It most certainly will be an exciting start to the summer for a contingent from Richmond heading to Israel this week to represent Canada at the 20th Maccabiah Games.
Athletes Kara Moscovitz, Breanne Woogman, Josh Moscovitz, and Jake Finkelstein, along with coach Mathew Winograd are part of a 600-member delegation from Canada who will be joining 10,000 Jewish athletes from 80 countries for the third largest sporting event in the world.
Maccabiah Canada’s mission is to promote Jewish identity and to cultivate future leaders through the passion of sports.
Every four years, the Maccabiah Games brings Jewish athletes of all ages to Israel, providing a world-class athletic competition as well as an opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich culture and heritage of the Jewish people.
The Richmond contingent left for Toronto on Sunday for a Team Canada training camp before departing for Israel tomorrow where they will get a chance to be tourists for four days before the Games run from July 4-18.
Kara and Breanne will be playing for the junior girls basketball team. Josh and Jake are members of the junior boys baseball team, while Winograd is part of the coaching staff.
All four athletes grew up together at the Richmond Jewish Day School and are now in the Incentive Program at Hugh Boyd Secondary School. The Moscovitzs and Woogman will be entering Grade 11 in September and Finkelstein Grade 10.
Winograd is a teacher at Richmond Secondary School.
Kara and Breanne came through the Richmond Youth Basketball League (RYBL) and played two years of rep for coaches Chris Kennedy and Tim Carkner who sparked their love for the game.
They also made the zone team that year and Kara went on to play for Basketball B.C.’s U14 provincial team.
Along with being an integral part of Hugh Boyd’s basketball program, the girls have also helped coach and mentor younger girls at the school.
Kara has also played spring ball with VK Basketball and joined Breanne this year to suit up for the Richmond Rebels — a club team that combined talent from rivals McMath with Hugh Boyd — and was coached by John Wilson and Sean Lawson.
Josh and Jake are products of the Richmond Chuckers Baseball Association’s rep program and will be stepping away from a busy schedule with their respective teams for this memorable trip.
Josh is a pitcher/infielder with the Chuckers’ inaugural team in B.C. Baseball’s College Prep League, while Jake is a southpaw pitcher for RCBA’s Bantam AAA team. He also sees time at first base and in the outfield.
