AJA Volleyball Invitational Nets All-Around Win

Editor’s Note: This is an expanded version of a community brief that published in the Dec. 29, 2023, edition of the Atlanta Jewish Times.

Score a victory all around for the Jewish sports community as the Atlanta Jewish Academy hosted its inaugural Girls Volleyball Invitational and Shabbaton.

The tournament, which ran from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, brought together eight Jewish schools from around the U.S., including: Berman Hebrew Academy (Washington, D.C.); The Frisch School (Paramus, N.J.); Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls (Teaneck, N.J.); Maimonides School (Brookline, Mass.); Magen David Yeshivah School (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Northwest Yeshiva High School (Mercer Island, Wash.); and Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy (The Bronx, N.Y.).

AJA Girls Volleyball Committee Lead Justin Katz explained that the idea for the tournament was inspired by the success of the school’s recently launched flag football program.

The inaugural Girls Volleyball Invitational at AJA brought together teams from eight Jewish academies from across the country.

“In 2021, we came up with an idea to run a flag football tournament and Shabbaton for the high school boys,” Katz said. “After two years of success running that, we decided to run something for the girls. Since no other Jewish school was running a volleyball tournament in the fall, we decided to organize the event. The amount of support we had from the parents was tremendous, so we knew we had identified an opportunity.”

Event organizers planned the event to celebrate the rich diversity of Jewish communities and unite students in the spirit of friendly competition and cultural exchange.

“The Atlanta Jewish community benefited in terms of exposure to other schools across the country. We had girls saying how they wanted to move to Atlanta after their experience over the weekend. It brought together families, athletes, and coaches from around the country, especially during a time when we all need to come together given the state of the world.”

The Atlanta Jewish Academy hosted its inaugural Girls Volleyball Invitational and Shabbaton from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.

Once the competitive volleyball action ended, the invitational gave way to the second focus of the gathering – the AJA Shabbaton, which included a special Shabbat service hosted by Congregation Ohr HaTorah.

“This event goes beyond sports. It is a celebration of community, culture, and the talents of our youth,” event organizers said in a news release.

Katz said plans are underway for more girls’ volleyball invitationals in the future.

“There are most certainly plans to do this every year as long as we can,” Katz said. “We hosted eight total schools, including AJA, so maybe expansion is in our future. We will always hold the tournament just after Thanksgiving.”

For more information, visit www.atlantajewishacademy.org/community/volleyball-invitational.