The smell of summer is in the air, and that Barkai spirit is everywhere! It’s going to be a Barkai summer, and what better way to bask in the beautiful, salty, Jersey air than being a part of the Young Guns Tournament. Young Guns, headed by Joey Barnathan, will be the first ever elementary school tournament, featuring a special NBA guest (TBA). The games will commence on the corner of Park and Ocean Avenues on July 12th—but the hype has already started. With a list of hundreds (and counting) of children participanting, there is much to look forward to!
The Young Guns Tournament marks the launch of Barkai’s Athletic Excellence Program. Athletic ability is extremely important for a child’s self-esteem, as well as his physical well-being. Athletic excellence helps promote successful academics as well. The new program will serve as yet another step towards the growth of Barkai’s students, who already benfit from the yeshivah’s unparalleled Judaic studies program.
Young Guns is the brain child of both Joey Barnathan and Ricky Cohen. The idea came about with the intention of providing something outstanding for elementary school kids to take part in this summer. As everyone knows, all the major summer tournaments are for the high school and young adult age groups. So for all of the “up and comings,” this is their chance to shine!
Joey Barnathan, father of three and an athlete himself, is best known for coaching the Magen David 6th grade Warriors basketball team to the championship. That’s a total of 14 games, undefeated, including the championships. Through the season, Joey coached and created an environment of great team unity, and mutual love and respect between the players. The coach used his downtime with the kids to speak of character development, generosity, caring and building friendships. “It wasn’t just about basketball. It made them better people, people who can help guide kids.” Joey will be in charge of boys from 5th through 8th grade. There will also be a soccer division of Young Guns for girls.
Through sports, our children take part in healthy competition. They learn to win with sportsmanship and they gain camaraderie from being part of a team. Certainly, these children will leave the day with more than just trophies.
Joey Barnathan explains, “There will be children from all different schools participating. It’s about interacting with other kids from other schools as well.” It’s a competition, but clearly, it’s not just about sports.
There will also be a Mini-Young Guns tournament from 1-4 pm at the home of Joe and Susan Nakash (65 Almyr Avenue). The age group will include 1st through 4th graders, and will be led by Victor Gindi and his crew. The program will include baseball, basketball, dodgeball, soccer and football. There will be four teams per grade with 10 kids on each team, estimating 160 mini-players. T-shirts will be given out to all participants, and trophies will be awarded to first and second place teams.
Mini Young Guns, cost: $26. Young Guns, cost: $36. Having your child come home feeling like a champion: priceless.
To participate in Mini-Young Guns, please call Frances Arking: (917) 584-4407. To participate in Young Guns call Joey Barnathan: (718) 666-2210.
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Nazira Chabbot enjoys creative writing and has written articles for IMAGE Magazine in the past. She has a preschooler attending Barkai Yeshivah.
