The Israeli Foundation for Athletic Excellence held a special ceremony at Maccabi Tel Aviv's Kiryat Shalom training ground

In collaboration with the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division, the Israeli Foundation for Athletic Excellence held today a special ceremony at Kiryat Shalom training ground, presenting scholarships to four athletes associated with ILAN, the Israeli Association for Handicapped Children, and four young players from Maccabi's Youth Division.

The foundation was established by Yoram Danziger in memory of his late father Michael (Mopi) Danziger, a former Supreme Court judge. Mr Danziger granted the scholarships to the eight worthy young athletes. Youth Division Manager Ariel Avraham spoke at the awards ceremony along with the first team Sports Director Jordi Cruyff and representatives of the MTA senior squad, sheran Yieni, Barak Itzhaki and Gal Alberman

The youngest footballer in the MTA Youth Division to receive a scholarship was Sam Twina, who plays for the Division's Under-10s'. David Dego and Roy Sasson were the under-14s representatives, and Assaf Sofer is the oldest a member from the Under-15s' team who was awarded with the scholarship. All these youngsters were chosen for their high levels of motivation, their determination and their excellence as athletes on the football pitch.

 

In the Maccabi Youth Division's latest community service activity, some fifty youngster from Israel's Ethiopian community were guests at Kiryat Shalom

As Israel continues its celebration of the Jewish Passover with school and work holidays, the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division are taking no time off from their community service programme. As an outcome of the growing and ever warmer ties and collaboration between the Division and the Immigrant Absorption Centre in nearby Or Yehuda, some 50 youngsters aged twelve to seventeen from the town's Ethiopian community today came to visit Maccabi's Kiryat Shalom training ground at the Youth Division's expense.

Highlight of the visit was a showcase match played against the Division's Under-13 Team South, but the young visitors were treated to an exceptional experience both before and after the game as well. They were first given a guided tour of the Kiryat Shalom facilities before donning proper kit and making their way to the complex's eastern playing field for their match against Maccabi's Under-13s. The game was divided into three parts and proved to be a competitive but sportsmanlike affair, with the Ethiopian youngsters demonstrating a considerable level of footballing skill. When it was over the lads all shook hands and after recovering from their efforts, the visitors were treated to refreshments that awaited them in the touchline. The day brought smiles to all involved and was rounded off with a special ceremony during which the youngsters were presented with gifts on behalf of the club before boarding their coaches for the return trip to Or Yehuda.

 

 

 

Five of Maccabi's U19s joined in a unique showcase match at the Israel Sport Centre for the Disabled in Ramat Gan

Last night a very special meeting took place between the Youth Division of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club and the "Spivak" Sport Centre for the Disabled in Ramat Gan. The "Spivak" Centre is designed to answer the functional needs, both physical and social, of disabled people throughout the centre of Israel and does service as both a sports and a social framework. Only days before the Jewish festival of Purim, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division were invited to visit the centre and meet Israel's national wheelchair rugby team. Representing the division were five players from the club's Under-19s: Captain Dan Glazer, Idan Yogev, Sahar Hason, Yonatan Cohen and Eliad Graf. They were joined by the Division's football director Nir Levin and educational consultant Chen Abdu.

Highlight of the evening was a showcase match with Israel's national wheelchair rugby team. Beforehand Mr Levin welcomed the collaboration between Maccabi and the Centre for the Disabled, and the U19 squad members presented token gifts and special Maccabi Tel Aviv gift items to their counterparts from the national wheelchair rugby team. In recognition of the upcoming Purim holiday, educational consultant Chen Abdu presented the centre with a traditional Purim gift food package, put together by Youth Division players themselves.

Since the 2000 paralympic games in Sydney, Australia, wheelchair rugby has been one of the sports included in the competition's programme, the objective being to get the ball beyond the opponent's goal line for a try. Before the match the Maccabi youngsters received detailed instructions on how to play from the national team's players and then were given the opportunity to get used to manoeuvring the wheelchairs before getting on with the game. Despite their upcoming busy fixture schedule, including a mid-week derby in the quarter finals of the U19 State Cup competition, the Maccabi Under-19s proved enthusiastic and engaged competitors. In the end they failed in their attempts to score a try but at the final whistle there was a discernible feeling of camaraderie and of course smiles all around.

Maccabi's educational consultant Chen Abdu summed things up: "Bonds with the community are extremely important to us. Equally important is that our young players are exposed to the experiences of others by making acquaintance with institutions like this one. Activities like the ones held today contribute not only to us but to the institutions themselves as well. Our goal is to make the participants at our Youth Division not only better players, but better human beings as well, who accept the differences that exist between people and at the same time understand those difference too. This day at the "Spivak" Centre is the latest in a series of activities designed to infuse our youngsters with those values we as a club aspire to, like patience, tolerance and mutual respect".   

