As the smells of popcorn, hotdogs and sweat filled the air, the sounds of sneakers squeaking on the polished floor, and basketballs bouncing echoed in the stadium, local fans cheered their neighborhood basketball players as they clambered around the court for control of the ball. The emotions were high and the energy was palpable as the basketball was dribbled, passed, stolen and rebounded by neighbors and friends – then WHOOSH! – right into the basket.

This game could have been anywhere, played by anyone’s brother or dad. But this game was not just anywhere. This game was being played in Israel , in the heart of Gush Etzion. While the players were all there to win the game, they were also there to make a difference. For no matter which team would be victorious at the first annual Gush Etzion Basketball Tournament, they would all succeed at benefiting Camp Koby v’Yosef, an incredible program for the family members of victims of terror, run by the Koby Mandell Foundation.

Four local teams from the Gush Etzion Basketball League participated in the tournament; two from Efrat, one from Elazar and one from Neve Daniel. The guys playing were all serious, yet smiling. Everyone was there to have a good time. The Neve Daniel team was short a few players and had exactly five to play. As long as there would be no injuries, they would be okay. After the first round, the khaki-shirted Neve Daniel Lions – this writer’s home team – beat the lime-green-shirted Elazar team. This enabled them to go on to play the final game against the turquoise-shirted Zayit Capitals, one of the teams from Efrat.

The game was basically neck and neck the whole time. Neve Daniel would pull ahead, then the Capitals, and so it went. By the end of the game everyone was riveted as the minutes were counted down on the timer and the scores were almost even. With about two minutes to go in overtime, and Neve Daniel leading by one point, Eli Hirschorn, of the Neve Daniel Lions, injured his ankle and couldn’t play. There was a hushed silence when everyone wondered what would happen, as this left only four players. Then Neve Daniel resident Nitzan Adler came from the spectators stands to take his buddy Eli’s place – and his sneakers and his sweaty team shirt! Yuck! But it was worth it; at 10:00pm the game was won by Neve Daniel, 31-28, to exuberant cheers from the Neve Daniel contingency. Congratulations to Eli Hirschorn, Yishai Retbi, Elchai Lichtenstein, Mordecai Holtz, Eliyahu Weinberg, and, of course, Nitzan Adler for participating in such an important cause that is so close to home.

“My wife and I really appreciate when the community supports our work at the Koby Mandell Foundation,” said Seth Mandell, who along with his wife Sherri, created the Foundation as a memorial to their eldest son, Koby, after he was murdered in a terrorist attack six years ago. “Koby loved basketball. It is really a fitting way to remember him through sporting events such as these.”

“The murder of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran is a Gush Etzion story,” adds Michael Lawrence, Public Relations and Development Coordinator for the Koby Mandell Foundation in Israel. “It is very important that the Foundation is involved in Gush Etzion and that Gush Etzion residents are involved in the Foundation. We’re planning to make this an annual event with more yishuvim [communities] participating.”

The money raised at the basketball tournament all goes to Camp Koby, which provides children of families struck by terror with a place where others understand. The camp gets about 500 kids at each session and is open to children who have lost either a parent or a sibling to terror. The camps have specially tailored programs that include everything you would expect in any camp such as swimming and sports, with the addition of fantastic extras such as psychodrama, animal therapy, and the like. What’s best is that the kids can attend completely free of charge. The week before Pesach the Camp held their special pre-Pesach camp in Eilat which attracts hundreds of campers, and this year was no exception. In the summer there are three ten-day sessions. Surrounded by their peers, with specially trained counselors and professional therapists, children naturally share their stories and express their feelings.

Most important, kids love Camp Koby because it is fun with exciting programs specially tailored for each age group. Children feel free to have an incredible time.

Laura Ben-David is the author of MOVING UP: An Aliyah Journal (Mazo Publishers), the entertaining aliyah chronicle that everyone is talking about. Experience it for yourself! http://www.aliyahbook.com