Like her former IU softball teammate CaraMia Tsirigos, junior outfielder Rebecca Blitz will spend part of her summer playing softball on an international stage.
Blitz will represent the United States at the 2017 World Maccabiah Games, the world’s largest Jewish athletic competition, in Israel. She will be one of 1,110 athletes in the Maccabiah USA delegation that will participate in the international competition between July 4-18.
“I’m excited about this once in a life opportunity to represent my faith and the United States in the games,” Blitz said in an IU Athletics release. “It will be a great experience to compete on an international platform with and against other Jewish softball players.”
The Maccabiah Games include 34 different sports and are held every four years. The international competition was first staged in 1932, with this year’s edition being the 20th in history.
The competition is considered the third-largest sporting event in the world behind the Summer Olympics and the Pan American Games.
Blitz and the United States will begin play on July 9 with a series of three games against both Canada and Israel before a placement round on July 13.
She joins Tsirigos, who graduated in May, in representing IU softball internationally. Tsirigos will play for Greece in the 2017 European Softball Championship in June.
Blitz was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team for the second consecutive season in 2017.
Cameron Drummond
