Various members from the 4-blue, 5-blue, and 7-blue Bergen Broncos basketball program
traveled to Orlando for an AAU basketball tournament May 29 – May 31. The trip, coordinated by the Bergen Broncos coaches Dovey Forman, Elli Orlinsky and Ariella Herman, was a memorable and rewarding experience for each player and parent that attended. The Bergen Broncos’ leadership scheduled the games to accommodate shabbos, booked a hotel that suited the team’s needs, arranged catered shabbos meals, coordinated minyanim and put together a fun itinerary, all to ensure that those attending had a very special weekend. The three teams comprised 22 players from Bergen County and New Rochelle. From the moment they landed, the boys moved as one pack, cheered each other on and built upon the strong bond they already had prior to the trip.
Each team played its first two games on Friday afternoon. The excitement of showing up at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports was palpable. Upon entering the building, the players learned quickly that they weren’t in Hoop Heaven anymore. Dozens of teams that featured future AAU stars filled different pockets of the arena. The Broncos boys faced strong competition and the 4-blue team came out with a win. After a fun-filled shabbos, the boys would be ready for elimination play on Sunday.
On Sunday morning the three teams all played their hearts out and the 4-blue and 7-blue teams advanced to the semi-finals. After suffering a few injuries and being undermanned, the two games went down to the wire with both teams losing by four. Countless parents from other teams asked Broncos’ parents where the team was from, and pointed out how well-mannered and behaved the Broncos were. All three teams made a strong kiddush Hashem and came out winners.
The players that attended were: 4-blue – Alex Zakheim, Jacob, Feit, James Forman, Ezra Silfen, Benny Neuwirth, Ikey Herman, Gabriel Sklar, Isaac Schiffman, Moshe Keiser. 5-blue – Gabe Shein, Akiva Schanzer, Ben Haber, Johnny Levine, Eli Saks, Harry and Josh Orlinsky. 7-blue – Amichai Citron, David Gellis, Danny Weinberger, Billy Krause, Akiva Feit, Max Zakheim.
