{"id":15524,"date":"2011-11-16T05:55:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-16T13:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=15524"},"modified":"2011-11-16T06:09:14","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T14:09:14","slug":"maccabi-canada-player-profile-mark-bendahan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/?p=15524","title":{"rendered":"Maccabi Canada Player Profile – Mark Bendahan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Mark 'Bender' Bendahan<\/figcaption><\/figure>From the Maccabi Canada website, cap tip, Blair Setford<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s note:Maccabi Canada will be joining two teams from the USA, along with several other countries in a Christmas week tournament in Brazil.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

MCS Player Profile \u2013 Mark Bendahan<\/strong>
\nBY DAN BERLIN <\/em><\/p>\n

\nName: Mark Bendahan
\nPosition(s): Pitcher, First Base
\nTeam: Maccabi Canada Softball, Men\u2019s Fastpitch
\nNumber: 13
\nNickname: \u201cBender\u201d<\/p>\n

Maccabi Experience: 6 Games \u2013 1985 (Silver), 1989 (Silver), 1993 (Gold), 1997 (Gold), 2007 (Gold, Masters), 2011
\n____________________________________________<\/p>\n

An original member of the Maccabi softball movement in Israel in 1985, Mark Bendahan has spent the past 25+ years dedicated to Canada, Israel, and the sport he loves to play. Bender\u2019s Maccabi accomplishments include three gold medals and two silver medals for Canada over the course of his illustrious career.<\/p>\n

After losing the inaugural gold medal game to the U.S. in 1985 (softball was first introduced as an exhibition sport at the \u201981 Maccabi Games, prior to becoming an official sport four years later), and falling again to the Americans in the final in 1989, Bendahan and Canada finally broke through in 1993, a victory \u2013 and experience \u2013 that resonates with Bendahan to this very day.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy greatest accomplishment would probably be winning the gold medal in \u201993,\u201d said Bendahan. \u201cI remember distinctively, the first thing I did was pick up the phone to call my wife. I was balling like a baby. After losing two tough ones in \u201985 and \u201989 we didn\u2019t know if we\u2019d ever pull one off. Finally we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bendahan and Team Canada, 1993 Gold Medallists
\nDespite of all of Bender\u2019s softball successes, including his time with the World Champion Toronto Gators in the early 90?s, there\u2019s nothing he holds more dearly than the time spent, and friends made, during his time participating in Maccabiah. \u201cFor me, it was playing in Israel, in the homeland, playing against fellow Jews from all over the world,\u201d said Bendahan. \u201cIt\u2019s a special time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seemingly ageless Bendahan continues to defy both father time and opposing batters, as he currently prepares to participate in his sixth Maccabi Games this December, as a player\/coach for Canada at the upcoming Pan-Am Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he\u2019ll proudly be playing alongside his son, Josh, for the first time in international competition.<\/p>\n

On-field successes aside, those who have played with him, and against him, will both agree; you\u2019d be hard pressed to find a classier competitor than Bender, a guy who played the game the way it\u2019s supposed to be played. On his legacy: \u201cYou just want to be remembered that you gave it everything you had when you were out on the field,\u201d said Bendahan. \u201cThat you were a sportsman, who respected your competition, and did the best you could.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Bendahan, who\u2019s proudly worn #13 throughout his playing days, it\u2019s clear that Maccabi Canada Softball has been \u201clucky\u201d to have him.<\/p>\n

Click here for the original story at the Maccabi Canada website.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Maccabi Canada website, cap tip, Blair Setford Editor’s note:Maccabi Canada will be joining two teams from the USA, along with several other countries in a Christmas week tournament in Brazil. MCS Player Profile \u2013 Mark Bendahan BY DAN BERLIN Name: Mark Bendahan Position(s): Pitcher, First Base Team: Maccabi Canada Softball, Men\u2019s Fastpitch Number: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"category-international","9":"category-players","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15524"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15532,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15524\/revisions\/15532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}