Jewish sports hall honours Levine; Maccabiah athletes get sendoff
Jesse Levine doesn’t forget his Ottawa roots.
A tennis broadcaster (Sportsnet), professional coach and a talent scout for Nike, Levine flew home early from the French Open in Paris to be inducted into the Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Levine, 29, was guest speaker at the “Breakfast of Champions” at the Jewish Community Centre on Sunday. The event awarded top Jewish athletes in the area and also served as a sendoff for the 14-member Ottawa contingent heading to the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel July 4-18.
A Wimbledon junior doubles champion in 2005 (with Michael Shabaz), Levine was an All America player at the University of Florida and went on to a career high ATP singles ranking of 69th in 2012. An elbow injury ended his professional career prematurely.
“A big motivation factor for me was that a lot of people told me I was too small, or not strong enough,” said Levine, known for his quick feet and a blistering forehand.
“I actually enjoyed when people would say these kinds of things because it lit a big fire inside me. It made me want it even more.”
Levine, a dual citizen who has competed internationally for the U.S. and Canada, is hopeful of supporting the Ottawa contingent at the Maccabiah, although his tennis schedule might preclude it. The Maccabiah Games involve an Olympic-style slate of sports including track, swimming, baseball, volleyball, hockey, cycling, etc.
They are the third largest Games in the world, after the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.
Other Ottawa athletes headed to Israel include nationally ranked junior rhythmic gymnast Haley Miller and two-time OFSAA sprinter Alexa Shabinsky.
Shabinsky trains with former Canadian hurdler and sprinter Cecilia Branch as well as Ottawa Senators strength coach Chris Schwarz.
Shabinsky’s best event is the 100-metre hurdles. In fact, her best time in the discipline would have won junior gold at the most recent Maccabiah Games in 2013.
She will also compete in the 200m and 400m sprints.
“I’ve never been to Israel before, and combining my first experience in Israel and my first international track competition is going to be super special,” said Shabinsky, 18.
In Israel, younger members of the competition will tour the country as part of the junior Israel experience and stay in a kibbutz.
Shabinsky was also one of three athletes to be awarded the Parliament Lodge graduating student award at the JCC, along with Adam Greenberg and Daniel Segal.
Families were well represented at the breakfast. Among them was a proud grandfather, Sol Shabinsky, former ownership partner of the Ottawa Rough Riders.
Shabinsky’s Ottawa Athletic Club helped support Levine as a young tennis player.
Samantha Cogan, a Division I hockey player at the University of Wisconsin, won the Sharon Koffman Memorial Athletic Award.
Among the other student award winners were Miller, Ben Vered, Max Cantor, Ryan Kaufman and Amanda McCarthy.
At the Maccabiah Games, the Osterer family of Ottawa will come close to filling out half of an entire Canadian softball roster as four Osterers — brothers Daniel and Rob and their cousins Jake and Stephen — are on the team.
In his address to Maccabiah athletes and other JCC award winners, Levine spoke of alarming his teachers as a boy at the Hillel Academy by handing in creative writing assignments that only focused on sports, especially tennis.
It seemed to work out for him as Levine has a post-playing career as a broadcaster and coach with a Nike affiliation any pro athlete would envy.
“It’s important to dream,” Levine. “I was blessed and lucky enough that a lot of my dreams became reality.
“And I hope it happens for a lot of you young people here today.”