The 2009 Maccabiah includes the following sports.

• Baseball

  While baseball is still a relatively new addition to the Maccabiah - with only a handful of countries fielding teams and the majority of teams competing in the Junior Division - we already have 20 softball teams from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Israel, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Venezuela and the United States participating at all levels.

  The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) will be organizing and umpiring all the Open, Junior and Masters Maccabiah baseball and softball tournaments, which will be centered around the Baptist Village field in Petach Tikva.

• Basketball

  Basketball, along with football (soccer), is one of the two most popular and well-established sports at the Maccabiah, and in Israel in general. Basketball has the most Junior teams of any sport, with 14 teams for players aged 15 to 18. There are 20 teams at the competing in the Open Division (ages 18-35) and another six teams in the Masters Division (ages 35-45).

  We are also fortunate to have between six and eight women’s teams competing at the Maccabiah. The women’s teams have a distinguished history, with Donna Orender, the current president of the WNBA, having played as part of the US delegation at the 1985 Maccabiah.

  Many Israel basketball legends were also discovered while competing in the men’s Maccabiah competitions, including Tal Brody and David Blatt. The Maccabiah continues to discover and develop talented basketball players, many of whom go on to play for professional teams or compete in the Olympics.

  This year, the Maccabiah basketball tournaments, which take place over the course of two weeks, will feature over 40 teams (including women’s teams) from 25 countries.

• Beach Volleyball

• Bridge

• Cricket

• Chess

• Fencing

• Futsal

• Golf

• Gymnastics

• Half-marathon

• Field Hockey

• Football (Soccer)

  Football (soccer) is the Maccabiah’s most popular sport, with teams from 20 countries competing in the Men’s Open Championship. Six countries are represented in the Women’s Open and 11 in the Men’s Masters. This year, seven countries will be fielding teams in the Over-45 Championship Tournament.

  Most importantly, football is well represented in the Junior Divisions, with 20 teams competing at the 15-to-16-year-old level; four girls’ teams and 16 boys’ teams from 16 different countries. There will also be boys’ teams from 12 different countries competing in the 17-to-18-year-old level.

  Football Tournaments are played in the Open (18 years and up) and Junior (15-18 years) Divisions, with both divisions holding their opening matches on July 12th. The tournaments will continue on the 14th-17th of July and the 19th-21st of July, and will conclude with the Open Final on July 22nd.

• Judo

• Karate

• Netball

• Lawn Bowls

• Rowing

• Rhythmic Gymnastics

• Rugby

• Squash

• Softball

• Swimming

• Table-tennis

• Taekwondo

• Tennis

• Triathlon

• Track and Field

• Ten-pin Bowling

• Volleyball

• Water Polo

• Wrestling