High hopes for Team GB with trio of squads heading to Houston for JCC Maccabi Games

FINAL PREPARATIONS are under way for this summer’s JCC Maccabi Games, where Maccabi Team GB will be sending a trio of squads to the Houston, Texas at the start of August.

Janice and Ian Aarons are joint heads of delegation, with Ben Sweiry taking on the role of general team manager.

Sending over two U14 football teams, together with a tennis squad, Janice says: “We’re delighted to be taking the three squads.

“It is fortunate that we could take two football ones – and as always, the standard has been very high.

We’re very excited with the standard of choice for the tennis team, that we’ve been able to select five players, and believe we’ve chosen a delegation that is capable of performing at the highest level.”

With just three months to go until the start of the competition, training is currently taking place monthly, though as the Games get closer, this will increase to fortnightly.

The anticipation will go up a further notch in June when the squad receive their kits. As to what she hopes the players can achieve at The Games, Janice adds: “We hope they socialise with other Jewish athletes from around the world, make lifelong friendships and feel proud to be Jewish while representing their country. Winning medals is always a bonus!”

MACCABI TEAM GB SQUAD:

Heads of delegation: Janice and Ian Aarons

General team manager: Ben Sweiry U14 boys football Red Team: Manager:

Jacob Barron. Coach: Ali Chin. Players: Jasper Berg, Sas Elias, Jamie Gershon, Asher Lauffer, Harrison Phillips, Casey Radzan, Brody Rosenthal, Bobby Rubin, Raphael Toffel, Charlie Vernon.

Blue Team: Manager: Zack Francis. Coach: Clarke Perez. Squad: Joseph Abramson, Archie Alberts, Tal Coutts, Reuben Goodman, Noah Landau, Louis Seal, Oscar Shapiro, Raf Silver, Zack Steinberg, Elijah Taube, Ari Witkin.

Tennis: Manager: Ben Sweiry. Players: Jayden Lipman, Raphael Maurice, Max Menton, Ariel Nevies, Sam Saron.