Thousands of athletes and coaches convened August 6-11 at the David Posnack JCC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where temperatures reached the 90s, and the intensity even higher.

But for all the fanfare and amenities, the one thing Maccabi didn’t have is a girl’s hockey team. And that posed a problem for St. Louis hockey player Dahlia Goldstein, a member of Congregation B’nai Amoona and rising eighth grader at Parkway Central Middle School.

There was only one way to solve this problem.

“The head of my delegation called me and said, ‘We would love to have you as the only girl on our hockey team,’” Dahlia said. “I was thinking about it for a long time, and then I said yes.”

When Dahlia entered the rink for the first time, her new team had mixed reactions.

“I guess you could say they were skeptical,” Dahlia said. “Some of them didn’t really talk to me and were like, ‘Oh, she’s a girl, she can’t play,” but some of them were very nice and welcoming.”

Dahlia’s mom, Traci Goldstein, was thrilled at this opportunity.

“My initial reaction was excitement for her because she’s only played on girls’ teams,” Goldstein said. “I think as she shows she wants to mature in the sport, she’s going to need to play with boys more often.”

“You get really nervous on the ice, [worrying about] how the guys will think of you and stuff, and I try to prove myself,” Dahlia added. “I just hope I get better and more confident with playing hockey.”

Dahlia, who plays locally for the Lady Cyclones in St. Louis, will have a huge leg up after experiencing Maccabi and having played in an all-boys league.

“She played against kids from Toronto that have already been signed by the OHL (Ontario Hockey League),” said Goldstein, who was cheering her daughter on at the games. “She has evaluations for her team (the Cyclones) in the fall, and I think she’s going to realize that she’s way better than she thought she was.”

The St. Louis Maccabi delegation’s hockey coach, Jared Busch, who is a Shaare Emeth congregant and Marquette graduate, said, “[Dahlia’s] getting to play against some of these guys who play at [very high levels]. It’s great for her to have some skilled players around her, and she’s definitely getting better. She’s been great out there.”

Busch understands the impact a Maccabi experience can have on an athlete like Dahlia.

“Going back to St. Louis, when she starts playing on her club team again, she’ll be used to the faster pace,” he said. “That’s something that in the long run will really benefit her.”

Dahlia also sees the strengths that she’s developing at Maccabi.

“These guys are much faster than me, so I think it’s going to help me get faster in my game,” she said.