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Twenty-one athletes from Alper JCC Miami returned home from the JCC International Maccabi Games in Toronto, Canada with the delegation’s first basketball gold medal in two decades, capping a historic week for Team Miami.
The boys 15U basketball team defeated host Team Toronto in the championship final to claim gold — the first basketball gold medal in Alper JCC Miami’s history at the Games in more than 20 years.
Team Miami’s dancers won gold in hip hop, gold in lyrical and bronze in jazz, and the girls 15U basketball team earned bronze. In the Games’ Access program, which provides opportunities for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Team Miami’s Access athlete brought home gold in soccer and silver in basketball.
Team Miami’s athletes, ages 13 to 17, competed in boys 15U and 17U basketball, girls 15U basketball, soccer, dance and Access.
“We are incredibly proud of all our athletes who represented Alper JCC Miami in the JCC Maccabi Games in Toronto,” said Irene Tzanani, CEO of Alper JCC Miami. “These are children who grew up in our gym and our summer dance program. The medals they brought home are a wonderful headline, but what I’ll remember most is seeing 21 teenagers represent Miami and their community with such pride and team spirit, while building meaningful connections with other Jewish teens — connections and memories that will last a lifetime. Providing our youth with a powerful sense of self, belonging, and community is at the heart of our mission. It’s who we are and what we do.
The JCC Maccabi Games bring together thousands of Jewish teen athletes from across North America and around the world each summer for a week of competition, community service and Jewish programming. In addition to competing, Team Miami athletes took part in service projects alongside teens from other delegations and connected with peers from communities far beyond South Florida.
“Winning our medals was the best,” said Sloane Weiner, a member of the Team Miami dance delegation. “It was really great getting to go watch the other sports games, too. But what I loved most was making new friends from the other JCC’s around the country.”
For the athletes, the medals were one part of a week defined equally by friendship, service and Jewish pride — memories the delegation will carry long after the final buzzer.
Information for the 2027 Games will be available soon at alperjcc.org/maccabi.
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