Siblings Dakotah Sturla (née Mohr) and Tanner Mohr will be spending a lion’s share of the summer as members of the U.S. contingent competing in the Maccabi Games in Israel.

But the pair knows this journey is more far-reaching than an athletic endeavor.

“It will be a religiously awesome experience,” says Mohr, a 2009 graduate of Davis High who most recently has been a rugby fixture at Cal. “Both of us have always known of our Jewish faith, but were not raised (strictly).

“This trip will give us opportunities we’ve never had to (explore) our heritage. There are tours set up and I know we’ll take in everything we can.”

Sturla, a water polo wizard who earned prep All-American honors at DHS before going on to UC Davis to set some Aggie records, agrees with her younger brother.

“I’ve never been to that part of the world,” the 2007 Blue Devil Girls Athlete of the Year explains. “I’ll be stepping outside my usual comfort zone. I know we’ll see and learn a lot of things in a short amount of time.”

The games, according to American team organizers, are designed to preserve the Jewish community by “encouraging Jewish pride, strengthening Jewish bonds and creating a heightened awareness of Israel and Jewish identity.”

There are three divisions of athletics — youth, open and masters. More than 7,000 competitors from 50-plus countries will be on hand when the games officially open July 18 with ceremonies in Tel Aviv. The Maccabi (or Maccabiah) Games are behind only the Olympics and Pan American Games in number of participants.

Chatting with The Enterprise before they headed out of town last weekend, Mohr and Sturla said they came to be aware of — and qualified for — Maccabi status in very different ways.

Mohr’s roommate in Berkeley, Jared Braun, urged Mohr to get involved with the U.S. tryout process (which begin late last year in Chicago).

“Jared talked to the coach about me, but I missed (the first session),” Mohr says. “In January, there was another tryout in San Diego.”

And not just any tryout … the USA Maccabi rugby hopefuls trained with Navy SEALs:

“They were really working us out. We did a lot of drills on the beach. It was tough.”

But the Jewish squad could tell what they had in Mohr — a guy who had won two national rugby titles and played for a third in May with Cal. He was asked to go to Israel.

“There’s really good goals for me when I get there,” Mohr adds. “First is getting the U.S. a gold medal. The second? Learn more about Israel and my faith.”

The history major (he’ll graduate after one more rugby season) says there is so much to witness and absorb once overseas.

Sturla came to the games on reputation.

Aggie women’s water polo coach Jamey Wright contacted USA Maccabi coach Doug Peabody and reminded him that Sturla could be a key ingredient.

In high school, Dakotah Mohr (she’s since married Joe Sturla) scored almost 250 goals during her final two seasons and was rock-solid as an All-American at UCD. Wright’s recommendation was plenty as Peabody already knew Sturla. Last Monday and Tuesday, Sturla was at the first team workouts and was headed to Israel on Monday. Mohr flew out Saturday.

“We should be able to watch each other play,” Sturla says. “We don’t know our schedules yet, but the stadiums are fairly close to each other.”

Sturla and Mohr are the offspring of Sally and Rick Mohr and the pair have an older sister, Brittany. Like Sturla, Brittany starred on several DHS Sac-Joaquin Section championship pool teams before going on to play at Cal.

Rick Mohr played football at UCD before a professional career with stops in Green Bay, USFL and the Canadian Football League.

While Sturla and Tanner Mohr say they aren’t sure what career paths lie in wait, Sturla is positive that coaching is in her future.

“I love coaching,” Sturla explains. “I love it. Long term? Club or high school, but I’d need another job with those. College? It’s something I’ve thought about and would certainly pursue.”

For now, the focus is on slashing through the defense and finding those one-on-one moments with other countries’ goalkeepers.

For Sturla’s brother, playing lights-out defense and getting some of that Motherland dirt ground deep into his uniform (and psyche?) will do for now.

Notes: Joe Sturla is a military veteran who is a 2007 Davis High graduate. He currently attends Sacramento City College. … Dakotah has played in Australia and Canada (in the Junior Pan Am Games) for Junior National teams. Tanner was a standout football player at DHS and was on the Cal roster as a fullback — under the watchful eye of new Aggie coach Ron Gould. … These are the 19th Maccabi Games. The first were played in 1932. … Ali Reisman — a gold medal-winning American gymnast — is expected to compete in this summer’s games. In the past, sport giants like swimmer Mark Spitz, gymnast Mitch Gaylord and hoopsters Larry Brown and Dolph Schayes have been participants.

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at [email protected] or 530-747-8047.

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Former DHS standout Dakotah Mohr (now Sturla) — shown here taking a shot during her record-breaking UCD career — is off to play for the U.S. Water Polo team in this summer’s Maccabi Games. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise file photo

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Siblings Tanner Mohr, left, and Dakotah Sturla share a laugh last week as they pack for the Maccabi Games starting later this month in Israel. Mohr is part of the U.S. rugby squad, while Sturla will play on the water polo team. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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