 

Members of the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad paid a visit to Tel Aviv's "Safra" Children's Hospital to bring a bit of Hanukkah festival light into the lives of the young residents. Carlos Garcia: "A child's smile is a gift"

In a gesture that has already become a club tradition, members of the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad were guests this afternoon at the children's section of Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv. As in recent years, this year too local Maccabi stars – captain Sheran Yeini, Yoav Ziv, Dor Micha and Barak Levi – packed up scarves, caps and presents and set out to brighten up the faces of the children in the various wings of the hospital. Two foreign players, Carlos Garcia and Nicola Mitrovic, went along too and got their first taste of the glowing holiday spirit that is the true meaning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Joined by first team manager Benny Tabak, the six Maccabi stars began their tour with a visit to the psychiatric ward and from there visited every ward in the hospital, devoting attention to every single child along the way. But with all due respect to the players, the real star of the show was "Maccabino", whose presence won the immediate and enthusiastic attention of everyone the Maccabi Tel Aviv mascot encountered. And not just from the children. Even the doctors and nurses present found it difficult to resist the urge to join in on the fun and get their pictures taken with Maccabi's most fun-loving representative.

"This is one of the best things we can do as football players", said Maccabi's Spanish defender Carlos Garcia about the visit. "If our visit can help these children forget their woes, even for a moment, it's absolutely the best thing we can do for them and for their families. One smile from a child is the greatest gift we could possibly receive, and the smiles on the faces of their family members tell you just how important our visit was to them as well".  Team captain Sheran Yeini added: "I really enjoy coming here every year, it's a great gift to the children and to be quite honest, it's a great gift to us as well. Seeing the children so happy and smiling and feeling good, well, it makes us feel good too".

This traditional hospital visit was arranged in co-operation with the voluntary supporters association "Achim Besemel", who continue to take the lead in providing a connection between Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and the community as a whole. Representatives of the association were also present to hand out traditional Hanukah spinning tops called "dreidels" or "savivonim" and to accompany the Maccabi players throughout their entire visit. The association will continue their activities throughout the Hanukkah holiday, which begins on Wednesday evening, and are expected to visit "Ha'emek" hospital in the north and Soroka hospital in the south of the country in the course of the week. Maccabi fans who are interested in participating in the association's activities and getting more information are invited to go to the association's Facebook page "Achim Lesemel".       

 

 

Maccabi Tel Aviv players, together with "Achim LaSemel", visited the Tel HaShomer rehabilitative hospital

Four Maccabi Tel Aviv players – Captain Shiran Yeini, Gal Alberman, Rafi Dahan and Eli Zizov – paid a special visit to the Tel Hashomer hospital for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, along with two representatives of "Achim LaSemel", an organisation of team fans volunteering for the community.  The players met with patients in the various wards and gave out a Maccabi Tel Aviv scarf and hat, along with traditional holiday doughnuts.  The players were accompanied and helped by Henry Avital, an exemplary Maccabi fan who attends every home game despite having been confined to a wheelchair ever since sustaining injuries in the first Lebanese war.

The players visited as many wards as possible, including the therapeutic pool and physical therapy ward, giving out doughnuts and gifts to all comers.  The patients, some of whom are fans – youngsters, soldiers and adults alike – were surprised and excited to see the Maccabi Tel Aviv players.  The scarves and hats, as well as the doughnuts, were generously donated by Said Abulafia of the Abulafia Bakery on Ibn Gvirol St. in Tel Aviv.

Gal Alberman offered his take on the visit: "We're trying to make a contribution that goes beyond our daily routines. We know how hard it is for these people but we'd like to bring them some good cheer.  It was important to wish them a happy holiday, health and success in their recovery and we hope that in doing so we managed to help them a bit.  You can't compare our injuries to what the patients here go through.  It sounds like a cliché, but seeing the people here really does put life in perspective".

This is not Shiran Yeini's first visit to the hospital as a Maccabi Tel Aviv player: "I've been to many hospitals in recent years, people respond to it and are pleased by these visits.  There were soldiers here and a casualty from the Burgas terrorist attack, as well as others who face this life day after day and it is great to be able to come here and bring them joy".

 

 

 

 

Together with the "Pitchon" charity organisation, Maccabi Tel Aviv players helped to prepare parcels of special holiday meals for the needy

This morning (Tuesday), Maccabi Tel Aviv stars Rade Prica, Yagil Biton and Tomer Chencinski came to Rishon Lezion to help the "Pitchon" charity organisation prepare special holiday parcels for needy families. The distribution of these parcels became, in the hands of "Pitchon", an event of joy and celebration, with activities and music, all designed to imbue the participants with feelings of good cheer and hope for the holiday season. In all, some 5,000 parcels were distributed at this festive event.

