MAI gets first female boss
AFTER more than five years in the top job, Maccabi Australia (MAI) president Harry Procel has stepped down.
AFTER more than five years in the top job, Maccabi Australia (MAI) president Harry Procel has stepped down.
MAI mainstay Lisa Borowick will take over from Procel, who has accepted a role as Australia’s head of delegation at the next Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2013.
Borowick will have big shoes to fill, with Procel an admired and respected figure at the organisation of which he has been a part for nearly 50 years.
Procel’s enormous contribution to MAI was recognised in 2010, when he became just the sixth person to receive life membership, the highest honour possible. Procel is also a life member of Maccabi Victoria after serving 18 years on the board there.
The second-longest serving president in Maccabi history, Procel said he would have remained in the job had he not won the role as Australia delegation head.
“It’s been a labour of love and I am very passionate about Jewish sport,” Procel said.
“By remaining on the board and through my involvement with Maccabi World Union as head of delegation, that allows me to continue that passion.”
Procel said he was delighted with the appointment of Borowick, saying the appointment of a woman in the presidency was “overdue”.
“I have the utmost respect for Lisa as person and as an administrator and leader. I think she’ll do a wonderful job in the presidency. She’s the first female in the presidency, which is groundbreaking in itself.”
Borowick has had experience blazing trails. She was the first woman to oversee a Maccabi Senior Carnival and recently became the first woman to be named on the Maccabi World Union’s International Sport Committee, which oversees the sports and rules for the Maccabiah Games.
In addition, Borowick has been to three Maccabiah Games in an administrative capacity, is a life member of Maccabi Victoria, and has been a board member of MAI since 2008 and held the chair for international sport as well as being the treasurer.
Borowick paid tribute to her predecessor, describing Procel as a “legend” of Maccabi.
“It goes without saying that I’m incredibly respectful of the work he’s done,” Borowick told The AJN.
“If I do half as good a job as Harry’s done, I’ll be incredibly proud of myself and the organisation will do very well.”
Borowick cited her family ties to Maccabi as a driving force behind her decision to accept the role.
“What I love about my involvement with Maccabi is that I’m a parent too. All my children play Maccabi sport, so I get to see it from the other side of the fence as well.”
ADAM KAMIEN
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