salad, fish, vegetables, and cake. We got on the bus this time with the Judo team. These guys are really cool. One guy was an alternate on the USA Olympic team in Beijing. Then there is Barry…
We finally arrive at Hadar Yoseph which is the Olympic training ground we were at when we played on the grass field. This court was perfect. We should have been training here all week. We felt great running, training, and playing on the hard wood. We scrimmaged and we are really starting to play like a team. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get together before the games and play. As we are leaving we get a chance to watch the USA gymnastics team work out a bit, the USA Judo team finish training, and an Israeli dance class work out. I don’t need to say it but you know what most of us were watching.
We are finally happy with the facility we played at so after practice we happily get back on the bus and go back to the hotel. Since we are leaving early on Thursday to have lunch at Kfar Maccabiah and then go to our competition hotel, most of us got our dirty clothes together and took it to the laundry room. The hotel set it up that for 50 shekels they will wash all our clothes. 50 shekels is about $12. It takes a full day to get the clothes back so we wanted to make sure we had them before we left on Thursday. Smart right…let’s just hope it works out the way it should.
We had about 20 minutes to grab lunch before we set out on a 2 and a half hour drive to the Dead Sea. On the way to the Dead Sea we stopped off at a gas station to use the restrooms. When we got off there just happened to be a camel sitting in the parking lot. Of course, being Americans we jump all over it and take pictures and pose with it some people even got rides. We finally got our things together again and back on the road. We cross over the green line and stop at 2 different check points. The armed guards let us through no problem but you should have seen the guns they were holding.
As we get to the Dead Sea we can see that the water level has been dropping. We were told that the water source that flows into the Dead Sea was been cut off and is being used by the people in the region for their everyday living. It’s sad to see that one day, because of human interference; the Dead Sea will be gone.
We are heading to a spa called Ein Gedi. This place had everything you would expect at a spa on the Dead Sea. Sulfur baths, steam room and sauna, a fresh or “sweet” water pool, message area, and lots and lots of showers. We went outside and covered ourselves in mud head to toe and then walked our way to the heavily salted water. On the walk they posted markers from the spa to the sea to show what the water level was at a certain year. It’s really sad to see how much the water level has dropped since 1996. Once at the water we put our towels down and walked into the water. The beach was covered with a 5 inch hard salt shell. You must wear shoes or sandals while on this beach because the ground is so hot and because the amount of salt. We walked into the warm salt water and the smallest of cuts, rashes, or opening in the body started to burn. If you can get over the salt “sting” then you submerge your body in the water and you will notice that your feet well start to rise to the top of the water. The next thing we knew we were all floating in the water. It’s a really cool feeling because you can just lay back and rest or read a book without an inner tube. The water of the Dead Sea has a very oily residue which is very good if you have dry skin. So all of our skin is now nice and smooth but very salty. We don’t get to stay there to long since we have to head off to Masada and then to the Bedouin Tent for dinner.
We take a 10 minute drive from Ein Geti to Masada. If you know nothing about Masada…go onto google and check it out. Masada is the Palace of King Herrod about 3000 years ago. Did I mention it was at the top of a mountain? Yeah that’s really the cool part. The last 2 trips I have been on made us walk up Masada. There is a “snake” path up the side containing thousands of steps. When we come with the athletic group we take a gondola up. Go figure. So once we get to the top we walk around looking at the storage areas, the cisterns, the living quarters, the open areas and the spa. Yes the spa. Apparently King Harrod felt it necessary to build a sauna at the top of the mountain. I asked the same question you are asking now…WHY would you want to have a sauna in the desert!! The answer I got was…Because he could. The place is amazing, the construction, the details in the mosaics, the inhabitants, and the destruction. The entire story of Masada is long and detailed but it’s all about doing what others could not, power, and death.
So now it’s time for dinner. We walked down Masada right to the busses. But on the way down a group of us bumped into Gold Medal Swimmer Jason Lezack ( I hope I spelled that right) Nice guy, took some pictures with him…of course this is the one time I didn’t bring my camera. Oh well.
Now let me tell you this….when we were told that we were going to a Bedouin tent for dinner we thought we were going into the middle of the desert and sitting on the ground and eating dinner. Sounds fair right? Well we did go into the middle of the Judean Desert and we did sit on the ground to eat dinner. What we didn’t expect was the Bedouin store, the dance club and the light up club style bar (without alcohol). We walked up to the complex on a nicely laid out carpet with torches lighting our way. Once inside they have set up 7 or 8 different stations with many kinds of fruit, appetizers, and desserts. We walked around a bit and took samples of everything. (on a side note: the watermelon here in Israel is so absolutely sweet and delicious and we eat some every day) Behind all the appetizer stations they have set up hundreds of tables for us to sit at and eat. We find our way into the back of the complex and take 4 tables under a tent. Most of the tables are in the open air and with the desert wind blowing the dust was everywhere so choosing to be under the tent was by far the best choice. Now, each table sits 8 people…then why did you take 4 tables Jared? Well so we could sit with the girls open soccer team of course. I know what I am doing when it comes to this kind of stuff. So the girls join us for dinner, coach and all. Since all the soccer teams are at Kfar Maccabiah and the Futsal team is at Shefiyem, we have not gotten to meet any of the other players. So we talked and ate. Not to freak anyone out but as we were sitting and eating one of the girls, Mike Coakley’s sister Raleigh, felt something crawling over her foot. She jumped up and screamed bloody murder. So this made everyone else freak out. People started screaming that it was a big spider but no one saw it yet. The next thing we know a 4 inch white scorpion darts out from under the table. (read that again….yes a scorpion) This brought over the Israeli soldiers that are with us along with the people running the dinner. One of the soldiers saw the scorpion and stepped on it. Most everyone was freaking out about that as well, but after 6 or 7 hard stomps and a long drag of his boot the thing was dead. Before we could pick it up and get rid of it, a cat ran by and took it for us. Just a little excitement before we eat.
