Now that the Yeshivah High School Basketball League season and Yeshiva University’s 2015 Sarachek Tournament are over, attention is turned to the Yeshivah Alumni Basketball Association (YABA) Annual dinner and event which will take place on May 14, 2015 at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood. Irv Bader and Elliot Auerbacher are chairmen for the 2015 dinner.
The dinner hosts alumni of the earlier Metropolitan Jewish High School League, as well as players, coaches and managers from the current Metropolitan Yeshivah High School Athletic League.
David Ruchelsman, a local standout, is one of this year’s honorees. Ruchelsman played for the Frisch Varsity team as a starter and co-captain for three years, including two championship seasons, 1995 and 1996. He was awarded the league MVP in his senior season during which he averaged 28 points per game. Now, twenty years later, Dr. Ruchelsman is a successful Orthopedic surgeon.
When discussing his accomplishments on and off the court, he told the JLNJ “…my initial successes were fully due to the training and teaching of my father who was always home for games and practices without exception, and who put endless hours into coaching and mentoring me throughout my career.” Ruchelsman noted that he played basketball year round and worked many weekend hours with Coach Sandy Pyonin and his AAU team, the NJ Roadrunners. During the summer of 1993 Ruchelsman played overseas in Israel on a USA national high school team selected to compete against elite Israeli teams. He played under the direction of Coach Evan Pickman, formerly of the LA Clippers organization and former head coach of the College of Staten Island. That particular summer is one that Ruchelsman remarks, “elevated my game to the next level.”
The YABA dinner will commence at 6pm on May 14, 2015 at Congregation Ahavath Torah, 240 Broad Avenue in Englewood. All proceeds raised by the Yeshivah Alumni Basketball Association event will be allocated to the building of the YABA Mitch Merlis (a”h) Basketball Court for the benefit of Yeshivah Kfar Zeitim of Tiberias. The Yeshivah Alumni Basketball Association is a registered 501C3 not for profit organization. To donate of get more information about the association or the event visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yaba-yeshivah-hs-alumni-basketball-association-dinner-tickets-660876700
