The Players - Our Community's Contribution to Sport

The Players Draws Rave Reviews
Over 1,500 Visitors to date (Sept 1999)

"The exhibit contains some fascinating tangible remembrances of ... athletes and sporting events." - Winnipeg Free Press

"[A] most worthwhile exhibit, which illustrates a significant component of Jewish life dating back to the late 1800s. ... Those were the days, my friend, when I'd snatch a five-cent package of seeds off the rack at my dad's store on Salter and Pritchard, and meander over to Aberdeen School to watch a double header. ... Pay a visit." - Harvey Rosen, the Jewish Post and News.

"The Players celebrates Winnipeg's Jewish sports heritage ..." - the Winnipeg Sun.

When the idea was first tossed around, there were a lot of sceptics. An exhibit on Winnipeg's Jewish sports history? A museum is not for sports. And is there enough material? Would it draw people in? But we built it. And they came. In record numbers.

Exhibition Dates Extended
The Jewish Heritage Centre is pleased to announce that its first in-house curated exhibit - The Players: Our Community's Contribution to Sport has been an overwhelming success. Since its June 3 opening, over 1,500 people have visited the exhibit, including people whose stories, artifacts or photos are featured.

Because of its popularity and appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds, the JHC has decided to extend the exhibit's run by three months - until December 31, 1999.

Relatives of our Winnipeg Jewish sporting heros have also come to see The Players. Alvin Cohen, son of the late, great Nathan Cohen, entered the Museum as part of his visit to Winnipeg. His surprise and joy at seeing his father's image as he walked through the door was incredibly energizing.

Another special visitor was Premier Gary Filmon, who toured the exhibit on July 12, and thought it was "wonderful".

Others have just wandered through the doors to find out why we have the Teemu Selanne jersey and skates on display or have been drawn in by the dramatic photographs and cases.

Over the summer months, visitors came from as far away as Kenya, Liverpool, Australia, the Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Israel, Germany and Mexico. From the United States, there were visitors from New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Palm Beach, Chicago, Maryland, Philadelphia, Arizona, Orlando, San Diego and Tennessee. There were also visitors from across the country: Fredericton, Montreal, Ottawa, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Victoria, and Vancouver, as well as from different communities throughout Manitoba.

The Players has been featured on CBC Radio, French CBC television, in the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun, The Jewish Post and News, and Uptown Newspaper.

We wish to thank our sponsors: The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, Thomas Sill Foundation, Manitoba Culture Heritage and Citizenship, and the Mark Danzker Perpetual Fund.

COMMUNIQUE

Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada Inc. C116 - 123 Doncaster St. • Winnipeg, MB R3N 2B2 • (204) 477-7464 • Fax: (204) 477-7465 www.jhcwc.org

For Immediate Release

Date: June 2, 1999

The Players: Our Community's Contribution to Sport Opens June 4

Winnipeg, Manitoba--The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is pleased to present this informative, nostalgic and heart-warming look at the Winnipeg Jewish community's involvement in sport. Located in the Marion and Ed Vickar Jewish Museum of Western Canada (Asper Jewish Community Campus), the exhibit runs until September 30 and is free of charge.

"Sport is not only a release and a way of enjoying oneself, it's also a way of moving to a different level of personal achievement. It's a permanent high, without any artificial substances." -- Sam Katz, owner, Winnipeg Goldeyes

Using artifacts, photographs and documents, the exhibit celebrates over 100 years of achievement of Jewish amateur athletes -- starting with Nathan Cohen, who won the Manitoba 440 yard dash in 1897, to world racquetball champion and Pan Am contender, 1998 Manitoba male athlete of the year Sherman Greenfeld.

The Players recreates the heyday of the Jewish community's involvement in amateur sport. In the first half of the century, Jewish teams, mostly organized through the Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) but also through a myriad of north-end schools, struck fear in the heart of every opponent. These were the days of the rivalries between the 'Cohens' and the 'Kellys' for supremacy on the soccer field. The days when young Jewish men used to sneak out of synagogue on Saturday morning, heading for the ball park with a group of friends.

The contribution of Jews to professional sport, as players and as organizers and owners, is also highlighted. From the young Jewish men who played for the Blue Bombers in the 1930s, to first CFL Commissioner G. Sydney Halter, to recent owners of the Winnipeg Jets, Goldeyes and Cyclone, Jews have made their mark on professional sport in Canada.

Explore this rich history and join us in celebrating the victories and triumphs of one century of The Players. A preview and reception for invited guests and members of the media will take place Thursday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.

The Players has been designated as an Arts and Cultural event in celebration of the XIII Pan American Games. Funding for the exhibit has been provided by the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, the Thomas Sill Foundation, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, and the Mark and Dorothy Danzker Perpetual Trust Fund.

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