Jessica Resnik takes her game south

When it comes to sports at Oberlin, success stories are pretty rare. Every once in a while, there's a conference win. And sometimes, a conference championship. But an athlete who has successfully competed at the international level? Unbelievable.

Junior Jessica Resnik recently competed in the Maccabiah Pan American games, an international sports competition for Jewish athletes. On Dec. 24, 1995, Resnik packed her bags with summer clothes and flew to another hemisphere to play field hockey. Sweltering heat and a newly assembled hockey team awaited her in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "The players had all different playing styles, and they're speaking a language on the field that you don't understand," said Resnik. "It was amazing."

Resnik said, "Everyone there was Jewish, and everyone there was an athlete." But the similarities ended there. The women spoke different languages, and ranged in age from 18 to 40. Resnik and her teammates had only three or four days to practice together, learn each other's languages, and just plain get used to each other. Resnik pointed out that at a certain level, athletes learn to put aside differences, at least when they're on the field. Yet it soon became clear that even Jimmy Carter would have trouble finagling a victory. Being baked under the summer sun playing field hockey and taking a crash course on international integration at the same time, Resnik's team pulled off a fourth-place finish in the tournament.

Resnik's team lost to the third place team by one stroke. "That was terrible," Resnik said, revisiting the anguish from the closest game she experienced in the tournament.

Maybe she wants to avenge that loss, or maybe she's gotten hooked on playing in the international arena. Resnik gives a testimony of the weight of her experience over winter break. "I felt closer to my religion," she said. "It sounds trite, but it's true." Resnik is already looking ahead. She plans to try out for the Maccabiah Olympics field hockey competition which will be held in 1997.

In the meantime, Resnik is trying to join a hockey club in Dayton to prepare for the first round of try outs in December. "As far as training goes, I guess I'm pretty much on my own," Resnik says. A sports success story begins in Oberlin, quietly.