So back to the meal, we have humus and pita and salads and drinks and vegetables and such to start our dinner. The next thing we know a large metal plate has placed in the middle of the table. There were 4 pounds of rice along with 3 different types of meat, more vegetables, and I think some raisons, enough food to feed 12 to 14 people easy. (um….that’s per table not for all 4 of our tables)
So we eat like typical Americans, grab and grab and grab but can’t finish anything. We have been working out every day and eating a lot of vegetables and fresh foods. Our eating habits have changed a bit so our stomachs are not as big as our eyes any more. So we leave a lot left on the table. Before we could get comfortable sitting on the pillows on the ground, music started to play which attracted everyone. As we approached we sow 3 belly dancers. We are all thinking hot, hot, hot baby….yeah. But in reality it was like holly crap, what the heck, and is that a guy?
We stayed for about 30 more minutes before getting back on the bus for our 2 and a half hour ride back to the hotel. We all fell asleep on the way home….that was a long day.
Monday July 6th
Monday July 6th
Today is our 3rd full day in Israel and marks the 3rd field we have trained at. Like every day, we wake up really early and have breakfast. We are quickly rushed onto a bus, this time with the fencing team. We are on our way to Yahud. Most of us are trying to wake up when we arrive at the field. To our surprise we got the chance to watch the women’s open and youth soccer teams training on the field turf pitch. The field is surrounded by a very strong and heavy metal fence. There is also a mini field that is separated from the main field by a long net that just misses hitting the ground. The only other thing at this facility is a somewhat decomposing basketball court. The court is worn with years of use. The facility is small and hot. The air only circulates when you turn on the 8 large fans located on the walls. The court has a large somewhat lifted square on the key which looks like it was replaced years ago which contributed to the unusable nature of the court. To add insult to injury, there are spots of bird poop on 3 or 4 different spots on the court.
Since there was only one gym and two teams who needed to use it, we asked a man working at the facility where the futsal court was. Before I say anything, I am sure you all know what I am going to say. He told us that we are to play on the mini field. Again, for the 3rd day we are scheduled to play on a field that is not conducive to futsal.
So we worked it out with the fencing coach that we would split the gym. We took the first 45 minutes in the gym and then ran some drills and fitness on the field turf. We dealt with it but we were not happy.
After training we jumped back on the bus and headed to the hotel for lunch. At 12:00pm we loaded the busses again and headed to the other side of Jerusalem. Our first stop was Mt. Hertzel Military Cemetery. This is a large cemetery that houses every member of the military who has died along with politicians and some other very important people. We stopped to see Yitzak Rabin and Golda Miear. This cemetery is not like anything I have ever seen in the US. It is built almost as a living art form. Trees, plants, flowers and shrubs are everywhere. Almost every grave is designed to look like a bed. Not just a head stone, every grave stone bed is raised out of the ground about 1 foot. Inside the beds are living shrubs that are watered and manicured daily. Since the cemetery is on a hill, there are many different levels. Each level is designed a little different but on every level you will find generals buried next to privets and so on.
Now to make the day even more downtrodden, our next stop is Yad Vashem which is the holocaust memorial museum.
We walk into the entrance of the center which is a beautiful Israeli stone building that is constructed with glass so the entire building is bright and open. There is no artwork or signs in this building; it’s just somber and clean. We pick up our headphones so the guide can talk to us through the museum. Our first stop is the children’s memorial. We walked down a stone path into a dark room. We were greeted by large pictures of 10 to 12 children. As we continue walking we hear a voice that says a child’s name, their age and where they were from. As we entered the next room all we can see are candles. The room only contains 3 candles but the dark room is covered floor to ceiling with mirrors so it looks like millions of flames all over the room. It was told to me last time I was in Israel that if you played the tape of all the children’s names constantly for 24 hours a day 7 days a week, it would take over 3 weeks to listen to them all.
Our tour continued into the museum. It is so overwhelming that I could not do it justice talking about it. If you have never been you must see it at some point in your life and if you have been you know what I mean.
To lighten the mood of the day, we are scheduled to go to the Hebrew University to have a Bnai Mitzvah and a dinner party. But on the way we stop at the West Bank to see the security fence and talk about why it’s there and the problems with it.
Now we head to Hebrew University. It’s a very nice spot on top a hill overlooking the city. We are led into the amphitheater which is huge and made from Israeli stone. A large stage sits in front with the back of the stage overlooking the beautiful hills and valleys of the area. As we sit there singing with the rabbi and the 900 some athletes, the sun sets and the full moon rises. The lights of the theater illuminate the crowd as we join together singing “love your neighbor as you love yourself, that’s what the torah says.”
