Earlier this month, Team Springfield Maccabi travelled to Canada to take part in the JCC Maccabi® Games 2026 in Toronto, where they joined with more than 2,000 other Jewish teen athletes from communities around the world.

The 32 local athletes enjoyed competing in a variety of team and individual sports. Every athlete gave it their all! Team medals were won by the U17 girls ice hockey team K'Far Saba Wolves (GOLD!), the U17 softball Team Passovers (SILVER!), and the U17 baseball team Hebrew Nationals (BRONZE!). Our track star and swimmers all took home medals, too. What's more, six Midot Medals were awarded to team members who exemplified the Jewish values of pride, joy, big-heartedness and peoplehood.

But the real magic of Maccabi happened off the sports fields, where the athletes enjoyed social and cultural events together, making friendships and memories to last a lifetime! View the photos here.

Longmeadow basketball player, Kessler Despain, was interviewed by The Canadian Jewish News about his experiences at the games - read the article here or watch the video here.

And a huge thank you to the coaches and chaperones who accompanied the athletes: Betsy Bertuzzi, Abby Chernick, Seth Doucette-Kaplan, Dave Novick and Matan Shmerling.

If you'd like to learn how your Jewish teen can join Team Springfield Maccabi in 2027, visit our Maccabi web page here to find out more and fill out an interest form, or email Betsy (bbertuzzi@springfieldjcc.org) or Abby (achernick@springfieldjcc.org).