Michael Bixon, a senior at RASG Hebrew Academy, brought home (with help from Coach Scott Berman) the gold in Junior Men’s Basketball at the recent Pan American Maccabi Games. Bixon is on the Hebrew Academy Varsity Basketball team and was recruited by Coach Berman to apply for the Maccabi team.
Hebrew Academy junior Julia Ohana won the gold medal in swimming. She is a member of the Seahawks, a City of Miami Beach swim team, and participated in the local Maccabi games as an individual. It was there that she became aware of the Pan American games and applied to be a part of the U.S. team.
Sponsored by the Latin American Maccabi Confederation (CLAM), the 2015 Pan American Maccabi Games, international multi-sport event, was held from December 26 to January 5.
According to Coach Berman, “The players were hand picked based on recommendations from coaches, Maccabi leadership, and game film. In addition to basketball talent, I wanted young men and women who were great people and who would represent Maccabi and Team USA in the right way.”
The games encompassed more than 20 sports with the participation of over 3,000 athletes representing 15 countries. This included more than 600 athletes who represented Team USA.
Maccabi USA (MUSA) is a federally-recognized not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with an extensive history of enriching Jewish lives through athletic, cultural, and educational programs. The organization is the official sponsor of the United States Team to the World Maccabiah Games, and the Pan American and European Maccabi Games, as well as a sponsor of the JCC Maccabi Games for teens in North America. As the official Maccabi representative in the U.S., Maccabi USA supports Jewish athletic endeavors, enhanced by cultural and educational activities in the United States, Israel, and throughout the Diaspora.
The RASG Hebrew Academy is a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school that has proudly served the South Florida community for nearly seventy years. The school provides a comprehensive dual-curricular program for children to grade 12. Hebrew Academy strives to inspire each and every student through the light of Torah and academic excellence to improve the world.
For more information about RASG Hebrew Academy, call 305-532-6421.