Then it was time…the Rabbi calls us up by teams to say the blessings over the torah. He calls up all teams A-F but leaves us off. We get excited because we will start the next one. He calls for the second and starts with G-S. Again we are mad but a few of us go up anyways. As we are up on stage, I told the Rabbi that he forgot to call the Futsal team up to the stage. He looks at me like I’m speaking Chinese. So he hands me the microphone and invited the entire Futsal team to join us on stage. I would like to add that every member on the Futsal team came to the stage, said he blessing over the torah and received a Bnai Mitzvah. Congratulations everyone.
After the 3rd group got up to say the blessings we all stood up, sang some more and then headed up the steps to have dinner.
Once again we had an American meal in Israel with the entire delegation. At least this time it wasn’t hotdogs and hamburgers. There was a band that played typical American Bnai Mitzvah music. People were picking up others in chairs, dancing and singing the hora.
We finished the party at 11:00pm and headed back to the hotel. Today was a very emotional day for everyone involved. But as always, we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Today is our 3rd full day in Israel and marks the 3rd field we have trained at. Like every day, we wake up really early and have breakfast. We are quickly rushed onto a bus, this time with the fencing team. We are on our way to Yahud. Most of us are trying to wake up when we arrive at the field. To our surprise we got the chance to watch the women’s open and youth soccer teams training on the field turf pitch. The field is surrounded by a very strong and heavy metal fence. There is also a mini field that is separated from the main field by a long net that just misses hitting the ground. The only other thing at this facility is a somewhat decomposing basketball court. The court is worn with years of use. The facility is small and hot. The air only circulates when you turn on the 8 large fans located on the walls. The court has a large somewhat lifted square on the key which looks like it was replaced years ago which contributed to the unusable nature of the court. To add insult to injury, there are spots of bird poop on 3 or 4 different spots on the court.
Since there was only one gym and two teams who needed to use it, we asked a man working at the facility where the futsal court was. Before I say anything, I am sure you all know what I am going to say. He told us that we are to play on the mini field. Again, for the 3rd day we are scheduled to play on a field that is not conducive to futsal.
So we worked it out with the fencing coach that we would split the gym. We took the first 45 minutes in the gym and then ran some drills and fitness on the field turf. We dealt with it but we were not happy.
After training we jumped back on the bus and headed to the hotel for lunch. At 12:00pm we loaded the busses again and headed to the other side of Jerusalem. Our first stop was Mt. Hertzel Military Cemetery. This is a large cemetery that houses every member of the military who has died along with politicians and some other very important people. We stopped to see Yitzak Rabin and Golda Miear. This cemetery is not like anything I have ever seen in the US. It is built almost as a living art form. Trees, plants, flowers and shrubs are everywhere. Almost every grave is designed to look like a bed. Not just a head stone, every grave stone bed is raised out of the ground about 1 foot. Inside the beds are living shrubs that are watered and manicured daily. Since the cemetery is on a hill, there are many different levels. Each level is designed a little different but on every level you will find generals buried next to privets and so on.
Now to make the day even more downtrodden, our next stop is Yad Vashem which is the holocaust memorial museum.
We walk into the entrance of the center which is a beautiful Israeli stone building that is constructed with glass so the entire building is bright and open. There is no artwork or signs in this building; it’s just somber and clean. We pick up our headphones so the guide can talk to us through the museum. Our first stop is the children’s memorial. We walked down a stone path into a dark room. We were greeted by large pictures of 10 to 12 children. As we continue walking we hear a voice that says a child’s name, their age and where they were from. As we entered the next room all we can see are candles. The room only contains 3 candles but the dark room is covered floor to ceiling with mirrors so it looks like millions of flames all over the room. It was told to me last time I was in Israel that if you played the tape of all the children’s names constantly for 24 hours a day 7 days a week, it would take over 3 weeks to listen to them all.
Our tour continued into the museum. It is so overwhelming that I could not do it justice talking about it. If you have never been you must see it at some point in your life and if you have been you know what I mean.
To lighten the mood of the day, we are scheduled to go to the Hebrew University to have a Bnai Mitzvah and a dinner party. But on the way we stop at the West Bank to see the security fence and talk about why it’s there and the problems with it.
Now we head to Hebrew University. It’s a very nice spot on top a hill overlooking the city. We are led into the amphitheater which is huge and made from Israeli stone. A large stage sits in front with the back of the stage overlooking the beautiful hills and valleys of the area. As we sit there singing with the rabbi and the 900 some athletes, the sun sets and the full moon rises. The lights of the theater illuminate the crowd as we join together singing “love your neighbor as you love yourself, that’s what the torah says.”
Then it was time…the Rabbi calls us up by teams to say the blessings over the torah. He calls up all teams A-F but leaves us off. We get excited because we will start the next one. He calls for the second and starts with G-S. Again we are mad but a few of us go up anyways. As we are up on stage, I told the Rabbi that he forgot to call the Futsal team up to the stage. He looks at me like I’m speaking Chinese. So he hands me the microphone and invited the entire Futsal team to join us on stage. I would like to add that every member on the Futsal team came to the stage, said he blessing over the torah and received a Bnai Mitzvah. Congratulations everyone.
After the 3rd group got up to say the blessings we all stood up, sang some more and then headed up the steps to have dinner.
Once again we had an American meal in Israel with the entire delegation. At least this time it wasn’t hotdogs and hamburgers. There was a band that played typical American Bnai Mitzvah music. People were picking up others in chairs, dancing and singing the hora.
