While most CESJDS students head to camp or go on vacation during the summer, some spend their time training and playing their favorite sports. One avenue for them to do so is participating in summer sports programs, which allow them to use the summer to improve their skills.
One popular summer sports opportunity is 6 Points Sports Academy, a Jewish overnight camp in Greensboro, North Carolina. At 6 Points, campers have an experience focused around the development of their athletic abilities. Sophomore Eve Sharp has been attending 6 Points for three years and feels she benefits from the athletic environment.
“The community of Jewish athletes is really strong,” Sharp said. “I think that even if we are all not playing the same sport, we still bond over our love for sports.”
A day at 6 Points consists of two major blocks during which campers practice their chosen sport. Sharp’s chosen sport is soccer, but other options include basketball, gymnastics, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
Each day also includes a minor block, where campers can participate in sports for fun. They can play a different sport from their focus, or play new ones such as pickleball or spikeball.
“The schedule is really great because it gives me time to improve in soccer, while also having the chance to try out new sports that I otherwise wouldn’t have tried,” Sharp said.
Another popular summer sports program for JDS students is the Maccabi games, a Jewish athletic competition. There are games in Israel every four years and international tournament destinations every summer.
Junior Matty Stillman has played basketball in these games as a part of the Maccabi USA team twice: in Fort Lauderdale in 2023 and in Houston in 2024.
“It was a really good experience not only just to play basketball, but also to meet so many other Jewish athletes,” Stillman said.
Senior Dalia Epstein played volleyball in the Maccabi games in Israel in 2023. She found she was able to improve her volleyball skills because of the support of her teammates who had been playing volleyball for much longer than her. Epstein said that playing volleyball over the summer gave her a new set of skills and experiences.
An aspect about the Maccabi games that many enjoy is the diverse backgrounds of each member of the team.
“Especially when you go to a small school, you don’t really get to play with as many different people,” Epstein said. “It was just cool seeing how other people play and getting advice from totally different people.”