Wisconsin’s lineup of professional sports teams has committed support to the 2015 JCC Maccabi Games, which are the largest series of Jewish youth events in the world.
The 2015 games, organized by the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, will be held in Milwaukee this August as close to 1,000 Jewish teenagers from across the world come to the city to compete in more than 15 individual and team sports.
The games, also slated to run in Dallas, Texas, and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., promote the health and wellbeing of youth, tout the value of sportsmanship and give Jewish youth an opportunity to learn more about their faith.
The games also acquaint Jewish youth with the international Maccabi Movement, which leads athletic, cultural and social initiatives around the world for the Jewish community.
Along with the Green Bay Packers, the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Admirals will act as sponsors of the Milwaukee games.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from Wisconsin’s storied franchises and their owners,” Mark Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, said in an announcement. “It’s an honor to have these teams, alongside former Brewers owner and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and past Bucks owner, former Senator Herb Kohl, lining up in an unparalleled show of support for not only the games but the JCC and our mission.”
The 2015 games will run from Sunday, Aug. 2, through Friday, Aug. 7, and will include competitions among teen athletes in soccer, tennis, track and field, basketball, baseball, swimming, dance and more. Participating athletes will also contribute to a day of social action, known as “JCC Cares,” on Aug. 5 as they volunteer for area nonprofit organizations.
The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center estimates 500 host families, 1,000 volunteers and 150 teen athletes from southeastern Wisconsin will be involved with the games.
An opening ceremony for the 2015 games will kick off the action on Aug. 2. The ceremony, free and open to the public, will start at 7 p.m. at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, located at 1001 N. 4th Street in Milwaukee.
For more information on the JCC Maccabi Games, visit http://milwaukeemaccabi.org/.
