Ithaca’s Bernstein named Team USA head coach for Maccabiah

Rich Bernstein has accomplished a lot as a track and field coach. He led the Ithaca High School track and field program for over three decades before joining Tompkins Cortland Community College as its cross-country assistant coach in 2018. Next year, he’ll add Team USA junior track and field head coach to his resume as he was selected to lead the junior track and field team at the 2022 Maccabiah World Games in Israel.

The Maccabiah Games occur the year following the summer Olympics and are a similar competition among Jewish and Israeli athletes. Bernstein was the assistant coach for the Team USA juniors, which consists of athletes 18 and under, during the 2017 Games. He made a good impression there, as conversations regarding him being elevated to head coach began several months ago prior to the official announcement earlier this month.

Due to COVID-19, there will be a five-year gap between the Games rather than the usual four this time around. Bernstein recalled his experience as an assistant coach in 2017.

“It’s eye-opening because you have to meet 20 to 25 kids you don’t really know,” Bernstein said. “My career is kind of building relationships with kids, so you have to build it really fast. You’re there for a long time. You’re there for three weeks. More than a week of it is just a cultural immersion thing. You’re up at 6 [a.m.]. You’re visiting historic sites. You’re meeting with people. Not a lot of training’s going on. Then, you get into the running part.”

It was a successful trip the first time around for Bernstein, as Team USA took home 30 medals in track and field. Understandably, he was impressed by the talent of the athletes who were representing the country.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Bernstein said. “What I found out last time was that the athletes that we get are really good. At least half a dozen of them are running Division I right now. They’re seniors in college. The talent level is really high. You feel like, ‘I don’t want to blow it for them.’ So, you’re kind of working with the training that they do on their own with their own coaches and tailoring that for each athlete.”

While winning medals is fun, the cultural immersion that Bernstein mentioned earlier led to great memories for both him and the athletes.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. “The things you read about from when you were a little kid, you get to see them, the historic sites. You go to Jerusalem and go to the Western Wall. You go out into the desert. It’s just absolutely amazing. It’s also great because you get to watch the kids react to it too. As a coach and as an adult, you kind of have to be a little cool about it. But to see them get that excited about it, it’s just very special to see.”

Now the roster-building process is underway for Bernstein, and challenges have presented themselves due to COVID-19.

“Kids applied late, and many states didn’t have any meets at all,” he said. “We get a lot of kids from California, and their season really didn’t happen in the spring. We don’t do tryouts like the Olympic Trials. It’s kind of looking at what times and distances and throws that the kids do on their own and picking out if this kid can compete at a world level kind of thing. It’s getting there, but it’s definitely been slower than it was the last time.”

The plan is to have the roster selected by October, then the training process will begin. With athletes all over the nation, Bernstein will be using his remote coaching experience that he gained last year as the Tompkins Cortland cross-country assistant coach before meeting the team in Israel.

Bernstein has had an excellent career that has led him to both the Ithaca High School Hall of Fame and Section IV Hall of Fame. Being a head coach for Team USA at the Maccabiah Games outdoes all of his accomplishments in his mind.

“To be blessed with a head coaching job when I’m going to be 70 this year, it’s a great way to cap off a career and it’s a total honor,” Bernstein said. “It’s kind of corny, but when you put that USA gear on and you walk into the opening ceremonies with 30,000 people in the stands, it sends chills up your spine. To know that I’m a head coach in all this is kind of overwhelming when I think about it, so I don’t think about it too much yet.”

Bernstein is considering retiring from coaching upon returning from Israel next year. An experience coaching Team USA is a perfect opportunity to go out on top in regard to his coaching career.