Jojo Hoffman
Staff Writer
Badminton players Senior Yoshi Cohn and Junior Sam Schwartz are shining in the International spotlight.
Cohn and Schwartz brought home gold and silver medals for the Maccabi USA Badminton Junior National Team after competing in the European Maccabi Games (EMG) that were held in Berlin, Germany last summer.
“This was especially moving for me to watch my son compete in the European Maccabi Games taking place in Berlin in the same place where Jews were not allowed to compete in 1936 for the Olympics,” said Schwartz’s father and a past adult Maccabi competitor Kenny Schwartz.
The European Maccabi Games, which are held in a different country every four years, are Europe’s biggest Jewish sports events according to the Maccabi Games official website. Cohn and Schwartz were both selected by the Maccabi USA Badminton Head Coach based on their USA Badminton National Rankings to compete in badminton and were among the more than 2,300 athletes from 36 countries competing against each other in 19 different sports.
“Getting to meet and play against people from over 20 different European countries was truly a one of kind experience”said Cohn. “Getting to play in the Olympic park built in Nazi Germany was surreal and the fact that thousands of Jewish athletes could compete in international competition there today really shows how much the world has changed since then.”
In 2011, Schwartz first started competing internationally in badminton at the 13th EMG in Vienna, Austria. Even though Schwartz didn’t make it past the first round during his first attempt at in international competition, he came back four years later to last summer’s 14th EMG and won a Gold Medal in Boy’s Doubles and a Silver Medal in Boy’s Singles.
“It felt great to come back to the same tournament from four years earlier and instead of being knocked out in the first round, I won the gold medal on behalf of the United States”, said Schwartz. “While standing atop the podium, I knew that I had made myself and my country proud.”
Playing for the past four years and practicing five days a week at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club, Schwartz has his sights set on qualifying for intense competitions such as this summer’s USA Badminton Junior Nationals in Washington and the 2017 World Maccabiah Games in Israel. To help achieve these goals, he will continue to focus on drills that improve speed, accuracy and consistency, and plays friendly games against other high school players.
“I think the thing I like about badminton the most is the fact that it isn’t easy,” said Schwartz. “There is always movement and something going on that you have to pay attention to.”
Cohn, who has been playing badminton for the last three years and trains at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club five days a week, won Gold in Junior Girls Doubles and Silver in Junior Girls Singles at the 14th EMG.
“It was amazing to play in the Maccabi games with Sam”, said Cohn. “We trained for months leading up to it so that we could represent our country at a high level of play”.
This year, Cohn, who is captain for Costa’s badminton team, usually plays in the number one spot for girls singles and mixed doubles while Schwartz usually competes in the top spot for boys singles and mixed doubles.
“Sam and Yoshi bring a high level of skill and good work ethic to the team and they both put in extra hours outside of practice to improve specific shots”, Costa’s badminton coach David Levin said. “We’re hoping that they can place in the CIF Individuals this year.”
In the near future, Cohn and Schwartz both want to continue to play badminton competitively locally and internationally and hope to play the sport during their college careers.
“Recently I competed in an Olympic qualifying event with a partner from Trinidad and Tobago”, said Cohan. “Badminton has allowed me to make friends from all over the world.”
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