RKYHS boys JV soccer team went to the small Jewish community of Lake Hopatcong for its annual Soccer Shabbaton. The Shabbaton is a huge bonding experience for the entire team. The coach of the team, Logan Singman, prides himself on the fact that his team is not just a bunch of individuals thrown together because they all play soccer; rather, that they are a unified team that works together on and off the court. This Shabbaton is the pinnacle of this mentality. Throughout the Shabbaton there were countless opportunities for structured and unstructured bonding, creating a more cohesive team.
The bonding starts from the minute the team arrives in Hopatcong. The team is split up into two groups, each group having responsibilities for preparing for Shabbat. Although this does not seem related to soccer, it teaches the players how to communicate with one another which is paramount to winning a soccer game.
After Friday night dinner, there is a bit of structured bonding, planned by the coach. The team is split up once more, and two lines are formed. Team members must arrange themselves in certain orders, such as height, age or number of siblings. The only catch is, they cannot talk. This form of structured bonding, according to the coach, allows “different groups of people to interact with one another.” This greatly helps unify the team.
The rest of the bonding that happens on the Shabbaton is purely unstructured. Throughout Shabbat, team members talk and hang out with one another. Board games are played frequently. All this fun is definitely important bonding, and through all this fun the team definitely becomes closer.
Another significant aspect of the Shabbaton is the chesed that the RKYHS JV soccer team does. The soccer team players go all the way to Lake Hopatcong because they want to help the small community there which consists of about 15 members. Of the 15, only about three to five members come to shul regularly. The team leads prayers, makes the minyan, and interacts with the members of the community.
The president of the shul told the team how important it was that a shul be maintained in Hopatcong due to the large Ku Klux Klan presence a couple towns over. The shul members were thrilled to have so many young Jews come and pray at the shul.
Overall, the Shabbaton bridged social and grade barriers, creating a major bonding experience. In addition, the Kushner JV boys helped the small community of Lake Hopatcong.
By Gabriel Zuckerman
