Category: News
The Future Keeper: Open Day at the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Academy
On December 18th the Maccabi Academy will hold open an training day for goalkeepers from throughout the country. The Youth Department will see which keepers will impress and those who do will be invited for trials with the various teams in the Academy.
To register for the Goalkeeper training day please fill in the form by emailing iainy@mtafc.com
The professional staff will also take part in this special day as will the goalkeeping coaches of the youth department teams including the head goalkeeping coach Israel Ainy who is responsible for the Academy’s Goalkeeper Department. The Under-19 squad’s keepers will also take part in the day’s activities.
A keeper who impresses the staff will be invited to the Academy for trials to see if they can join one of Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth department teams. Along with keepers who are interested in attending the open training day, amateur keepers as well as professional keepers are also welcome to participate from across the country.
Throughout the day there will be specific training for keepers by age group according to the philosophy of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Academy. There will also be various goalkeeper competitions and prizes for the most outstanding keepers.
The open training day will take place on December 18th (should there be an overwhelming response a second day will be added on December 19th).
Time: 11:00-16:00 (the full schedule will be published soon)
Goalkeeper ages Boys – 8-16
Goalkeeper ages Girls – 10-12
Please fill in the following details and email them to: iainy@mtafc.com
1. Full Name
2. Sex M/F
3. Birthdate
4. Height/weight and glove size
5. How many years have you been playing as a keeper?
6. Are you currently registered as an active player on a team?
If you are a keeper from another club that would like to participate in the goalkeeping day you must have an approval from your club that you are allowed to participate in the open day.
7. Mobile phone number, parents number, address, email
Medical consent:
Active player – please attach a current medical consent form to the email
Players on trial, amateurs etc… – please attach a medical consent form from your family doctor.
Date
Parent signature
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World Children’s Day at the Maccabi Foundation
In honor of World Children’s Day, the Maccabi Foundation made sure to find a way to mark the day as international as possible for a youngster from the United States. Michoel Yosef Beyderman from Brooklyn, New York came to Israel for his Bar Mitzvah and especially wanted to celebrate this special event with a trip to Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The MTAFC Foundation helped surprise the 13-year old with a chance to meet some of the Yellow & Blue stars from around the world including Nick Blackman from England, Tino Susic from Bosnia, goalkeeper coach Shura Uvarov who is originally from Russia, Daniel Lifshitz born in Sweden, Israeli Or Dasa Israel and of course Aaron Schoenfeld, Maccabi’s resident American.
After meeting the players, Beyderman took part in a Foundation trial and after passing his test with flying colors came to the Maccabi office’s to sign a special Lifetime Contract with the Foundation as a Good Deeds Ambassador and was presented with an official match jersey with his name and number.
Upon signing with the Foundation, Beyderman commented:
“I’m very happy to have joined the Maccabi Foundation and I want to thank my parents for raising me well. I’m looking forward to excelling in all of the challenges ahead of me.”
He also spoke about the importance of helping others and becoming a better person:
“My goal in life is to help people and give them the opportunities that I have been given. I enjoyed learning how to be a better person and footballer thanks to the Maccabi Foundation.”
Marking his Bar Mitzvah in Israel:
“Israel is the holiest place and the best part about visiting Israel for my Bar Mitzvah is that I am with my people.”
Maccabi Foundation Driver’s License Project for Lone Soldiers
Last season the Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Foundation began programing for Lone Soldiers in the IDF and have now moved into high gear, literally, as a brand new Driver’s License Project is underway together with The Lone Soldier Center – In Memory of Michael Levin.
What is the importance of obtaining a driver’s license? In today’s world, a driver’s license is one of the basic necessities in order for one to be able to function and obtain employment. For a Lone Soldier who is just being released from the army, it’s a step that will help open up doors for them in the job market.
Head of the Maccabi Foundation Josh Halickman explained: “It’s critical to have a driver’s license in today’s day and age in order to make a living. This project will help the Lone Soldiers increase their chances in obtaining employment and also aid them in reintegrating into society.”
One of the Lone Soldiers who is participating in the program spoke about its importance: “This is something that extremely helpful. A drivers’ license is so important today as it gives a person the independence they need to succeed after the army.”
Lone Soldiers are comprised of a number of populations. Half come from foreign countries while the other half grew up in Israel but for one reason or another are not in touch with their families.
Honorable representatives of the Youth Department at the ECA Conference
The Third ECA (European Club Association) Youth Conference successfully took place last week at the Allianz Arena, home to FC Bayern München. Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Performance Director, Patrick van Leeuwen participated in the conference and made a presentation about the Club’s Football Academy to the 123 representatives from different clubs. ECA, committed to the continued development of youth football at European football clubs and, in accordance with its key pillar of knowledge sharing, provided the opportunity for ECA Member Club representatives to gather and discuss best practice and quality areas for improvement at professional youth academies across the continent.
