Bronze for Bancroftian at the Maccabiah Games

Many congratulations to Yonni L who returned from the 21st Maccabiah Games, held in Jerusalem in July, with a Bronze Medal: a great acheivement and an incredible experience.

The Maccabiah Games are often referred to as the “Jewish Olympics” and are for people worldwide with Jewish Heritage or any Israeli (from any background, not just Jewish).  After the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, it is the third largest sporting event in the world by number of competitiors, with over 10,000 athletes participating from 80 countries in 42 sports categories.  This year, US President Joe Biden attended the opening ceremony in Jerusalem during his visit to the Middle East.

Following trials, Yonni was selected to represent the Maccabi GB U16 football team and was later picked as the team’s vice captain.  Football is the most popular sport at the Games and the U16 football competition was the largest team event in the Games, with seventeen countries competing.

The GB U16 team won all three of their group games against Israel, Chille and Paraguay, without conceding any goals and with Yonni scoring two goals against Israel.   The team then went on to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Quarter Finals, before losing 2-1 to the eventual winners, Brazil, in the Semi Final.  In the 3/4th place play-off, GB faced Mexico,; this game went to penalties with Yonni scoring in the penalty shoot out so securign a Bronze Medal.