Maccabi Athletics Open Day

The event at Duncan Mackinnon track drew newcomers to the club, and included team relays, long jump, 100m and 400m events. Montag presented the Maccabi Victoria Volunteer of the Year award to athletics coach Ilia Eligulachvili, who has devoted many hours to the club in recent years. Montag told The AJN, “It felt special to return to where it all began for me, and to see how Maccabi athletics has grown in recent years.” Her main message on the day was that belonging to Maccabi Athletics Club “will give you endless gifts”, from a sense of belonging, to purpose and direction, and a space to look after your physical and mental health. “It will give you an opportunity to develop key life skills like self-awareness, confidence, teamwork, goal setting and resilience,” she said, adding, “As junior athletes, I hope they can focus on these gifts, rather than worrying too much about arbitrary measures of success – community sport is so much more than that!”

The open day was organised by the club’s youth leadership team of David Blecher, Jarrod Zuchowski, Danielle Axarlis, Ori Drabkin and Skye Edelstein – with the mentorship of Zac Ashkanasy, Adam Bogatin and Eligulachvili – plus committee members and club president Len Bogatin. Also present were three current club members who have represented either Australia or Israel in international competition – Emma de Jong, Shanie Landen and Drabkin. Besides its track and field program, Maccabi Athletics recently launched its own running club.

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Check out this reel from Open Day!