We finished the party at 11:00pm and headed back to the hotel. Today was a very emotional day for everyone involved. But as always, we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Team pictures
This is our first team picture. Taken on the Black Top court at Wingate Sports Complex. Our first practice on Saturday July 4th.
This is a great picture of the team at the western wall. We are sporting our shirts that are in support of Ethan Zohn who is ill. Taken July 5th.
This is the team sitting on a tank at the War Memorial on July 5th
Sunday July 5th
Sunday July 5th, 2009
After a nice day and bbq with the entire US delegation we wake up for our second full day in Israel. The only problem so far is that we are working on maybe 5 hours of sleep. We got back from the bbq about 12:00am and have to get up for breakfast by 5:45 – 6:00. We all stumble into breakfast a little before 6am and again have a lovely meal once again.
Yesterday we told you about the outdoor futsal facility we trained at, how nice it was even though it was a black top court and all. Today we didn’t go back to Wingate we went to Hadar Yoseph. This is one of the Olympic track and field facilities in Israel. It really is an amazing place. A huge stadium with every possible field event training ground, a nice large track, great indoor facilities but no Futsal court. The coordinators thought we needed a grass field to train and that’s what we got. So we played on the grass with goals we found in a corner. We were not happy but we dealt with what we had. We found that since we were playing on the grass with flat bottom shoes we were skating more than running. But we played and then we complained. A few guys got hurt from the field because we couldn’t cut or stop like we needed to. (This is the current injury report) Aaron Bernstein our goal keeper hurt his hand when Jesse Goldberg slipped into him. Both are fine but it did give us a bit of a scare. Also Sergio our coach over extended his hamstring and sat out of practice. He too is fine but he is taking it easy.
At the end of training it started to rain…when I say it rained in Israel it was more like when someone washes their hands and flings the left over water at you to dry them. That’s the amount of rain we had.
We jumped back on the bus and rushed back to the hotel because we had to get changed for our pictures. We put on white socks, white shorts and our blue tops for the team and individual pictures. I do not know if we can get copies but I am sure they will be available somewhere at some time.
We grabbed a quick lunch and we went on our way to Old Jerusalem. The first thing we stopped at was the Haas Promenade. This is at the top of a hill which overlooks all of Jerusalem. We took some pictures, said some prayers and got back on the bus. I must say it was a very cool site seeing all of Jerusalem from that view point.
Our next stop was the Kotel which is the Western Wall of the second temple. We got some pictures together as a team in front of the wall and said some prayers for our friends and family. And I made sure to slip one in there for the team to win big in this tournament. I figured it couldn’t hurt. We continued to walk around the wall and saw the Southern Wall and Davidson Visitors Center which talked about the temple mount and the way of life centered around it. They showed us what it would have been like 3000 years ago, the history behind the temple, the people, the community and the pilgrims. They showed us what it would have been like to come to this area, get a sacrificial animal and take it to the temple for the sacrifice. It was really neat…sort of like something out of the movies. As we were walking out we got a chance to hear the Muslim call to prayer. It was interesting.
Once we were done there they took us to the City of David where we walked through the Hezekiah’s Water Tunnel. It’s a fresh water spring that was under ground and gave water to the City of David 2700 years ago. Yes we walked in the water. Yes it was cold. And lastly yes it was dark. There were no lights in this tunnel so they gave us all flashlights. The tunnel was big enough for one person to walk at a time in a single file line. Sometimes we had to duck and other time we could stand up but at no time could we turn around. The water was up to our knees at some points and as low as our shins at others.
I did forget to mention that it was about 500 yards long…almost like Andy Dufrain in Shawshank Redemption, but we had clean water and not escaping from prison.
At this point it’s about 6:00pm. We got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. We were all so tired that every single person on the team fell asleep. We share a bus with the men’s and women’s softball team and I was told that they took pictures of us sleeping…I told them it they played a real sport they would have been sleeping too. They really didn’t find that funny.
We got to the hotel, had dinner and were informed that from all our complaining about the pool costing us money, they would open it for all of us for 2 hours that evening. So almost everyone headed over to the pool. Some of us hung out and tried to fix the internet and as soon as it worked again I was too tired to write anything.
It was sleepy time again. This time we hope to sleep a bit more and get rested for tomorrow’s adventure.
After a nice day and bbq with the entire US delegation we wake up for our second full day in Israel. The only problem so far is that we are working on maybe 5 hours of sleep. We got back from the bbq about 12:00am and have to get up for breakfast by 5:45 – 6:00. We all stumble into breakfast a little before 6am and again have a lovely meal once again.
Yesterday we told you about the outdoor futsal facility we trained at, how nice it was even though it was a black top court and all. Today we didn’t go back to Wingate we went to Hadar Yoseph. This is one of the Olympic track and field facilities in Israel. It really is an amazing place. A huge stadium with every possible field event training ground, a nice large track, great indoor facilities but no Futsal court. The coordinators thought we needed a grass field to train and that’s what we got. So we played on the grass with goals we found in a corner. We were not happy but we dealt with what we had. We found that since we were playing on the grass with flat bottom shoes we were skating more than running. But we played and then we complained. A few guys got hurt from the field because we couldn’t cut or stop like we needed to. (This is the current injury report) Aaron Bernstein our goal keeper hurt his hand when Jesse Goldberg slipped into him. Both are fine but it did give us a bit of a scare. Also Sergio our coach over extended his hamstring and sat out of practice. He too is fine but he is taking it easy.
