National News

By Maccabi NSW Team Manager Justin Shelton

With the departure from Brisbane Airport last Wednesday, we marked the end of an amazing week at the 30th Maccabi Junior Carnival in Brisbane. The fact that after 25 years since carnival was last there and the horrible disasters Queensland and Brisbane faced last year, the Queensland carnival management were able to pull together these games was a credit to all their hard work and determination. Special thanks has to go to Paul Myers and Lee McNamee from the carnival organizing committee and of course the Queensland Maccabi driving force of its President, Josh Magnus and his wife (QLD Team Manager) Gabby Magnus. They led their wonderful team of volunteers to success and we thank them for that.

Being the team manager for my second year and having the honour of taking the largest team to the carnival was a privilege. Being a team of 63 I was able to put faces to all the names and actually remember them all, where last year with 234 in Melbourne that wasn't so easy. But it wasn't just me getting to know all the participants, I had an incredible team of Assistant Managers and Youth Leaders working with me. They are Leanne Shelton, Lee Awerbuch, Joel Weiner, Simon Belinfante, Rebecca Small, Romi Savitz and Marissa Belinfante. Without these guys we couldn't take a team and look after them and they definitely worked hard to ensure not only was this carnival one to remember but that was safe for everyone aswell.

However now we look towards the future to what we know will be the best carnival ever in Sydney 2013. The Sydney committee are already hard at work with some great ideas for Sydney 2013 and we look forward to seeing all of the participants from Brisbane aswell as many more.
If you are aged between 18 and 25 and would like to be a part of Sydney carnival as a manager please email me at justincarnival@hotmail.com

By Maccabi NSW Youth Officer Joel Weiner

Like many of the kids, this was also my first ever carnival. I was blown away by how incredible the carnival experience is, as well as how amazing each and every participant was. Whether we were playing sport in the heat of a Queensland summer, or sliding our way around wet n wild in the rain, Maccabi Queensland put on a Carnival to remember.

Split between Brisbane and Gold Coast, the kids were given the best opportunity to be able to compete in a wide variety of sports and then socialise at parties, theme parks and many other activities. The foam party was definitely a highlight and one to remember. Some may say it was a smaller carnival, but it sure left a huge impact on all of us, especially the Queensland Jewish Community, who all put in so much time and effort as hosts to give us all a great week to remember.

Our kids did Maccabi NSW proud and we all can't wait until Carnival in Sydney!