A Closing Message of Thanks from the Maccabiah Leadership team

On the 7th of July, our team landed at Ben-Gurion Airport, safely and eager to represent, and that they did.

The 19th Australian Maccabiah team has had an outstanding Maccabiah, with strong results across all divisions by both individuals & teams. While writing this message, we are currently 4th in the overall medal tally, with 23 Gold, 32 Silver & 44 Bronze for a total of 99 medals. In fact, the third highest medal tally behind Israel and USA. Argentina finished 3rd with 88 medals of which 33 were Gold, so they close the games in third place.

This has been one of our best ever Team results and is a true reflection of the total dedication shown by our Management, Coaches & of course our awesome Aussie Athletes.

It is humbling, rewarding, and indeed an honour for us all to see the culmination of three years of planning and hard work, resulting in our largest team ever and one of the most successful Team and Maccabiah experiences for the entire delegation, both on and off the field.

Our sincere thanks go to everyone who has contributed to making these Games such a wonderful and memorable experience, such as the; Medical/Physio group who were on hand at every event to care for those in need with kindness and warmth, the hard-working media team who have covered every single aspect of the games, captured over 50,000 photos and had close to 1 million views across all of our Maccabi channels, and ranked highly with one of the strongest engagement rates on social media of any Maccabiah country, you told our story with passion (sport and social) to our team here in Israel and family and friends back home and the rest of the world, and of course David (Head of Security), and Leeanne (Integrity Officer) who fortunately didn’t have to attend to any serious issues, as everyone behaved themselves showing true spirit and exemplifying our Maccabi values of respect, teamwork, community, and volunteerism.

Our Regional and Assistant Managers worked tirelessly to keep things running smoothly and were always on hand to resolve any issues that arose. The Coaches & Team managers kept the teams focused on their mission and dream, competing to the best of their ability, resulting in many successful performances across all ages and abilities, and always showing respect and good sportsmanship.

The Maccabi LIFE VIP Supporters Mission led by Jeff Sher (MAI President) said, “thanks to those who joined the VIP Supporters Mission, for being a pioneer, the individual who has the courage, the ambition to overcome the obstacles that always develop when one tries to do something worthwhile, especially when it is new and different. It has been memorable, meaningful, and worthwhile. events, bonding as part of the Maccabi team and as such becoming part of the Maccabi Life family”. Part of the Maccabiah experience, apart from sport, and to have a thoroughly enjoyable time, is the opportunity for our team to let loose, have lots of fun, meet fellow Jews from the Diaspora and create friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.We have experienced, tours, dinners, and sporting events bonding as part of the Maccabi team and as such becoming part of the Maccabi Life family”.

We believe that we have achieved our mission to create a One Team One Dream experience and feel satisfied that all our planning prior to the Games has paid dividends and led to so many wonderful experiences and memories for all involved.

We would like to wish those who suffered injuries or setbacks of any kind a speedy recovery.

It was a pleasure for us to lead this wonderful team, to be Maccabi PROUD, and view its great success, and we hope that you have all enjoyed participating in M21, the 21st Maccabiah Games as much as we have enjoyed leading our Australian delegation. The Games started with a friendly “Welcome-Bienvenido-Bruchim Habaim”, and come to a close with a warm, “Goodbye-Adiós-L’hitraot.”

Until we meet again in Eretz Yisrael.

With Maccabi Greetings

Barry Smorgon, Sam Gamsu, Giselle Berlinski, Lauren Ehrlich & Debbie Rutstein