Played under the scorching sun on Park and Ocean Avenue's huge lot, the 24 teams doused themselves with water between games. Jimmie Ades, Jakey Dweck, David Kassin and Elliot Maleh organized the tournament once again to raise money for the Special Education Academy of Deal (S.E.A.D.). Maya Nesser, who works at S.E.A.D., orchestrated most of the event, specifically the food, along with helpers Mariel Kassin, Sharon Madeb, Gitta Seruya, Renee Spiegel and Marci Tbele. Rachel Tbele won the Nintendo Wii raffle, Sylvia Sultan won Split the Pot, and everyone enjoyed barbeque by the SY Grill Guys. Hatzalah was a big help, lending its services over the course of the day.

Morris A. Sutton established S.E.A.D. five years ago. The program fills a great necessity in the Deal community, providing special needs children with a Jewish education, without the pressures and difficulties of a yeshivah they may get lost in. S.E.A.D. individualizes a curriculum for each child, and helps students to the extent that some eventually enroll in mainstream schools.

Maya Nesser said she's there every day to see how the children grow and change. “It's really amazing to see how certain things we take for granted...are some things they have to learn and acquire.” And with S.E.A.D.'s aid, children do succeed over time. “To be inspired by the kids that you work with, and the teachers that you work with, is something else,” said Maya.

Those people are not her only inspiration. “These young guys, they really pulled through and put together the whole program,” she said, referring to the Fantastic Four who arranged the football tournament. Morris approached the boys to raise the money for S.E.A.D. when he heard they wanted to start the first football tournament.

“We love playing football,” said Jakey Dweck, a coordinator. “And S.E.A.D. is a great cause, so we said, ‘You know what? Let's do it.’” Working on the tournament since January, Jakey said that this year's was better because he and his co-organizers gained experience from last summer. They signed up teams online at www.syfootball.com, and intend to post pictures on the site soon.
This summer's champions, for the second time around, were MVP David Kassin, Elliot Maleh, Murray Maleh, Harold Sherr, Joey Sutton and Daniel Tawil. Joey subbed for Daniel after Daniel took a bad fall and injured himself. Second place winners were Richard Adjmi, Ikey Azar, Solomon Fallas, Eddie Levy and Jeffrey Terzi.
“They set a precedent,” said Murray Maleh, regarding the tournament planners. “We play all the time in the winter and wanted to bring it to Deal.”

A S.E.A.D. breakfast was hosted at the home of Elizabeth and Raymond Gindi the same morning as the tournament. A substantial amount was raised for S.E.A.D. Special education is very expensive, stated Maya. “We want to keep on servicing more kids; we just need the funds.”

The coordinators plan to help again next year with the return of the Battle of the Gridiron SYs. “I appreciate everyone's support for the S.E.A.D. program and hope to continue doing our part through the football tournament,” said Elliot Maleh.

To view tournament photos, go to www.morrisgindi.com.

Written by: Yvonne Harari