MACCABI USA ANNOUNCES THE OPEN MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM FOR THE 14TH PAN AMERICAN GAMES
Philadelphia, PA, May 15, 2019 – Maccabi USA Basketball Co-Chairs Barak Bar Cohen and Howard Levy along with Head Coach Jason Polykoff and Assistant Coach Lee Gruen are pleased to announce the Open Men’s Basketball Team for the 14th Pan American Maccabi Games which will take place July 5-15, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. Maccabi USA will bring a team of 400+ athletes who will join the other 2,500 Jewish athletes from 19 countries, participating in 24 different sports.
Head Coach Polykoff is currently the Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, PA. Prior to this, he served as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Earlham College in Richmond, IN (2014-2019), Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the Friends’ Central School (2006-2012), and Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Pennsylvania (2012-2014). Assistant Coach Gruen is the founder of the AAU company Chai Athletics in Chicago. The athletes are Brandon Averitt of Monrovia, CA, University of Texas – El Paso; Brandon Federici of Manalapan, NJ, Nuovo Basket Fossombrone; Kijana Garrett of Manhattan Beach, CA, Tufts University; Beau Keeve of San Rafael, CA, Augustana University; Bryan Knapp of Washington, DC, Cornell University; Noah Lack of Houston, TX, Santa Clara University, Lior Levy of Princeton, NJ, Franklin & Marshall College (’17); Noah Lewis of Centennial, CO, Earlham College; Zachary Miller of Sherman Oaks, CA, Puget Sound (’17); Jacob Orender of Jacksonville Beach, FL, University of California-Berkeley; and Corey Sherman of Penn Valley, PA, Brandeis University.
The Games are hosted by the Confederacion Latinoamericana Maccabi (CLAM). They are conducted in cooperation with Maccabi World Union and are held every four years, two years after the Maccabiah is held. The Pan American Maccabi Games are a high-level athletic competition for Jewish athletes all over the world aimed at connecting Jews from the Diaspora.
Maccabi USA builds Jewish pride through sports, generating the emotional intensity, high ideals, and powerful camaraderie of competition. We connect athletes, volunteers, and supporters with the global Jewish community. Our athletic, educational, and cultural experiences build Jewish identity, perpetuate Jewish continuity worldwide, and strengthen support for the State of Israel.
For more information, please contact Maccabi USA Program Director Shane Carr at 215-561-6900 or by email at scarr@maccabiusa.com.
About the organization:
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.
MUSA develops, promotes and supports international, national and regional athletic-based activities and facilities It strives to provide Jewish athletes all over the world the opportunity to share their heritage and customs in competitive athletic settings. MUSA supports programs that embody the Maccabi ideals of Jewish Continuity, Zionism and Excellence in Sport. Maccabi USA Builds Jewish Pride Through Sports.
Maccabi USA has been selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) as a Multi-Sport Organization (MSO). The nonprofit organization becomes one of 35 MSOs nationwide to be recognized by the USOC for its ability to cultivate a national interest in sport and increase opportunities for participation internationally, nationally and at the grassroots level.
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