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Another perfect weekend for Maccabi's Youth Division as the U17s won a derby and the U16s advanced to the next round in the State Cup

After the Under-19s' magnificent 0-7 triumph at Hapoel Haifa on Saturday, the rest of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division followed suit with wins from top to bottom. First up the Under-17s, who took on the challenge of a tricky Tel Aviv derby and emerged narrow 1-0 winners at home against Hapoel Tel Aviv on a lone second-half goal by Ran Vaturi. In so doing Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" kept up the pressure on national U17 Premier League leaders Maccabi Haifa, who lead them by a solitary point at the top of the table.

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" were the Division's only team to play a Cup tie at the weekend, facing tough opposition away at Beitar Jerusalem for a place in the last sixteen of the U16 State Cup. Until the final moments of the match it looked like head coach Shlomi Mitelka's side were headed for a 1-0 defeat, but in the final stage of the match goals by Eden Agami six minutes from time and Eden Kartsev at the final whistle ensured that Maccabi's Under-16s reached the next round of the competition.

Meanwhile back in the league, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under-15 Team 1, registered their fourth consecutive victory with a 3-0 home win against Hapoel Rishon Lezion that keeps them five points clear at the top of the nationwide U15 Central District table. In the U15 Sharon District League, Maccabi's Under-15 Team 2 won the third of their last four outings with a convincing 0-5 result at Hapoel Hadera. Gil Rahimi netted a brace, Amit Glezer, Yam Ben Yehuda and Eyal Chen scored the other three. Maccabi's Under-14 Team North also faced opposition from counterparts from Hapoel Hadera, in their case at home, and also emerged with a clean sheet, scoring four goals to no reply. Oz Bilui, Raveh Asayag Yehonatan Izen and Idan Rozenfeld were head coach Nisim Dvash's goalscorers as they dispatched Hapoel Hadera 4-0. But head coach Ori David's Under-14 team South hit the jackpot with their fifth consecutive win and the top goals total of the weekend, a 1-9 rout of municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda in the "little" derby of Tel Aviv.

On Friday the first "little" Tel Aviv derby was played out between the Under-13s of Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi's Under-13 Team North, and the result was nearly as impressive, with Maccabi emerging 0-5 winners. But certainly not to be outdone, Maccabi's Under-13 Team South hosted Ashdod FC on Saturday at the Kiryat Shalom training ground and nearly took the top goalscoring honours themselves. In the end they fell one short but kept a clean sheet in their 8-0 triumph over their southern rivals.

Another perfect weekend for Maccabi's Youth Division as the U17s won a ...

This Saturday the U19s face a challenging game at home, the U16s travel to Jerusalem for a Cup tie

For head coach Ziv Arie's Under-19s it's six straight wins and counting, plus a nine-point lead at the top of the national U19 Premier League table. This week's opponent in matchweek 18 are Hapoel Haifa, who will welcome Maccabi at their Kiryat Haim training ground for a midday kick-off that will be broadcast live on Israeli sports channel 55. Will they be team to halt the Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" title-bound juggernaut? Another Youth Division team enjoying an outstanding season are Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", the club's Under-17s. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's in-form squad will be looking to register their fifth consecutive victory when they host municipal archrivals Hapoel Tel Aviv for an intriguing derby in the early kick-off at the Kiryat Shalom training ground at 8.30am.

Amidst a weekend of league encounters one team, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", the club's Under-16s, will head to the nation's capital for an 8.30am fourth round State Cup tie against Beitar Jerusalem on their "Bayit VeGan" artificial pitch. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under-15 Team 1, will carry on with league duties in an 8.30am kick-off at Kiryat Shalom against Hapoel Rishon Lezion. Maccabi's Under-15 Team 2 will also attend to league affairs as they travel north to the Maccabi Field to face Hapoel Hadera at 11.40am.

Coincidently Maccabi's Under-14 Team North will also be facing opposition from their counterparts at Hapoel Hadera, but they'll do it as hosts at Kiryat Shalom at 10.20am. The Under-14 Team South will travel the short distance to municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda for a "little" derby at 8.30am, as will the club's Under-13 Team North, only a day earlier on Friday at 3pm. Finally, Maccabi's Under-13 Team South will welcome Ashdod FC on the artificial pitch at Kiryat Shalom on Saturday at 12.10pm.   

This Saturday the U19s face a challenging game at home, the U16s ...

