Elevating sport to a kiddush Hashem

Posted

Eric Wietschner and brothers Daniel and David Soffer are yeshiva high school students from Woodmere and avid sports fans. They were also ballpersons at the U.S. Open, creating a kiddush Hashem by respectfully maintaining their religious standards at the world-class event staged in Flushing Meadows last week.

Wietschner explained that there are forms to fill out online and then applicants “just show up” at the tennis center in Queens.

The boys went to the tennis center on the day of the preliminary tryouts (Daniel said 380 tried out and 80 were chosen). “It was fun to see the types of people trying out; some had no athletic ability but most were pretty good,” their mother, Tamar Soffer, said. “There were people from all walks of life.”

She said the U.S. Open retains about 80 ballpersons from the previous season and takes on about 80 rookies, noting that some of the returnees have been coming back for 10 years; some of them are 40 years old. Those with seniority get the “big matches,” she said, with the celebrity tennis players. She said that Daniel was on court for an Israeli player, Shachar Pe’er.

David Soffer, 17, a senior at HALB’s DRS boys high school, was a ballperson during the summer of 2012; he skipped last summer for brother Daniel’s bar mitzvah in Israel. This year Daniel, 14, a freshman at DRS, joined his brother on the courts.

HAFTR senior Eric Wietschner, 17, would often watch the free tennis before the official matches at the stadium when he would return from sleepaway camp. This summer he worked doing research in a lab at the Garcia science research program held at Stony Brook University and “saw the U.S. Open ball boy position as a chance to be active, meet interesting people, and earn some spending money,” he said. He took the railroad from Stony Brook for the tryouts. He plays tennis and is on the tennis team at HAFTR.

David is on the DRS hockey team and Daniel, hopes to be on it, too. Daniel enjoys playing soccer and both play tennis as well. Dad Shmuel blocked out time from his work schedule to watch tennis at the Open. Mom Tamar came, “to watch the ballboys.”

The position requires standing, not moving, in the sun for a shift of two hours with an hour a half break between shifts, working from ten to five or noon to seven. They cannot move or speak and must run quickly and quietly to retrieve errant balls so as not to disturb the players and must have the ability to throw a ball accurately.

“It’s cool,” said Daniel. Although they have to commit to a minimum of 12 days over the course of the open, they are flexible. “They know I can’t work on Shabbat and always give us the 10 to 5 shift on Fridays.”

He said standing still is the hardest part. They are given a $20 voucher for lunch that they use at the kosher concession there, and are paid $8 an hour. He said the best part is “getting to meet the players.”

Other perks include free entry to the tennis stadium to see the Tennis open and they “get a ton of clothing” all emblazoned with polo and Ralph Lauren emblems. They are required to wear it as a uniform.

The Soffer brothers wore the caps during the open. Wietschner wore the cap initially. “He wanted to wear the yamulka - he got one to match - he is proud of it and it was hot,” said mom Heidi. “He was nervous that people would say something but no one said a word. It was a good positive experience.”

She said that there are 15 Orthodox ball-persons there.

“I had the confidence to wear the Yarmulke thanks to my family, school and community for instilling a strong sense of Jewish identity,” said Eric.

“I was heartened by the fact that wearing the yarmulke was well received. I never felt any animosity by the players, umpires, and fellow ball boys.”

Wietschner attended Rambam Mesivta his first two years of high school and returned to HAFTR for high school maintaining contacts with friends and faculty at both schools. He participated in Write On Israel, an Israel advocacy program with Rabbi Yotav Eliach, held at HAFTR.

“It’s easy being a Jewish ballperson because they really accept the almost 15 of us religious ballpeople well,” said David Soffer. “Some of the Jewish ball people wear kippas while others like me wear hats. Shabbos isn’t an issue either as the heads make a special point to tend to our religious needs, between letting us sign out first on Friday so we can get home earlier, to having no issue at all with us taking off on Shabbos. They really do embrace Shabbos and love to joke around with us about it. They love asking questions about kashrut and Judaism as a whole.”

The Soffers hope to be on the courts again next summer although senior David will be headed to yeshiva in Israel for the year. Tamar noted that David said he would be “going late to yeshiva in Israel” to be able to be at the U.S. open.

“I’m not sure about that,” said Tamar, but “I’m not telling him no right now. It’s the ultimate sports fan experience.”