At the end of training it started to rain…when I say it rained in Israel it was more like when someone washes their hands and flings the left over water at you to dry them. That’s the amount of rain we had.
We jumped back on the bus and rushed back to the hotel because we had to get changed for our pictures. We put on white socks, white shorts and our blue tops for the team and individual pictures. I do not know if we can get copies but I am sure they will be available somewhere at some time.
We grabbed a quick lunch and we went on our way to Old Jerusalem. The first thing we stopped at was the Haas Promenade. This is at the top of a hill which overlooks all of Jerusalem. We took some pictures, said some prayers and got back on the bus. I must say it was a very cool site seeing all of Jerusalem from that view point.
Our next stop was the Kotel which is the Western Wall of the second temple. We got some pictures together as a team in front of the wall and said some prayers for our friends and family. And I made sure to slip one in there for the team to win big in this tournament. I figured it couldn’t hurt. We continued to walk around the wall and saw the Southern Wall and Davidson Visitors Center which talked about the temple mount and the way of life centered around it. They showed us what it would have been like 3000 years ago, the history behind the temple, the people, the community and the pilgrims. They showed us what it would have been like to come to this area, get a sacrificial animal and take it to the temple for the sacrifice. It was really neat…sort of like something out of the movies. As we were walking out we got a chance to hear the Muslim call to prayer. It was interesting.
Once we were done there they took us to the City of David where we walked through the Hezekiah’s Water Tunnel. It’s a fresh water spring that was under ground and gave water to the City of David 2700 years ago. Yes we walked in the water. Yes it was cold. And lastly yes it was dark. There were no lights in this tunnel so they gave us all flashlights. The tunnel was big enough for one person to walk at a time in a single file line. Sometimes we had to duck and other time we could stand up but at no time could we turn around. The water was up to our knees at some points and as low as our shins at others.
I did forget to mention that it was about 500 yards long…almost like Andy Dufrain in Shawshank Redemption, but we had clean water and not escaping from prison.
At this point it’s about 6:00pm. We got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. We were all so tired that every single person on the team fell asleep. We share a bus with the men’s and women’s softball team and I was told that they took pictures of us sleeping…I told them it they played a real sport they would have been sleeping too. They really didn’t find that funny.
We got to the hotel, had dinner and were informed that from all our complaining about the pool costing us money, they would open it for all of us for 2 hours that evening. So almost everyone headed over to the pool. Some of us hung out and tried to fix the internet and as soon as it worked again I was too tired to write anything.
It was sleepy time again. This time we hope to sleep a bit more and get rested for tomorrow’s adventure.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Saturday July 4th
Saturday July 4th.
There is a silent buzz around the team. Today is the first day of training and no one can sleep. We have a wake up call at 6:00 am but almost everyone is up before that. We all get changed for training and set out for breakfast. Breakfast consists of vegetables, salads, bread, eggs, cakes, cheese and the richest chocolate milk known to man. Some of us ate responsible and others not so much. But since we are athletes and know how our bodies respond to food we are all good. We take our time and have a nice breakfast and then we are quickly placed on our respective busses. No surprise to the Futsal team we are assigned to the wrong bus. Of course we correct the problem and get on the correct bus. We are heading to the Wingate which is one amazing sports facility. I was told that it is among the top sports education facilities in the world. I can see why as soon as we get there. The grounds are built for sports and the training of athletes. Statues line the grounds as we enter. They have facilities for gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, judo, cycling, along with a few very nice soccer fields and a really cool black top covered outdoor futsal court. Regulation size and everything. There are seats built into the side of a small hill so spectators can watch the games. We start to warm up and as soon as we stepped onto the court we were attracting people who were interested in watching. We could have had at most 8 people watching…except for the 30 little kids who were walking to the pool so it really wasn’t a large gathering. But it was nice to have fans.
By the way….the answer is YES…the team looks good and we do have a chance to upset some teams in this competition. Sergio ran a very nice training session and we got a chance to scrimmage at the end. We need a bit more time working together but we are starting to come together as a team and look good doing it.
We spend 2 hours training and the jump on the bus to head back to the hotel. We arrive and decide to go jump in the pool to cool off and hang out. The only problem is the water park wants 30 shekels (about $7.50) to enter. We laugh and head to the FREE beach. It takes about 15 minutes to walk there only because the path looks like something out of an Indiana Jones movie…you know the one when they are looking for the cup in the cave…the only difference is there is nothing to cut our heads off and we are not walking in a cave.
Now I’m sure you are asking…was the walk worth it? To be honest…NO. Yes it was the Mediterranean ocean but the beach looked like the ones we have in Cleveland. Rocky, dirty and at times scary. I can tell you that we will be spending the 30 shekels in the future.
We head back to the hotel for lunch. The food here so far has been very good and this lunch was no exception. There are so many options and no one goes hungry. Its good to be an
American.
At 1:00pm we are scheduled to get on the bus to start our first day of site seeing. They schedule us to go to Morasha National Park and walk in the footsteps of the Maccabees. (yes the guys from Hanukah) This park in an archeologists dream. Every step you take is a step into history. We follow our guide into a dark hole and now we are crawling on the ground and fitting threw small holes leading from room to room. Some places we can stand but others we can’t and have to get dirty. We follow the trail of candles and the person in front of us. Everyone went in and everyone came out...most of us wanted to stay because it was nice and cold compared to the desert heat waiting for us outside. They showed us a few other caves, these we didn’t have to crawl around in. We got a first hand lesson on what it took to make olive oil 3000 years ago. It is amazing how people survived without modern technology…it really makes us wonder if we could handle as well as they did.
