Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Thousands of athletes gathered in Israel in early July 2005 to participate in the 17th Maccabi Games which brought together top Jewish athletes from across the world in a competitive, yet friendly, environment.

For the fourth time in the history of the Maccabi Games, Netball was featured, with four nations participating for Maccabiah glory.

Junior and Senior teams from Australia, England, South Africa and Israel took part, displaying a high level of talent and skill, as well as demonstrating a fierce competitive spirit. The standard of play was very impressive, with a number of the girls playing in local and regional representative teams in their home countries. The Australian teams (Junior and Senior) asserted their dominance from the outset, remaining undefeated throughout the competition, and taking home the gold medals.

The high level of play was enhanced by the professionalism of a number of international umpires that were invited to Israel for the games. The umpires – Judith Groves, Pat Tregunno, and Chris Wilson-Smith from Great Britain, and Michelle Phippard and Carol Gafen from Australia – had a tight schedule of matches, and were impressed by the standard of play and smooth running of the competition.

In addition to the games, the senior Israeli players benefited from extra activities during the period of the tournament. Pat Tregunno and Michelle Phippard volunteered their free time to hold an Umpiring Course, with a view to increasing the abilities and skills of the local players, so that they can continue with their efforts to build up the sport in Israel.