State News

Last month, 45 Victorian participants and five youth leaders headed up to Brisbane to meet their counterparts from NSW, Queensland and New Zealand for the 30th Maccabi Junior Carnival. The event was a great success, with some even calling it the best carnival ever! Given that it was 25 years since carnival was last held in Queensland, and the devastating floods last year, all credit goes to the Queensland carnival management for their hard work and determination. Special thanks must go to Paul Myers and Lee McNamee from the carnival organizing committee, and to Maccabi Queensland President, Josh Magnus and his wife (QLD Team Manager) Gabby Magnus.

The Victorian team enjoyed a ‘smorgasboard ‘of indoor sports to compete in, ranging from beach volleyball to table tennis to indoor soccer and dodgeball. Basketball, netball, tennis and outdoor soccer also featured highly - together with Laser Tag to take up any time left over. From the first night’s opening ceremony, the social activities kept the kids spellbound and having fun together, from the foam party to a visit to Wet and Wild, to a Hawaiian Night mixed with Barefoot Bowls. The frequent bus rides between Gold Coast and Brisbane was a good opportunity to catch up on some sleep or make some new friends.

We had an incredible team of Victorian Youth Leaders working with us. They are Simone Starikov, Mikayla Wald, Mikayla Green, Candice Rosenberg, Noah Green and Jason Conway. They definitely worked hard to ensure not only was this carnival one to remember but that was safe for everyone as well.

Now we look towards the next Carnival to be held in Sydney, January 16th – 23rd 2013. The Sydney committee is already hard at work with some great ideas for Junior Carnival 2013 and we look forward to seeing all of the participants from Brisbane as well as many more.