MORE THAN 1,000 ATTEND FIFTH ANNUAL NEW YORK NCSY COMMUNITY-WIDE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT IN THE FIVE TOWNS
Members of Team LOBOS, winners of the 5-on-5 tournament, holding their trophies, with Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, Regional Director New York NCSY (second from right).
Winners of the 3-on-3 tournament with trophies in hand: (From left) Jeremy Frenkel, David Jesselson, Jared Solomon, and Kenny Sicklick.
New York NCSY | Jewish Youth Leadership, a branch of the Orthodox Union’s international youth movement, held its Fifth Annual Community-Wide Basketball Tournament on Sunday, May 1. Tournament games began at 9 a.m. at various gyms around the Five Towns, including HAFTR, SKA, DRS, Rambam, Life Fitness, and Lawrence High School. Both 5-on-5 and 30+ 3-on-3 games were held, after which the players came together for a pizza lunch hosted by Shula’s Pizza and the beginning of the Sweet Sixteen round at Lawrence High School.
The purpose of the tournament, says New York NCSY Regional Director Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, is “to build awareness and community support for the work that we do.” Funds raised from the tournament will support NCSY community programming and will provide scholarships to teens who wish to study in Israel post-high school and attend NCSY Summer Programs, he said.
This year’s tournament was highly competitive, attracting more than 1,000 people throughout the day, including basketball players of all ages from across New York and New Jersey. Elliot Steinmetz, one of the Event Chairs, commented, “This year the competition was fierce and the turnout from the community was greater than ever before.”
After two extremely intense and aggressive overtime games, resulting in sudden death, the final four teams battled for a spot in the championship game. The two final teams were Team LOBOS and Team Excellent Bus Service, the latter being comprised of players from both New York City and Northern New Jersey. The winner of this year’s 5-on-5 tournament was Team LOBOS, sponsored by Chaim and Eva Silber. Players Dani Rosenthal, Asher Jungreiss, Shuei Feldberg, Chaim Abramson, Zanvy Grauman, Effy Lowy, and Yissacher Feldberg all received first place trophies, along with other tournament giveaways.
The winning team from the 30+ 3-on-3 tournament was sponsored by the JHDarbie Insurance Agency, and players Kenny Sicklick, David Jesselson, Jeremy Frenkel, and Jared Solomon also received first place trophies.
In the afternoon, the community was invited to attend the New York NCSY BBQ, catered and sponsored by David Kay and Seasons of the Five Towns, as well as to view the championship game. Yitzy Haber provided children’s entertainment from Cousin Nachum including magic shows and balloon creations. In addition, there was face painting, arts and crafts, and games.
In addition to sponsorship opportunities and donations available in support of the event, the tournament held its annual tournament raffle. The winners, Jared and Aliza Solomon, will receive two roundtrip tickets to Israel.
According to Rabbi Lightstone, “Much gratitude and thanks goes out to all of the event sponsors, chairs, organizers, attendees, caterers, players, schools, and New York NCSY staff, whose support truly enhanced the event and experience.”
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