Seven local athletes fired up to compete in Israel's Maccabiah

Seven young local athletes are about to take their seats on a plane bound for glory. Once they land in Israel, they will be in the company of 9,000 athletes representing more than 60 countries who will vie for the gold, silver and bronze medals at the 18th World Maccabiah Games opening July 12.

Southern New Jersey is sending a trio of baseball players (from left), Sam Slutsky, Nate Mulberg, and Jesse Gold to Israel. To get selected for a spot in this prestigious competition is difficult, but Elana Molotsky (gymnastics), Ethan Harel (basketball), Marlee Ehrlich (swimming), Yael Einhorn (volleyball), Sam Slutsky, Nate Mulberg and Jesse Gold (baseball) will represent the Katz JCC in Israel.

"It is the largest contingent from our community ever to qualify for the Maccabiah Games," said Rob Kiewe, Katz JCC's director of health and fitness. "Given the area in which we draw from, to have so many athletes of this caliber is a real feat."

Perky 14-year-old Elana Molotsky, who attends Harrington Middle School in Mt. Laurel, identifies with Olympic gold medalist and winner of "Dancing with the Stars" Shawn Johnson.

Marlee Ehrlich (left), a swimmer, and Yael Einhorn, a volleyball player, will be joined in Israel by Jewish athletes from over 60 countries. Molotsky caught the gymnastic bug at a best friend's birthday party when she was just shy of turning three. The 5-ft., straight "A" student works on her vaults, floor and balance beam exercises five days a week. She even carried the theme of gymnastics to her bat mitzvah celebration. Bears holding "10.0" signs and lower scores were centerpieces at her party, and her sign-in board was a balance beam. They were donated to local charities along with a check to the Special Olympics as part of her mitzvah project.

"I want to go to Israel to see firsthand what my Dad was talking about. He took part in the 12th Maccabiah in 1985 before he graduated from Iowa State," said Cherry Hill East freshman Marlee Ehrlich. She said she had to ask her father twice before he said that she could swim competitively. He knows the commitment it takes.

Even though she believes that the competition in Israel will be "fierce," she hopes to bring home at least two gold medals from six individual events. Her father Rick will accompany her to Israel, where he will have three jobs—one as a proud parent, on deck as an official appointed by the Israeli swimming association, and as chair of the U.S. Open swim team.

ELANA MOLOTSKY From Cherry Hill East High School comes a triple play of baseball players, Jesse Gold, Sam Slutsky and Nate Mulberg. Seventeenyear olds Nate and Sam are veteran Maccabi attendees of the Stamford, Detroit and Orange County games, while 15-year-old Jesse helped his team in Detroit as a catcher.

"South Jersey is a hotbed of baseball talent. It's a very competitive area," said Allan Slutsky, Sam's father. "After playing Maccabi for three years, it's a good way to go out by competing with phenomenal players."

Sam, at 5-ft., 7-in., is a smaller member of his CHE Cougar team, but the workaholic who lives in the gym, runs, practices yoga and spends hours on end at the baseball field, has an impressive batting average of .569 and earned a place on the All-South Jersey Baseball Team (outfielder).

ETHAN HAREL Middle infielder Nate Mulberg can easily list his strengths on the baseball field: hustling, the love of the game, playing strategically, and a good mental outlook. "Many people have talent, but how they deal with adversity is key."

The #56 is in memory of his role model Phil Singer, an umpire Nate met at the Orange County Maccabi games. "He helped me with the mental side of baseball. 'If you compete against yourself, play to your best ability.' We developed a great friendship and kept in touch through e-mails," said Nate. Tragically, Singer died of a brain tumor last year when he was 56-years-old.

Jesse Gold, a CHE freshman, broke his ankle during the second game of the season when he hit the bag in the wrong way. Healed and ready to play at the Maccabiah, he will be starting catcher next year and designated hitter for the Cougars. "I've been playing baseball since I was threeyears old, and my father (Bret) has been my coach for my entire life. He's harder on me than he is on the others," said Jesse.

Bret isn't your average baseball dad. He played for the Baltimore Orioles minor league team in the early '80s after playing for La Salle as a college athlete. He coaches for CHE and is one of three coaches headed for the Maccabiah games.

Yael Einhorn can't wait to revisit Israel. Her mother's side of the family lives there, and her sister Danielle, 21, serves in the Israeli army. The Cherry Hill East High School junior, who has been playing volleyball since her freshman year, is a veteran of the U.S. Maccabi games. The 5-ft., 9-inch girl competed in Orange County, CA and won a silver medal in Detroit in basketball. She quit basketball this year to concentrate fully on volleyball.

"I am so terribly excited for her," said father Marty, who played for Israel in the 1985 (bronze medal in softball) and 1989 games (squash). He made aliyah and managed two Maccabiah squash centers there. He subsequently moved back to the United States and was the director of health and fitness for the West Hartford JCC before working as the games director of Maccabi USA.

The best sports memory 16- year-old Ethan Harel has occurred only last summer, the first time he dunked a basketball during a varsity scrimmage at West Windsor Plainsboro High School North. Other special accomplishments were setting a team record for the most rebounds (20) in one game against Princeton Day School, or averaging 10 points a game with a high of 21 points as a sophomore.

Ethan may add more "bests" to his memories this summer, because he has major travel plans. First, a trip to the Maccabiah in Israel, then to Westchester, NY in August for the national Maccabi games representing the Katz JCC.

"I am a hustler on the basketball court, but am working harder on my shooting," said Ethan, who has been to Israel twice before with his parents. Father Dany, who comes from Haifa, played basketball too. .