Howard Topal, vice president of the JCC of Western Monmouth executive board, with young recipients of the Sidney Topal Award, named for his father.
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September 7, 2009
The longest-running sports program affiliated with the Jewish Community Center of Western Monmouth has received a major overhaul, with a new vision, a new direction, and a new name. During the off-season, the New Sidney Topal Youth Basketball League, which serves over 200 boys and girls in grades three-12, also received a new reduced price structure for participants.
The league’s new name honors the memory of the father of JCCWM founding board member and first president Howard Topal. Currently serving as a vice president, Howard Topal also established the Sidney Topal Award, given after each basketball season to the player who best exemplifies the spirit embodied by his father.
Participation in the league is so popular, according to JCCWM program director Ian Feibelman, because families and members want their children to learn sports and teamwork while interacting with other Jewish youth in the community.
League games are played on Sundays at Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School; the league runs from mid-November through the end of March.
“We are really excited about The New Sidney Topal Youth Basketball League,” said Feibelman. The move was made to raise awareness of JCCWM and its sports programs in the community, he said, and the fee reduction, prompted by the economic crisis, “will afford many more individuals the opportunity to participate in a great Sunday basketball league.”
“The great thing about this league is that it runs like clockwork,” said Mark Schneid, JCCWM’s director of basketball operations. “Parents are aware that games are played every Sunday at a predetermined time. We don’t have any practices or games during the week so they don’t interfere with other extracurricular activities that children participate in.”
Sponsors are an integral part of the league, Schneid said, and those who contribute “can have a great impact on our youth.”
Registration information can be found on the JCCWM website at www.jccwm.org; early bird registration expires Oct. 1. For more information on the league, visit the site or contact Feibelman at 732-683-9300.
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