Team USA have named their Junior Boys Baseball squad to compete at next summer's 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Nathan Fish, who is the USA Juniors Boys Baseball Co-Chair, along with Joshua Persell, will coach the team, assisted by Eric Holtz.
Nicknamed the King of Jewish Baseball, Fish is looking forward to the July Games. He has participated in the Maccabiah Games twice, as a member of Maccabi USA Open Men’s Softball team in 2005 and 2009 winning gold and silver medals.
Fish said: "My connection to the Maccabiah Games is part of a larger connection to Israel, specifically baseball in Israel. I have been to the five times and played for the Tel Aviv Lightning in the Israel Baseball League in 2007. I was the assistant coach for the Israel National Team for the 2011 European Championships."
He recently played for Team Israel atthe 2012 World Baseball Classic qualifier.
Maccabi USA's first involvement in Junior Boys’ Baseball came at the 17th Maccabiah Games in 2005, when the team won the gold medal. They continued the winning streak at the 18th Maccabiah Games in 2009, when the team included strong athletes such as Max Fried, who was selected seventh overall for the San Diego Padres during the Major League Baseball Amateur draft, earlier this calendar year.
Fish spoke of his expectations for the team -to win a gold medal, perform well, and behave with integrity and respect.
He added: "This experience is about more than just baseball for the guys on the team. For some of them it will be their first time out of the country, and for all of them it will be their first, and probably only, chance to wear a USA Team uniform.
"It is a priority for myself and Eric Holtz to provide them with a well-rounded experience that includes the Israel Connect cultural and educational program and learning about themselves as players and as human beings."
Team USA Junior Boys baseball squad: David Berger (Evanston, IL), Jacob Biller (Manhattan, KS), Joshua Cohen (Berkeley, CA), Justin Diamond (Las Vegas, NV), Benjamin Feinman (Davie, FL), Zachary Feldman (San Diego, CA), Clayton Gelfand (West Linn, OR), Tyler Hart (Harrison, NY), Leo Kaplan (Santa Monica, CA), Dean Kremer ( Stockton, CA), Bradley Margolin (Northbrook, IL), Ian McKinnon (Burbank, CA), Samuel McKinnon (Burbank, CA), Matthew Rothstein (Roslyn Heights, NY), Robert Scherl (Ridgefield, CT), Jason Schoen (Los Angeles, CA)
To get more from Life, click here to sign up for our free Life newsletter.