Roll on Maccabiah
Maccabi Australia has announced the upper management for the 20th Maccabiah Games to be held in Israel in 2017.
Opening ceremony
A mix of experience and a few new faces will draw on past knowledge and expertise and at the same time, allow for succession into the future.
Along with the earlier appointments of Tom York, Head of Delegation, and Nikki Burger, General Team Manager, the Maccabiah upper management will comprise;
- Deputy Team Manager: Justin Lipson (VIC)
- Deputy Team Manager: Lauren Ehrlich (NSW)
- Deputy Team Manager: Michael America (NSW)
- Deputy Team Manager (Juniors): Sam Gamsu (VIC)
- Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Bob Mundell (NSW)
- Media Manager: David Weiner (NSW)
- Safety and Security Manager: David Michelson (VIC)
- Finance Manager: David Lipson (NSW)
In Israel, it is planned that three Deputy Team Managers will be geographically located and they will commence discussions with allocated sports shortly after an upper management workshop scheduled in July. Having these senior managers allocated to specific locations is a slight change in structure as a result of a rigorous review and feedback process from the last Games.
Both Justin Lipson and Lauren Ehrlich have worked in management roles with Maccabiah teams and provide an essential layer of experience. Justin was also Manager of the recent Junior Carnival and Lauren holds a number of community positions, including Board member of both Maccabi Australia and Maccabi NSW and is the Head of Delegation for the 2015 Pan American Maccabi Games.
Sam Gamsu is also well-known in the Maccabi community for his role as Assistant Junior Team Manager at the 2013 Maccabiah Games and was a Sports Coordinator with the 2014 Junior Carnival. Michael America has been with the Maccabi NSW Basketball club in a range of roles, for many years and comes from a sport teaching and fitness industry background, adding yet another layer of skill.
Both Dr. Bob Mundell (Chief Medical Officer) and David Weiner (Media Manager) have both worked at past Maccabiot in their respective roles and their experience will be invaluable to the team. David Michelson works in community security and holds a position on the executive of the AJAX Junior Football Team. He currently works with a number of schools and traveling groups, designing their security and risk management programs. David Lipson comes from an accounting background with more than 30 years, industry experience.
In the coming months, there will be a call for nominations for team and sport management positions.
