Chilean-born Rene Luft had no problems beating his daughter at soccer. Then she turned 10.
Now 14, Allegra Gigante Luft is outstanding in her field — that field being a soccer pitch. Even at her tender age, she’s developed into a standout center midfielder — the player who, much like a basketball point guard, runs the offense.
Any soccer fan can only nod approvingly when she answers the age-old question: Would you rather score a goal or assist on one?
“I would rather get the assist,” Gigante Luft of Petaluma said without even pausing to think. “I think it feels better starting something than finishing it. It’s more of a team effort other than just you.”
If Gigante Luft has her way, she’ll be dishing off many assists during the 10th Pan American Maccabi Games in Santiago, Chile, from Wednesday, Dec. 24 to Sunday, Jan. 4. California will send 57 athletes, including a dozen from Northern California.
More than 400 U.S. athletes will join 1,600 other competitors hailing from more than 20 countries. The large U.S. team is about twice the size of its last Pan Am squad.
For 15-year-old Saundra Rubin, making the tennis team broke the family schnide (shutout). Both her father and mother had tried out for Maccabi adult tennis squads, and were beaten back (Her older brother, Stefan, did medal in karate in the mid-’90s).
Rubin, who has ice skated for nearly a decade, picked up a racket only eight months ago, in hopes of making the 2005 Maccabi team that will compete in Israel.
She’s come along more rapidly than expected, however, making the varsity squad at Santa Rosa’s Montgomery High and qualifying for the Pan Am games.
A self-described “baseline player” who’d rather leave charging the nets to others, Rubin sticks close to home when it comes to on-court role models. She models her game after Sondra Borowicz — the captain of Rubin’s high school team.
Rubin — who, like Gigante Luft, can now run her parents off the court — keeps her strategy simple. She figures the more her opponent runs, the more tired she’ll get.
“You can’t always wait for them to mess up,” said the member of Conservative Congregation Beth Ami.
“Sometimes, you have to go for the winning shot yourself.”
Rubin, who hopes to continue playing in college, expects to face “really good” competition, perhaps the best players she’s ever seen.
Gigante Luft, for her part, knows the host Chileans are not as encouraging of girls’ sports as other nations, but is wary of the Brazilian and Israeli squads.
Meanwhile, San Franciscan Steven Lurie won’t have to worry about the competition in his event, the half marathon. He tore cartilage in his knee during a yoga mishap, and will instead devote himself to spurring on his teammates.
“This sounds like a great way to connect with a broader Jewish community. I just want to help the other athletes be successful and help the games be successful,” said Lurie, a 37-year-old high-tech worker who competes in the open-age division.
“My grandmother was in [the Maccabi games] many years ago, in the 1950s. I’m just looking forward to helping out.”
As for his yoga injury, Lurie isn’t sure if that’s a common occurrence, but “I hope not to find out again.”
Other local athletes headed for Chile include: David Brenner of San Jose (soccer); Nicholas Campbell of Walnut Creek (swimming); Elyse Corwin of Orinda (swimming); Joey Faber of Sunnyvale (baseball); Joshua Guterman of Fremont (baseball); Emily Harris of Piedmont (volleyball); Adam Novy of San Mateo (soccer); Jeremy Radovsky of South San Francisco (soccer) and Benjamin Weil of Hillsborough (water polo).