The official draw for the 2022 Maccabiah Games occurred Sunday afternoon, live from Kfar Maccabiah.
The draw, which happened at 3pm ISR time, revealed to the hundreds of Maccabiah-bound athletes who they will be competing against this summer in team sports.
As sports’ biggest celebration in Israel approaches, the Maccabiah draw makes it all the more real for athletes as they prepare to travel to the country. Hearing what competition group their country will play in heightens excitement and makes the summer Games feel closer than ever before- and it is only 73 days away.
The 21st Maccabiah Games live draw, opened by Maccabiah CEO Roy Hessing and led by Director of Sports Elad Simon, is one of the most exciting parts of the pre-Games time, serving as a key milestone for athletes and delegations across the world. The actual draw was selected by Hessing and Liron Cohen, Director of Football and Basketball.
All of the team sports found out Sunday afternoon which groups each country would compete in and against whom they might be put against within those groups. Results from the 20th Maccabiah in 2017 were used to determine the first members of each group, with first and second place countries leading the two brackets.
Sports in today’s draw include basketball, football and futsal. Multiple age categories and gender groupings were determined, with numerous new female competitions established for the 2022 Games. New competitions in the draw that will take place this summer include football U-16 girls and women’s open futsal, the first ever female futsal competition to take place in the Maccabiah. Maccabi is excited to see more female representation than ever in this year’s competition- in sports new and old. Women’s open ice hockey will also be played for the first time in Maccabi history this summer, with teams from Canada, the United States and Israel vying for a win.
A main focus of the draw was football. The largest of the day was for football U16 boys with 17 teams in the draw. As first, second, third and fourth place in the 20th Maccabiah respectfully, the United States, Brazil, Israel and Canada led the four groups of the category. A new category was also added for football masters age 55+. For this age group, the draw was started from scratch, with Great Britain and Uruguay selected to lead the two groups.
All information from the draw- including information about sports that did not require a draw because of size- will be uploaded to the Maccabiah website and sent to sports coordinators from all delegations.
The countdown is official on! Two months from now, athletes from around the world will be descending upon Israel for the largest Maccabiah ever. We cannot wait to see you all!