We again get on the bus and head to the National Military Monument which is located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We are told stories about how a Jordanian group occupied this building and made it impossible to get past them. Bombs, snipers and road blocks would cover the area and made it hard to pass. Many people died…until the Jews got smart and built a bypass. Smart right… Eventually the Jordanians left and it became a military outpost which turned into a police station and now a monument. Its covered with old tanks and remnants of a time past which we all know is not that far from where we are today. There is this wall with the names of every Israeli soldier who has died engraved into it. It really puts things into perspective since our guide showed us the name of one of her friends.
After that sad realization of our mortality we are driven to the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel and had a large BBQ with the entire US delegation. All 903 athletes and another 100 people or so who made this trip happen. Of course they have a band dresses up like cowboys playing country music since all Americans are country folk…they also feed us hot dogs and burgers. Kind of disappointing but they did have humus and pita bread so it wasn’t a total loss. (you can see they feed us well hear…its not to bad)
We get a chance to hang out with the open men’s and women’s soccer team. We are exposed to the other 88 teams from 27 different sports that the US has brought to Israel. It really is an amazing sight. Seeing all these Jewish Americans in Israel for the sole purpose competing in the games. This is unlike any other trip most of us have ever been on. I can honestly say….THIS IS AN AMAZING TRIP. And we are only on our first full day here.
There is a silent buzz around the team. Today is the first day of training and no one can sleep. We have a wake up call at 6:00 am but almost everyone is up before that. We all get changed for training and set out for breakfast. Breakfast consists of vegetables, salads, bread, eggs, cakes, cheese and the richest chocolate milk known to man. Some of us ate responsible and others not so much. But since we are athletes and know how our bodies respond to food we are all good. We take our time and have a nice breakfast and then we are quickly placed on our respective busses. No surprise to the Futsal team we are assigned to the wrong bus. Of course we correct the problem and get on the correct bus. We are heading to the Wingate which is one amazing sports facility. I was told that it is among the top sports education facilities in the world. I can see why as soon as we get there. The grounds are built for sports and the training of athletes. Statues line the grounds as we enter. They have facilities for gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, judo, cycling, along with a few very nice soccer fields and a really cool black top covered outdoor futsal court. Regulation size and everything. There are seats built into the side of a small hill so spectators can watch the games. We start to warm up and as soon as we stepped onto the court we were attracting people who were interested in watching. We could have had at most 8 people watching…except for the 30 little kids who were walking to the pool so it really wasn’t a large gathering. But it was nice to have fans.
By the way….the answer is YES…the team looks good and we do have a chance to upset some teams in this competition. Sergio ran a very nice training session and we got a chance to scrimmage at the end. We need a bit more time working together but we are starting to come together as a team and look good doing it.
We spend 2 hours training and the jump on the bus to head back to the hotel. We arrive and decide to go jump in the pool to cool off and hang out. The only problem is the water park wants 30 shekels (about $7.50) to enter. We laugh and head to the FREE beach. It takes about 15 minutes to walk there only because the path looks like something out of an Indiana Jones movie…you know the one when they are looking for the cup in the cave…the only difference is there is nothing to cut our heads off and we are not walking in a cave.
Now I’m sure you are asking…was the walk worth it? To be honest…NO. Yes it was the Mediterranean ocean but the beach looked like the ones we have in Cleveland. Rocky, dirty and at times scary. I can tell you that we will be spending the 30 shekels in the future.
We head back to the hotel for lunch. The food here so far has been very good and this lunch was no exception. There are so many options and no one goes hungry. Its good to be an
American.
At 1:00pm we are scheduled to get on the bus to start our first day of site seeing. They schedule us to go to Morasha National Park and walk in the footsteps of the Maccabees. (yes the guys from Hanukah) This park in an archeologists dream. Every step you take is a step into history. We follow our guide into a dark hole and now we are crawling on the ground and fitting threw small holes leading from room to room. Some places we can stand but others we can’t and have to get dirty. We follow the trail of candles and the person in front of us. Everyone went in and everyone came out...most of us wanted to stay because it was nice and cold compared to the desert heat waiting for us outside. They showed us a few other caves, these we didn’t have to crawl around in. We got a first hand lesson on what it took to make olive oil 3000 years ago. It is amazing how people survived without modern technology…it really makes us wonder if we could handle as well as they did.
We again get on the bus and head to the National Military Monument which is located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. We are told stories about how a Jordanian group occupied this building and made it impossible to get past them. Bombs, snipers and road blocks would cover the area and made it hard to pass. Many people died…until the Jews got smart and built a bypass. Smart right… Eventually the Jordanians left and it became a military outpost which turned into a police station and now a monument. Its covered with old tanks and remnants of a time past which we all know is not that far from where we are today. There is this wall with the names of every Israeli soldier who has died engraved into it. It really puts things into perspective since our guide showed us the name of one of her friends.