Rade Prica, in the midst of assisting with the activities, said: "I enjoy helping people and supporting everyone who needs help, it's something all of us should be doing". Yagil Biton added: "It's wonderful to give of yourself for those people who are in need of this help".

The "Pitchon-Lev" organisation was established in 1998 to help families and young people trapped in the cycle of poverty in Israel. They have two main centres, one in Carmiel and one in Rishon Lezion, and provide each month some 4,000 family food baskets, articles of clothing and shoes and other services including legal aid and emotional support services to the needy.

 

 

 

 

Members of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19 squad came to the Tel Aviv community complex Beit Dani to participate in a special festive candle-lighting ceremony for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah

As part of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club's ongoing commitment to the community, the Youth Division jumped at the opportunity to help one of Tel Aviv's more underprivileged communities to celebrate the festive Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Under-19 squad members Daniel Gretz and Maxim Gretchkin arrived at Beit Dani, a large community service complex in Tel Aviv's "Tikva" neighbourhood, and celebrated the lighting of the holiday's seventh night candles with the centre's neediest visitors: the elderly, the poor and those neighbourhood residents unfortunate enough to have no family to celebrate the festival with. Together with the Youth Divison's educational advisor Chen Abdu, the young players handed out gifts of sweets that all the children of the Youth Division had collected in honour of the holiday.

In addition the youthful footballers visited Avraham Avraham, holocaust survivor and Maccabi Tel Aviv fan with whom the club have maintained close relations over the past two years. He served in the Jewish Brigade during the Second World War and also helped illegal immigrants to reach Israel during the period of the British Mandate. Avraham also served in Israel's post-independence army and received no less than six medals for his bravery. Every since hearing of Avraham's personal history and his difficult economic circumstances, the club have been sending him each month a parcel containing basic daily needs.  

 

Players of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division brought Purim cheer to elder citizens at their club at the Beit Dani community centre

In the framework of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division's service to the community programme, three of the Division's goalkeepers yesterday visited the elder citizens club in an ongoing partnership with Tel Aviv's "Tikva" neighbourhood community centre, Beit Dani. After Under-19 squad members visited the centre last December for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, yesterday it was the turn of three of the Division's goalkeepers, all of whom play for different teams. Under-17 and Israel goalkeeper Haviv Ohayon, Under-15 goalkeeper Ofir Twig and Under-11 goalkeeper Gal Twig all arrived at the centre with a representative of the Maccabi Tel Aviv volunteer community service group "Achim Lesemel" to distribute traditional parcels of treats and bring festive Purim cheer to all the residents. As a token of their appreciation for the club's contribution, the residents in return presented the delegation with a present of their own – a yellow cushion with the club's emblem which they had embroidered on their own.

 

 

 

 

 

MTA players spent their day off visiting wounded Israeli soldiers in three hospitals

For players of Maccabi Tel Aviv, a day off on Thursday meant an opportunity to visit with Israeli soldiers wounded in the current conflict in the south of the country.  This morning team members Yuval Shpungin and Moshe Lugassi travelled south to Beer Sheva's "Soroka" hospital, where they did their best to bring a bit of cheer to the soldiers being treated there. They were joined by an additional Maccabi representative, assistant coach Kobi Alfasi, himself currently serving in the reserves called in during the fighting. In the afternoon, team-mates Yoav Ziv and Gal Alberman were closer to home at Petah Tikva's "Belinson" hospital and towards evening fellow squad members Dor Micha and Barak Itzhaki visited "Asaf Harofeh" hospital near Rishon Lezion.  

All of the players at the various hospitals made the rounds of the wards, taking time to encourage the wounded soldiers and bring smiles to their faces, and handing out gifts compliments of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. A particularly touching moment occurred at Soroka hospital, where the assistant director related that one of the soldiers requested to have his room decorated with Maccabi Tel Aviv scarves. The Maccabi players asked to visit his room and the encounter was a very emotional one for both the soldier himself and his entire family.  

 

During half time at last (Saturday) night's home match against Hapoel Acre, Maccabi Tel Aviv held a ceremony to mark the 95^th birthday of Baruch Ezrati, who for fifty long years was director of the club's Youth Division. To this day, Baruch follows the games of the Youth Division teams every Saturday and attends every senior team home match. Ezrati was accompanied at the moving ceremony by his two great grandchildren and received a gift on behalf of the club from sports director Jordi Cruyff.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club wish Baruch Ezrati health, happiness and all the joy in the world from his family.