The first night of Paul Hettler’s first trip to Israel was anything but typical. On July 1, the Mill Valley resident walked into Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium with more than 900 Americans to fog machines, flashing lights, blaring music and cheering spectators.
That was the welcome that delegates, including 53 from Northern California, received as they entered the opening ceremony of the 2026 Maccabiah Games. The 903-member U.S. delegation joined thousands of Jewish athletes from over 50 countries for two weeks of friendly athletic competition across 45 sports ranging from soccer to beach volleyball.
“It was really overwhelming, and I just was very moved by that,” Hettler said. “Just the enthusiasm, reception and energy in that stadium was incredible.”
Hettler, who coaches high school water polo in Marin County, is the head coach of America’s under-19 boys water polo team at this year’s games, which wrap up July 13. Hettler’s under-19 boys water polo team opened tournament play with a 15–14 victory over Brazil and continued competing in Jerusalem this week.
Hettler described his first trip to Israel as profoundly moving.
“Just to be here, it’s strange. It feels like home. The people are really welcoming and they’re really energetic and animated and lively, and it’s just been an amazing experience,” Hettler said.
Held every four years since 1932, the Maccabiah Games attract the third-largest number of athletes of any sporting competition in the world. In addition to the competition, the games give athletes a chance to tour Israel and participate in events ranging from Shabbat dinners to communal bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies.
One of the players on Hettler’s team is Nate Singer, a student at Leland High School in San Jose. He said the trip has created a bond among his teammates.
“I didn’t really know them before, and now that we met up in Israel and started living together, it really connected all of us, specifically in the Jewish aspect of the trip,” Singer said.
Singer said he joined the Maccabiah water polo team two years ago and went to a training camp to prepare for the 2025 Maccabiah Games before they were delayed. The games were supposed to take place last summer but were postponed due to the 12-day war with Iran.
A soccer player turned coach, Leo Krupnik, has been playing in the Maccabiah Games since 2005. The Belmont resident said his participation in the games led to him getting scouted by coaches to play for several pro teams in the United States and Israel. Now retired from his professional league matches, Krupnik is coaching the under-19 boys soccer team.
“Maccabiah basically has been in my life” since he emigrated from the Soviet Union to the Bay Area in 1991, Krupnik said. “I’ve gained tons of friends and great connections that have helped me in my career path.”
Krupnik’s under-19 boys soccer team played in the semifinals on Friday, with a chance to advance to the gold-medal match, but lost 5-2 to Argentina. Krupnik himself is also playing on the Masters 45+ team, which advanced to the semifinals but fell 5-3 to Israel Lavan and will play for a bronze medal on Sunday.
For Krupnik, Maccabiah is a family affair. His daughters, Shaqed and Ruby, are playing in this year’s games. Shaqed is playing on the under-17 girls soccer team and Ruby is on the under-15 girls soccer team. Their teams both advanced to the semifinals.
Outside of their games, the girls said they have enjoyed activities such as surfing off the Tel Aviv coastline.
“We’re all enjoying Israel so far, and we just have been competing and looking forward to starting to do the Israel Connect next week,” Krupnik said.
Israel Connect is a perk for Maccabiah participants, who get to spend their third week in the country traveling and learning about Israel. Hettler said the teams will travel across the country and visit tourist sites, such as Masada, the Dead Sea and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.
“There’s this feeling here that we’re all sort of together, and we’re all supporting each other, and there’s this love and this spirit that is just really hard to convey,” Hettler said. “I just feel it every time I walk out into the courtyard of this hotel where there’s 1,000 teenagers staying. It’s really crazy.”