After that sad realization of our mortality we are driven to the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel and had a large BBQ with the entire US delegation. All 903 athletes and another 100 people or so who made this trip happen. Of course they have a band dresses up like cowboys playing country music since all Americans are country folk…they also feed us hot dogs and burgers. Kind of disappointing but they did have humus and pita bread so it wasn’t a total loss. (you can see they feed us well hear…its not to bad)
We get a chance to hang out with the open men’s and women’s soccer team. We are exposed to the other 88 teams from 27 different sports that the US has brought to Israel. It really is an amazing sight. Seeing all these Jewish Americans in Israel for the sole purpose competing in the games. This is unlike any other trip most of us have ever been on. I can honestly say….THIS IS AN AMAZING TRIP. And we are only on our first full day here.
sorry for the delay
We have been having some internet problems at the hotel so I have not been able to post anything. When we get back to the hotel tonight I will post the blogs for yesterday and today. I will also post the injury report along with all pictures. So you don't worry no one is injured just a few bumps. Please don't worry. Later...
Friday, July 3, 2009
Night time on our first day in Israel
So I am sitting in the Hotel Kibbutz Shefayim bar with a bunch of the guys from the Futsal Team (Aaron, Sergio, Coackley, Lederer, Jesse and myself). We are to tired to even drink water. The rest of the team is sitting in their respective rooms getting ready for bed. Its 12:10am here and we have been traveling all day....even longer.
As soon as we got off the airplane in Tel Aviv we walked out to get our bags and we were met with a 4 part band playing music for us while standing on stilts....yes on stilts.....we grabbed our bags and went to our bus. Two full buses took about 60 people to the Shefayim hotel. It took 30 minutes to get us to our final destination and to our surprise as we pulled in we noticed an outdoor futsal court right across the street from our hotel.
We checked in, went to our room and before we even put our bags on the beds we picked up our boots and ran to the futsal court. We actually got in trouble for trespassing since the facility closed at 5:00pm. Sergio and I talked to the security guards and worked it out with them. They were more then happy to let us play on the court for about 30 minutes while they cleaned up to close the park.
This marked the first time the entire futsal team played together. I can tell you that we look good but need to work on our team dynamics. Basically we need to play together a bit more so we can learn how each of us play.
We ended up leaving a tad early because one of the players happened to kick the ball over the fence of the court. So we called the game...got the ball and went back to the hotel. We had 30 minutes before Shabbot Dinner at 7:00pm.
We all changed and looked good in our polos...sorry no pictures yet...the battery died to the camera. We had a nice dinner followed by an orientation meeting for all athletes staying at the hotel.
A few of the guys went right back to the rooms after the meeting to sleep and a few of us went to the bar to sit and talk. Right now everyone is in bed and I am sitting alone writing this.
We have our first training session tomorrow (our first official) from 7:30 to 9:30 am. We have to meet to get on the bus so it can leave at 6:45am. None of us are happy but its what we have to do to get our training in. As soon as we are done in the morning we are coming back to the hotel...sleeping....having lunch then going out to tour Israel. A lot went on today with the traveling and the entrance into Israel. I can only imagine what is going to happen tomorrow. Stay tuned and find out as we do.........
As soon as we got off the airplane in Tel Aviv we walked out to get our bags and we were met with a 4 part band playing music for us while standing on stilts....yes on stilts.....we grabbed our bags and went to our bus. Two full buses took about 60 people to the Shefayim hotel. It took 30 minutes to get us to our final destination and to our surprise as we pulled in we noticed an outdoor futsal court right across the street from our hotel.
We checked in, went to our room and before we even put our bags on the beds we picked up our boots and ran to the futsal court. We actually got in trouble for trespassing since the facility closed at 5:00pm. Sergio and I talked to the security guards and worked it out with them. They were more then happy to let us play on the court for about 30 minutes while they cleaned up to close the park.
This marked the first time the entire futsal team played together. I can tell you that we look good but need to work on our team dynamics. Basically we need to play together a bit more so we can learn how each of us play.
We ended up leaving a tad early because one of the players happened to kick the ball over the fence of the court. So we called the game...got the ball and went back to the hotel. We had 30 minutes before Shabbot Dinner at 7:00pm.
We all changed and looked good in our polos...sorry no pictures yet...the battery died to the camera. We had a nice dinner followed by an orientation meeting for all athletes staying at the hotel.
A few of the guys went right back to the rooms after the meeting to sleep and a few of us went to the bar to sit and talk. Right now everyone is in bed and I am sitting alone writing this.
We have our first training session tomorrow (our first official) from 7:30 to 9:30 am. We have to meet to get on the bus so it can leave at 6:45am. None of us are happy but its what we have to do to get our training in. As soon as we are done in the morning we are coming back to the hotel...sleeping....having lunch then going out to tour Israel. A lot went on today with the traveling and the entrance into Israel. I can only imagine what is going to happen tomorrow. Stay tuned and find out as we do.........
We are now in Israel
We just landed in Tel Aviv ...Israel. We went threw customs picked up our bags and are now sitting on the bus that will take us to our hotel for pre camp. Tonight we rest and have dinner tomorrow we start training.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Starting our Journey
Today is the day. It finally got here. Aaron and I are on our way to meet our team in Philadelphia. Its 57 degrees out side and raining in Cleveland, Ohio. Tomorrow we will be in the desert oasis known as Israel. Can't wait...
Monday, June 29, 2009
3 more days
It is now 12:00pm on Monday June 29th....we have 81 hours and 15 minutes until we leave Philadelphia to represent the USA in the Maccabiah World Games.
