About 1,500 Jewish teen athletes from around the globe gathered on Rice University's campus Aug. 4-9 for the 2024 JCC Maccabi Games® and Access.
Presented by the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston, the JCC Maccabi games are widely recognized as the world’s largest Jewish youth sporting event, offering Olympic-style sports competitions, including opening and closing ceremonies; travel; community service; social and cultural events and more. A wide variety of sports, including soccer, baseball, flag football, tennis, swimming and more were played on Rice’s campus throughout the action-packed week.
“The purpose of the Maccabi Games is to bring Jewish teenagers together and provide them with meaningful opportunities to engage with each other, compete in different sports, participate in opportunities to repair the world and develop their Jewish identity,” said Joel Dinkin, chief executive officer of Houston JCC.
During the opening ceremonies, thousands of people packed Tudor Fieldhouse for what was a lively environment, kicking off the weeklong festivities.
“Rice has excellent facilities and provided us an opportunity to utilize them through our games,” Dinkin said. “To the Rice community, thank you for the support and partnership with the JCC and for everything the university does, both in the Jewish and the broader general community.”
“We were honored to host a gathering of athletes from all over the world on our campus,” Rice Vice President and Director of Athletics Tommy McClelland said. “We welcome any opportunity to promote our university by hosting events of this type. I appreciate the efforts of all the volunteers and those members of our staff who were involved in creating a memorable experience for all the competitors.”
Established in 1936, the mission of the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston is to develop and strengthen Jewish identity, foster Jewish values and enrich the Jewish community and the greater community.
To learn more, visit jcchoustonmaccabi.org/.
