Aussie Ski Championships
Maccabi Victoria has held its first SnowSport Carnival.
Marcel Dayan reports on the highly successful event which was held at Mt Buller earlier this month.
Mark Kagan
The Lieberman Family
With the aim of complementing the popular Jewish Interschools SnowSports, the Maccabi Carnival aimed to enhance the social component of the event and open up the competition to the entire Jewish community. Sponsored by the AJAX Ski Club and hosted by Maccabi Victoria, the event was superbly supported by Moriah College, Bialik College and Mt Scopus College who contributed between them 98 of the 120 student competitors. In addition, there were a further 14 adult competitors.
The carnival opened on the Sunday evening with a student social event, which included rock climbing/abseiling, archery, bungy tramp, ball sports and quiz and trivia, allowing students to connect and form new friendships. Concurrently an adult social event was held at the AJAX lodge, encouraging parents and other members of community to meet in a new environment.
The Monday race day dawned foggy and very windy, but with a covering of 15 cm of fresh snow. The racetrack, already moved from Skyline to the Summit, was again moved 45 minutes before the start to Bourke St. Despite these difficulties the races went off smoothly and finished on time. The races included 4 divisions of student skiing, 3 divisions of student snowboarding, a Masters competition (over 50), an open competition and an all abilities division for both males and females.
The after race function at the ABOM was very well attended and the trophy winners were roundly applauded. Results are available on the Maccabi Web Site http://www.macvic.com.au/News and Events. Feedback from participants was very positive and the sponsors who made this event possible.
Next year organisers hope for participation from more Jewish students and Jewish schools in Victoria as well as from other Australian States and New Zealand and that ultimately this event will complement the Maccabi Junior Carnival in connecting our community through sport.
