Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on August 2, 2013

Photo courtesy of Menlo School Former Menlo School standout Drew Edelman was named tournament MVP as Team USA captured the gold medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

When recent Menlo School graduate and basketball standout Drew Edelman arrives on the campus of University of Southern California in a couple weeks to begin her collegiate basketball career, shell have quite the answer to the question: what did you do this summer?

All Edelman did was help lead the Team USA Junior Girls squad to a gold medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel last month, winning the tournament Most Valuable Player award in the process.

It was a lot of fun, Edelman said. I had never been out of [North America].

The Maccabiah Games are a Jewish version of the Olympic Games. The Maccabiah Games are held every four years in Israel and are open to all of Jewish descent. Edelman went to a tryout in New York in December and made the team comprised of players ages 15 to 18 years old.

There were a lot of people who showed up for the tryout, Edelman said, estimating about 45 players over a two-day period.

After receiving word she made the team, Edelman finished up her season at Menlo, helping guide the Knights to the Central Coast Section Division IV championship and all the way to the Northern California tournament semifinals.

The last organized game in which Edelman played was the Knights 61-54 loss to Salesian-Richmond in the NorCal semifinals before leaving for Israel. She said there was an optional workout with the team in New York, but she declined to attend. The camp was in New York because most of the girls on the team were from the East Coast. Edelman and only one other player were from California.

When she finally arrived in Israel, it was a combination of work and play. The first week was spent getting up for a 5 a.m. practice, followed by another practice in the afternoon. The second week had only one practice, after which the teams spent time sightseeing around the country.

While Edelman admits she is not ultra religious, she did appreciate the time spent connecting with her Jewish heritage.

Continued here:
Drew Edelman wins gold at Maccabiah Games

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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