If you’re looking for basic, real-time information about the upcoming 2024 JCC Maccabi Games, search no further than the Baltimore-based County Sports Zone.
The Olympic-style games — open to Jewish athletes between the ages of 12-16 and including such sports as baseball, basketball, bowling, dance, flag football, soccer, swimming and tennis — will be held in two American cities, from July 28 to Aug. 2 and from Aug. 4 to 9.
(Because of security concerns, organizers requested that the cities and sites of the games not be identified. The European Maccabi Youth Games will be held July 29 to Aug. 6 in London.)
More than 3,000 athletes and adults will come from all over the globe for the JCC Maccabi Games, which is the world’s largest Jewish youth sporting event. In addition to sports, the games — first held in 1982 in Memphis — promote community involvement, teamwork and Jewish pride.
Launched in 2012, County Sports Zone provides timely and comprehensive coverage for Maryland’s high school sports scene at all levels — varsity, junior varsity and freshman games.
County Sports Zone will provide updated information about the JCC Maccabi Games regarding scores, scheduling, playoffs, game highlights and standings.
“As a parent and former [Maccabi] athlete, I was shocked by the lack of news available for student athletes and their families,” said Sam Hopkins, CEO of County Sports Zone, who played baseball at the Maccabi Games in the late 1990s representing his native Kansas City. “Families are starving for standings and solid information, and County Sports Zone is a Spotify for high school sports.”
Hopkins said he initially contacted Barak Hermann, CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, about establishing a relationship between the Maccabi games and County Sports Zone.
“As an emerging Jewish leader and former athlete, I thought this was an opportunity of leveraging the platform,” Hopkins said. “I told Barak, ‘I’m running this company, and we could consolidate information and build excitement.'”
Eventually, County Sports Zone and the New York-based Jewish Community Center Association developed a “memo of understanding” about coverage of the games.
“This is an audience expansion step for us,” said Hopkins. “I’m really proud to bring the technology from a secular domain to a community application, and bring it nationwide and more.”
Although Hopkins will attend some of the games, much of the reporting and updating — as well as photos and video footage — on County Sports Zone will be uploaded by Maccabi athletes, coaches and family members.
“Everyone can contribute and kvell,” Hopkins said, including members of the Maccabi Star Reporter program. “We will work from the ground up with the community. The community is invested in building the accuracy they want to see. Families and coaches are hungry for something like this, and it’s great to translate this to the Jewish community.
“I’m really excited about this,” said Hopkins. “We’re building community memories — Kodak moments.”
For information, visit countysports.zone.
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