Hakoah Soccer Team to Be Honored at Dinner Before Its Departure

The Hakoah Soccer Team, the Jewish eleven which had many spectacular triumphs on its American tour, will be the recipient of many honors before its departure for Vienna next Wednesday.

Three awards will be conferred upon the Jewish eleven and the president of the club, Dr. Ignaz H. Koerner, at a farewell dinner at the Pennsylvania Hotel, being tendered to the Hakoah on Tuesday, June 1, the eve of their departure.

Benny Leonard, American lightweight champion, is chairman of the arrangements committee. Mayor James J. Walker, Mrs. Alfred E. Smith, Senator Royal S. Copeland and Mayor W. Freeland Kendrick are honorary chairmen. The Hon. Joseph V. Mckee is honorary vice-chairman.

The awards to be conferred on the akoah are two silver cups, one which will be presented by Mr. Emanuel Neumann on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, and the other which will be presented by Dr. Frederick Fischerauer on behalf of the Austrian government. The Sportsmanship Brotherhood will award the members of the team emblems of sportsmanship and will present to the Hakoah Sport Club of Vienna the first charter of membership in the Sportemanship Brotherhood awarded to a sport organization abroad.

Among the speakers will be Dr. Stephen S. Wise. Mrs. Alexander Kohut. Dr. Henry Moscowitz, Dr. G. Randolph Manning, Vladimir Jabotinsky, and Benny Leonard. Madam Isa Kramer will sing.

“I am interested in the Hakoah,” Benny Leonard said to a representative of the “Jewish Daily Bulletin,” “because the Hakoah has by its skill gained the admiration, not only of Jews, but of sport circles in every part of the world and earned for the Jewish name a reputation in a field in which anti-Semites have declared the Jew to be inferior.

“I am proud of the Hakoah. The Hakoah proves to me that there is no walk of life in which the Jew cannot keep pace.

“The time will come, I am sure, when the Hakoah will be permitted to participate in the Olympic games, where the Jew will show the world that he is capable of accepting the challenge of any other nation. The Hakoah has thrilled me and I do not doubt that it has thrilled the heart of every young Jew in every part of this country. I am convinced that the achievement of the Hakoah will be a stimulation to the Jewish youth in this country to emulate the example of the Vienna sport club and to apply themselves to sports to a much greater degree than they have done.

“I am looking forward with expectation to hearing the story Dr. I. H. Koerner, the founder and president of the Hakoah, will tell at the dinner in honor of the team. From the lips of the man who is responsible for the existence of the Hakoah, the American public will for the first time hear the romantic story of the founding of the first Jewish sport club in the world and how, despite all difficulties and handicaps, the Hakoah has gone from one victory to another.

“I have sincere admiration for Dr. Koerner. It is due to his devotion, tireless efforts and manifold sacrifices that the Hakoah has become such a success. I hope that we will see him and the Hakoah in the United States next year.” Mr. Leonard declared.