Feinstein to compete in Germany

Before Sami Feinstein became a seventh-grader at Costa Mesa Middle School she attended Tarbut V’Torah in Irvine.

She learned a lot about her heritage at the Jewish Day School. Now, at 22, she’s about to learn more and gain a unique experience as a U.S. women’s soccer player competing in the European Maccabi Games.

The Maccabi Games, which take place Monday through Aug. 5, will be in Berlin, Germany. During the Opening Ceremony she will walk into the same stadium as the 1936 Olympics, when Adolf Hitler declared those Games open.

“I just feel really excited,” said Feinstein, a former Costa Mesa High three-sport athlete who is entering her final season at Cal State Dominguez Hills. “I can’t wait for this opportunity and I can’t wait for this experience. It’s going to open my eyes just learning about my heritage and open my eyes to how proud I am of my Jewish heritage … I’m beyond proud to represent my country as a Jewish athlete. I got sent a bunch of gear with USA on it. I will be representing my country as a Jewish athlete. It’s going to be great.”

Feinstein has been training in New York and New Jersey this past week, before leaving for Berlin on Saturday. She said she enjoyed her time practicing and getting to her know new teammates.

Team USA is competing in the Women’s Open Division, which includes Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands vying for the gold medal.

In addition to the competition, Feinstein is looking forward to competing in the stadium where Jesse Owens won four gold medals in those 1936 Olympics. It’s also where Hitler promoted his Nazi party.

“At first I didn’t realize the magnitude of how great this event will be,” she said. “I think it’s usually held in Israel and now it’s in Berlin. There are going to be 2,000 Jewish athletes going back to Germany. I heard it’s the second largest gathering of Jews in Germany since the Holocaust. It’s pretty crazy to wrap around your head around that. I mean, it’s the venue that Hitler built. It’s crazy to think how much things have changed since that time.”

Feinstein’s father, Louie, is also making the trip to watch his daughter play. He said family from Russia will also travel to Germany to watch Sami compete.

Sami’s older sister, Kaela, attended Jewish Day School through eighth grade before enrolling at Costa Mesa High. Kaela then went to UC Santa Barbara, and eventually studied abroad, where she visited Germany and the sites where concentration camps once were during World War II.

“I have a lot of mixed emotions,” Louie Feinstein said. “I know that when I get there it’s really going to hit me … I know for Sami it will be an amazing experience … It’s a tremendous honor and Sami looks at it that way to be representing the United States.”

Sami will most likely feel nervous and anxious to compete for the U.S. team at the Maccabi Games, but that’s not to say she will hold back. She’ll be ready to deliver her aggressive play as she always does.

She’s experienced adversity and overcame challenges while at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where she suffered a serious injury during her sophomore year. She used a medical redshirt and spent a year rehabilitating from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

But she returned. This upcoming season will be her third as the Toros’ team captain. This past year, the center midfielder received the Mike Sharp Award, as the most inspirational female athlete among Cal State Dominguez athletes.

“It was definitely one of the hardest experiences I had to deal with as an athlete,” Sami said of her torn ACL. “I didn’t really deal with that many injuries. This first one kept me out for a year. It was really tough. It tested me physically and mentally. It was really challenging. Now that it’s been three years, I tell people it was one of the best but worst experiences. I grew so much as a player. I came out of it physically and mentally stronger. It helped shaped me as a leader and the person I really am. It made me realize how much I love the sport. You don’t want to take it for granted. I am a better person from it.”

Sami will have a little over a week of rest before she begins training with the Toros on Aug. 17. She wants to do her best to help Cal State Dominguez Hills rebound from a rough 2-15-1 season last year. Five of the losses were by one goal.

Sami will have a lot of time to devote to Toros’ women’s soccer. She is taking one class in her final semester at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She walked last spring as she’ll earn a degree in kinesiology. She was a scholar-athlete (a 3.0 grade-point average or higher) each year.

After college, she has a coaching job lined up with the girls’ soccer program at Windward High in Los Angeles, where she will also work with the junior high girls’ team that is also on campus.

“I want to continue on the coaching path,” Feinstein said. “I want to be in the South Bay and see where that takes me.”

Sami Feinstein is accustomed to a busy schedule from her days as a Mustang at Costa Mesa, where competed in volleyball, soccer and softball.

“I was always busy,” she said.

Competing in three sports and thriving in each helped prepare her for the future. It will also only help while in Germany and then when she later becomes a coach.

“All my experiences at Mesa, whatever sport it was it really helped with the leader I have become,” she said. “I learned so much from different coaches and it also helped me to learn to play as one with different teammates.”