How an octogenarian keeps the Indian team at the Jewish Olympics inspired

For 60 years, octogenarian Sam Marshall’s mission has been to ensure that the Indian team gets to the Maccabiah Games in Israel — also known as the ‘Jewish Olympics’ — and brings home medals.

This year, the games are in Jerusalem, and by coincidence, will be inaugurated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel.

Mr. Marshall flew into Tel Aviv on Sunday with a team of 30, including a cricket team (India won the silver medal in 2013), badminton and tennis players, and swimmers. They will march in the ceremony on Thursday in khadi jackets and kurtas.

Mr. Marshall says he hopes to meet the PM at an Indian diaspora event, but wants more than the government’s blessings. “Each year, it is getting harder and harder to raise funds for the team,” Mr. Marshall told The Hindu in Tel Aviv, where the team is practising. “We would be grateful for the government’s support, which will help nurture talent amongst our small minority community; we have approached Sports Minister Vijay Goel with our request.”

Most of the team come from Maharashtra’s Bene-Israel community, from families that barely eke out a living. Sport, he says, is the one chance they have of better futures. The cricket team includes children of farmers and religious scholars, many who have struggled to finish their education. The captain, Bensiyon Songavkar, who has played in the Ranji trophy, came from an office clerk’s family in Rajkot, one of the few Jewish families left there. Most team members had never left their home towns before this trip, let alone go abroad.

The toughest part, he says, is keeping the team together, given rising costs, and the community’s dwindling numbers in India.

The cost of training, equipment, and travel, Mr. Marshall says, is about ₹50 lakh, and donors and sponsors cover less than half of that.

Then there is attrition. Ironically, the Games are partly the cause. On average, he says, about a third of the team each time either chooses to “make Alliya” — migrate to the Israel — either immediately or soon after, for the opportunities or for religious reasons. “They call me a dream merchant for that reason,” says Mr. Marshall, who clearly revels in his role.

An avid sportsman himself, he remembers his first Maccabiah, in 1957, when the Indian team — including him — earned three golds and three silvers.

He made history on the tennis team, when he and son Yossi played doubles in 2013. He sometimes fills in on other teams, when they are short. Mr Marshall says, laughing, “You’re only as old as you feel.”