All of our paperwork is finalized and submitted...all our uniforms and team gear is accounted for (minus the 3 t-shirts I have per player and a grey dry fit shirt we will get at pre camp...YES MORE GEAR IS COMING)
Our flight leaves this Thursday and I know for me this week will be the slowest week of my life...Thursday can not get here fast enough.
All of our paperwork is finalized and submitted...all our uniforms and team gear is accounted for (minus the 3 t-shirts I have per player and a grey dry fit shirt we will get at pre camp...YES MORE GEAR IS COMING)
Our flight leaves this Thursday and I know for me this week will be the slowest week of my life...Thursday can not get here fast enough.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Our Hotels while in Israel
Here is the information on the Hotel we will be staying in for Pre Camp
http://www.shefhotel.co.il/?tlng=english
(They have a water park at the hotel - http://www.waterpark.co.il/content.php?id=35)
(The link should be in English but if its not dont ask me what it says....I have no idea)
Here is the information on the Hotel we will be staying in during the competition.
http://www.marina-telaviv.com/
http://www.shefhotel.co.il/?tlng=english
(They have a water park at the hotel - http://www.waterpark.co.il/content.php?id=35)
(The link should be in English but if its not dont ask me what it says....I have no idea)
Here is the information on the Hotel we will be staying in during the competition.
http://www.marina-telaviv.com/
Maccabiah will be on Direct TV Channel 366
JLTV, America's full-time (24/7) Jewish-themed television channel, began broadcasting on DIRECTV on June 24. JLTV will be offered as a free channel, located between FOX News and Christian networks, on Channel 366. DIRECTV is the nation's largest satellite television distribution company and serves approximately 18 million households in all 50 states. "JLTV is proud of its new partnership with DIRECTV, giving our network the opportunity to serve both Jewish and non-Jewish communities in urban, suburban and rural America. DIRECTV is a pioneer in the broadcast industry. Their sensitivity for including Jewish programming in their line-up underscores the importance of the inclusion of JLTV in DIRECTV's channel line-up," commented Phil Blazer, President and CEO of JLTV.
JLTV is also currently broadcasting on Time Warner Cable:
New York and New Jersey: channel 120, (137 in the Hudson Valley)
San Antonio: channel 491
JLTV is also currently broadcasting on Time Warner Cable:
New York and New Jersey: channel 120, (137 in the Hudson Valley)
San Antonio: channel 491
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Schedules and Venues
So we have the schedules of the competition but they are subject to change. Please visit www.maccabiah.com go to "sports" then to "schedules" for the most recent up to date schedule. If there are any changes I will make sure to post them here for all to know.
Men' Open Futsal: (All games are played in Ramat Gan)
July 10, 2009 - TBD USA vs England - Friendly
July 13, 2009 - 8:30 USA vs Estonia @ Zisman Hall
July 14, 2009 - 18:45 USA vs Argentina @ Zisman Hall
July 15, 2009 - 19:10 USA vs Brazil @ Marom Nave
July 17, 2009 - 10:15 USA vs Finland @ Zisman Hall
July 19, 2009 - Quarter Finals
July 20, 2009 - Semi Finals
July 22, 2009 - Finals
Men' Open Futsal: (All games are played in Ramat Gan)
July 10, 2009 - TBD USA vs England - Friendly
July 13, 2009 - 8:30 USA vs Estonia @ Zisman Hall
July 14, 2009 - 18:45 USA vs Argentina @ Zisman Hall
July 15, 2009 - 19:10 USA vs Brazil @ Marom Nave
July 17, 2009 - 10:15 USA vs Finland @ Zisman Hall
July 19, 2009 - Quarter Finals
July 20, 2009 - Semi Finals
July 22, 2009 - Finals
8 days and counting
Today is Wednesday June 24th, 2009 (201 hours and 10 minutes until we leave). The Maccabi Futsal Team will arrive in Philadelphia sometime on July 2nd before 5:00pm. The team is made up of guys who are between the age of 21 and 33 (Sergio is the oldest player on the team and hes the coach) from California, Texas, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina.
Most of us have met each other in Florida this past December. But a few of the team members have never met anyone. This will be the first time the entire USA team will get to meet our brothers we will be going into battle with. We will be playing teams such as Estonia, Argentina, Brazil and Finland who, I am sure, have had a chance to play together for more time then we have.
To try to get a head start on training we have called for our first Futsal Training session to be held in the Philadelphia airport at 6:30 pm. It is my goal, that by the time we play our first game in the competition we will have 50 to 60 hours of training together. We will be ready to take on the world and bring home a gold medal.
**I will make a point of updating this everyday with pictures and notes from every member of the Futsal team. We will keep everyone posted as to what is happening in, on and around the team.**
Most of us have met each other in Florida this past December. But a few of the team members have never met anyone. This will be the first time the entire USA team will get to meet our brothers we will be going into battle with. We will be playing teams such as Estonia, Argentina, Brazil and Finland who, I am sure, have had a chance to play together for more time then we have.
To try to get a head start on training we have called for our first Futsal Training session to be held in the Philadelphia airport at 6:30 pm. It is my goal, that by the time we play our first game in the competition we will have 50 to 60 hours of training together. We will be ready to take on the world and bring home a gold medal.
**I will make a point of updating this everyday with pictures and notes from every member of the Futsal team. We will keep everyone posted as to what is happening in, on and around the team.**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
