A youth delegation of basketball players from Atlanta’s sister city Raanana, Israel, is currently visiting Atlanta in a sports exchange organized by the Atlanta-Raanana sister city committee (ARSCC) and the Marcus Jewish Community Center (MJCC). This marks the first youth exchange from Raanana since the signing of the sister city treaty in 2001.
Hosted in private homes, the group of 14 8th grade basketball players and 2 coaches from the Rimon Junior High School, Raanana, will visit sites of interest in the city and take part in a 5 day intensive basketball training camp at the MJCC during their ten day stay (July 30th –August 10th). In addition, they will be hosted at a festive reception at the Atlanta City Hall Atrium, August 6th at 7:00pm.
Aaron Bernstein, initiator and organizer of the delegation on behalf of the ARSCC, expressed his thanks to all the sponsors who helped with exchange, in particular the MJCC which is hosting the basketball camp.
The Mayor of Raanana, Mr. Zeev Bielski, looks forward to hosting a reciprocal sports exchange in Raanana in the near future: “We are very proud of our partnership with Atlanta and we hope this delegation will be the first of many.” Bielski continued, “The language and culture of sport crosses all barriers. I hope that this sports camp will help bring our citizens closer together and foster a better mutual understanding.”
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