Maccabee Award - 1993

Barry Cowan joined the executive board of the Maccabee Athletic Club of Los Angeles in 1981, and was soon board chairman and the leading force behind one of the most successful youth sports programs for boys and girls in Southern California, as well as the United States.

The Maccabee Athletic Club of Los Angeles provides a platform for more than 10,000 boys and girls to participate in sports such as basketball, baseball, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and track & field. As L.A. delegation head and sports chairman, Cowan, a Fairfax High School alumnus, introduced many of these youngsters to the North American Maccabi Youth Games.

Through 1993, Los Angeles area’s 675 competitors had won more than 1,000 gold, silver and bronze medals. And from 1984 to 1993, Los Angeles youngsters set more records in both team and individual events than any other delegation, at the North American JCC Maccabi Youth Games.