Following the ECA Youth Academy Study, the biggest ever survey conducted by ECA with 123 participating clubs, the key findings from this study were presented to ECA Member Clubs in attendance. The study, initiated by the ECA Youth Academies Task Force, a specialized Task Force comprising of representatives from FC Schalke 04, Everton FC, Olympiacos FC, RSC Anderlecht, FK Crvena Zvezda, Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, Aalborg BK, and Juventus, was developed with the aim of outlining a set of common good practices for youth academies at European football clubs. In turn, the ECA Youth Conference provided the perfect platform to present the resulting 12 Professional Youth Academy Quality Areas to attending ECA Member Clubs.
In addition to the presentations, there were also important panels and discussions dealing with the following topics: “Strategic Importance,” location and financial accountability of youth academy management. Another topic that was discussed was “recognizing talents,” with the goal to increase professionalism in recruiting young players. Another important element that was discussed was Cognitive therapy, encouraging youth departments to deal with the world of football and academic studies at the same time.
In general, the conference dealt with different topics connected to football and youth departments and the essence of the differences in the youth academies in different countries in Europe.
A winning combination: Nivea hosts Maccabi
The Maccabi Tel Aviv players, staff and CEO Ben Mansford visited the Alpa Cosmetics, the importer of Nivea to Israel and one of the club’s sponsors. During the event, the Maccabi representatives heard about the products of the leading skincare and grooming company in the world.
After a warm welcome, the players and staff continued to the showroom where they heard about Nivea’s special and unique products.
Ronen Shamir, the owner of Alpa Cosmetics said: “This event opens an important week for the team. We are hosting Maccabi so that they will get to know the Nivea brand better. Nivea works with many of the biggest clubs in the world including Real Madrid, Paris St. Germain, Milan and Liverpool. Nivea selects the club’s that they feel most connected to in each country based on values and sports values. We have worked together with Maccabi since 2002 and we are very happy to host the team and introduce our new line of shaving, washing and grooming products.”
“Grooming products for men have taken an important share in the cosmetics market in recent years,” added Shamir, “In the past, families bought family soaps but today there are soaps for men, soaps for women and the market for the Nivea For Men line is very well developed. The players themselves use our products and really love them. This has been true for many years and they are very satisfied with them.”
During the event, Maccabi CEO, Ben Mansford spoke and directed his words to Shamir: “Thank you for your continued support for the club. Like I said at the beginning of the season, we will only succeed if we all work together, the fans, the players, the staff and the sponsors. In the name of everyone at Maccabi thank you for your continued support and cooperation over the years.”
Golasa: “I’m hungry to return. I hope that I’ll be back next match”
Eyal Golasa hopes to return to the pitch very soon as he has been recovering from an injury. The Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder along with his teammates visited the Alpa Cosmetics headquarters, the importer of Nivea products to Israel and spoke about himself as well as the club:
“We’re happy to be at this event and we all love the Nivea products which we frequently use. It’s great to be here. I’m feeling much better and I’ve been able to train normally. I hope that I’ll be back next match. We’re working hard in order to play well and that’s something that we’re obligated to do.”
About his injuries:
“Last season’s injury was a broken foot which was unavoidable and that’s what happened to me again now. I was eager to return, but I hurt my recovery process because I tried to come back earlier than I should have. What can I do, this is the type of game that I play; I play hard. I’m hungry to return. We all need to play together a bit more and work on a few things in order to improve our game and I believe that you’ll see this already over the next few matches.”
Battle for the league title:
“We may not have started out well this season but we are still Maccabi. I don’t think that there is a team that plays any better than we do. I’m sure that we’ll still have our say and I’m not worried about it.”
The recent results:
“Our recent results that weren’t great is something that we think about each and every day. We have nothing to hide. We’re talking amongst ourselves about how we have to play better which is something we really want to do, especially for all of our fans and especially for the club.”
The future:
“I’m happy here and coming to Maccabi is the best thing that happened to me. I’m thrilled every day that I’m here.”
About the Slavia Prague match on Thursday:
“I’ll go to Netanya right now in order to wait to play in the match. Head Coach Jordi Cruyff will decide if I’ll play, but thank God I’m healthy.”
Looking ahead to Hapoel Haifa:
“Hapoel Haifa has played some excellent contests up until now. We will prepare for the match like we do for every other regular season match and we’ll try to bring home the best possible result.”
