After the last of the local athletes from the JCC Maccabi Games in San Francisco hung up their jerseys, aired out their sneakers and polished their medals, games organizers sat back and asked: OK, now what?
No one was more ready or excited to tackle that question than Alan Scher, teen program manager at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco.
“We were doing fantastic things already,” said Scher, who took up his position 18 months ago. “The Maccabi Games were ultimately an investment in teen programming and an opportunity to pause and think, ‘How can we make these programs even better?’ ”
To that end, the JCCSF is offering a slew of new programs and opportunities for teens — under the umbrella of GenSF — to keep them involved in Jewish life, post–Maccabi Games.
Inspired by the athletes’ accomplishments this past August, the JCCSF welcomed its inaugural group of Teen Fellows for sports leadership.
Selected from a sizeable pool of applicants in 11th or 12th grade, the six former athletes who were accepted are in the midst of the 10-month program, which offers leadership training and community service, in addition to mentoring younger athletes.
Fellows also will travel to the 2010 Maccabi Games (to be played out next summer in Denver, Colo., Richmond, Va., and Omaha, Neb.) as Team San Francisco assistant coaches.
“We’ll get to do more than just be players,” said 16-year-old Annie Schaffer of San Mateo. “Since I’ve ‘aged out’ of the games, this will be one of the last opportunities to enjoy them.”
Schaffer, a junior at Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, played volleyball in her first Maccabi Games this past summer. Eager to strengthen her ties to the S.F. Jewish community, Schaffer applied for the fellowship.
Following her acceptance, Schaffer had to factor in her hourlong commute from San Mateo to the JCCSF for Sunday meetings. Of all the fellows, she said she has the longest drive. But for Schaffer, it’s all part of the experience.
“Before the games, I hadn’t really spent too many of my weekends in the city,” she noted. “I’m in a high school that isn’t very Jewish, so I’m more than happy to drive all that way to hang out with good friends.”
While Schaffer’s skill set lies in coaching volleyball, she could very well be teaching kids how to play baseball or basketball. It’s a welcome challenge for the fellows, who will connect the concept of coaching with Judaism and service.
“Coaching is a metaphor for being a leader in the community,” Scher said. “For us, it’s not about coaching the basics of basketball. It’s about learning how to be a leader.”
For high school students who aren’t sports-oriented, the JCCSF is connecting teens with holiday-inspired events.
Beginning 6 p.m. Dec. 17, the Contemporary Jewish Museum will host “Festival of Lights, Camera, Action!” a film festival celebrating teen creativity. The evening, which is co-produced by GenSF and other Jewish groups, will include screenings of locally produced film shorts, music and food.
MIddle school students from across the Bay Area are invited to “Shabbat Teen Takeover,” an anything-goes evening of basketball, dodgeball, swimming, live comedy and music beginning 6 p.m. Dec. 18 at the JCCSF.
There’s also fresh programming for Club 18 for middle school students. The Team Green Service Project asks sixth- through eighth-graders to be “open space advocates” by sprucing up the Raymond Kimball Playground in Pacific Heights.
“Helping the environment is a key legacy piece of the Maccabi Games,” Scher said. “The kids are learning about gardening, building fences and adopting abandoned flower beds. It’s exciting for them to be giving back.”
The Team Green Service Project has donated roughly 74 hours of service time since its inception this past October, according to Scher. He added that many of the programs have been well attended, and he’s eager to see what happens in the future.
“Hearing the teens say ‘The games changed the way I feel about my Judaism’ is inspiring,” Scher said. “We’re preserving the legacy of the games in ways that are relevant, and that is success.”
For more information about GenSF or Club 18, visit www.jccsf.org/teen.