TUCSON, Arizona — A room inside the Tucson JCC may be incomplete, but soon it will be known as Maccabi Central.
"This office will be populated with volunteers," said Tucson JCC CEO Todd Rockoff.
One year from now, the JCC's courts, pools, and fields will be filled with Jewish athletes from North America and beyond, as Tucson will host the annual JCC Maccabi games for the first time since 2000.
"This has been a dream of ours for a very long time," added Rockoff.
First played in 1982, the JCC Maccabi games could be described as the Jewish Olympics for ages twelve to sixteen. On this day, Catalina Foothills High School senior Coby Jeck is training for this year's games, which will be held at two sites in the midwest.
"I think it's really cool to be able to go and see that I'm not the only jewish athlete, and see people who are similar to me," said Jeck.
Jeck says he hopes to play in next year's games in his hometown.
"I think people forget how few of us there are in the world," said Davis Hubbel, the delegation head who will be working with athletes. "I'm excited to show off Tucson. It's a unique location. Most people haven't been here."
If anyone is familiar with the games, it's Rockoff. He was in leadership in Akron, Ohio, where their local JCC hosted the 2008 games.
"We still have this warm feeling about this thing we did together," said Rockoff. "We're hoping to have this same thing in Tucson."
While the JCC Maccabi games are competitive, they are more about sportsmanship, leadership, and Jewish identity.
"That's a really good blend, but sportsmanship and values are at the heart of it," explained Rockoff.
However, the world has changed. Security is a big part of the game's budget.
"We will have a robust plan in place so that the games go off without a hitch."
Rockoff shows off the event's logo, which has a cactus on fire. The JCC Maccabi games are expected to bring in more than $1.5MM into the local economy, as it did a quarter of a century ago.
"My goal will be that when we finish this, we are going to want to know when we are going to do it next, and hopefully not 25 years later," Rockoff said.
