This summer I had the amazing opportunity to coach in Israel for the Maccabi Games (the international junior Olympics for Jewish athletes). As a volunteer coach, I had the privilege of coaching kids from all over the world. On my team for U17 ‘s, I had five players from all over southern California plus players from the following places: Slovakia, Israel, and Phoenix, Arizona. It’s really wonderful to see kids from different countries (Ukraine, Slovakia, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Morocco, just to name a few) become friends.

Our delegation stayed at a kibbutz (a self-sustaining hotel/farm- like environment where everything eaten is grown or raised on the farm). I then coached the Maccabi USA games in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where I had two Sunshine players playing for me. Charlie Meller (a second-year player and former gold medalist) with her younger sister Jesse Being a volunteer for this program has been an honor and a privilege, and I plan on being a volunteer coach as long as I can.