Maccabi's U17s and U15 Team 1 held on to their position in the table, high drama for the club's U15 Team 2

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" maintained the status quo at the top of the national U17 Premier League table after beating Bnei Yehuda 2-0 at the Kiryat Shalom training ground, with midfielder Tomer Altman and defender Ron Gabay supplying the goals. For Altman this was his fifth goal of the season, for Gabay his second, and in two successive matches! The win keeps "Oded" in touch with U17 league leaders Maccabi Haifa, who have a point to the good.  Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under-15 Team 1, registered a handsome 0-4 away win at Hapoel Ramat Gan to hold on to the top spot in the nationwide U15 League Central District table. Rotem Ziv put the visitors ahead before the break, Tal Daon added a brace and Niv Aboutbul an individual effort in the second half.

Head coach Erez Belfer's Under-15 Team 2 provided the weekend's drama with a 3-3 home draw against Bnei Sakhnin. In this contest between two of the top-table sides of the nationwide U15 Sharon District League, Maccabi leapt to a promising 3-1 advantage in the second half courtesy of a goal by Eyal Chen and Gil Rahimi's brace. But two dramatic late goals by the visitors meant the points were shared, a disappointing end for the home side despite a result that sees them climb two places in the table.

Another close encounter was played out between Ori David's Under-14 Team South and rivals Beitar Jerusalem at Kiryat Shalom. The visitors drew first blood but a Tal Yagudaev brace turned the tie around, which ended 2-1 in Maccabi's favour. The Under-14 Team North returned from an encounter at Maccabi Herzliya with the same result, but unfortunately with Maccabi on the losing end. Maccabi's Under-13 Team South lost their away derby at Hapoel Tel Aviv's Wolfson training ground 1-0 and the Under-13 Team North lost 2-4 at home to Beitar Jerusalem.

Maccabi's U19's will look for their sixth consecutive league win against Maccabi Petach Tikva

After a handsome win away at Hapoel Rishon Lezion in their first match of the second round of the U19 Premier League, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" will return home on Saturday to Kiryat Shalom training ground to face Maccabi Petach Tikva. Head coach Ziv Arie's squad will be chasing their sixth consecutive league win in a match that starts at noon and will be broadcast live on Israeli sports channel 55. The club's Under-17s will also be hosting at Kiryat Shalom on Saturday for an early 8.30am kick-off against Bnei Yehuda. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads will also be looking to maintain their good form and remain undefeated in the 2014/15 season. The club's Under-16's have the weekend off.

The club's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", are away to Hapoel Ramat Gan at 12.30pm at their Safari playing field. Team 2 will be chasing a third consecutive victory when they host Bnei Sakhnin at 1.30pm at Kiryat Shalom with a view to inching closer to the top of the nationwide U15 League Sharon District. Maccabi's Under-14 Team North will make the short trip to face Maccabi Herzliya at the Ran Alef playing fields at 1.30pm. Both the Under-14 Team South and the Under-13 Team North will welcome their counterparts from Beitar Jerusalem, the former to Kiryat Shalom at 9am and the latter to Hadar Yosef field at 8.30am. Finally Maccabi's Under-13 Team South will copy the club's senior squad this matchweek and play a derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv at their Wolfson training ground at 8.30am.  

Maccabi's U19's will look for their sixth consecutive league win against Maccabi ...

Another victorious Saturday for Maccabi's youth teams, with the U17s and 16s leading the way

In addition to the Under-19s, who yesterday recorded their fifth consecutive win, the remainder of Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth teams also continued in good form this Saturday. The club's Under-17s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", faced a tricky away encounter with Maccabi Petach Tikva and returned home with an impressive 0-4 victory. Strikers Roy Ronen and Almog Eylon scored in the first half, defender Ron Gabay and striker Or Dasa doubled the visitors' advantage after the restart. The victory maintains the status quo at the top of the national U17 Premier League table, with "Oded" trailing leaders Maccabi Haifa by a single point.

Another important away win was booked by the club's Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs". They travelled to the nation's capital for an intriguing encounter with Beitar Jerusalem, where they left it till late on, thirteen minutes from time, to break a goalless deadlock courtesy of a Desalin Balacho goal. Not leaving anything to chance, head coach Shlomi Mitelka's team added a second, with Netanel Malka taking the credit just three minutes before the final whistle. For the Under-16s it was their twelfth victory of the season, one that left them in firm command atop the nationwide U16 League Southern District table.

The club's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", also stayed top of their nationwide U15 League Central District with a 3-0 home win against Hapoel Kiryat Ono. Niv Aboutbul, Idan Zioni and Alon Strozberg were the goalscorers as head coach Eyal Tzachi's lads went on to win their tenth victory in eleven league outings. Under-15 Team 2 head coach Erez Belfer has particular reason to smile after his team overwhelmed Maccabi Barkai away 1-7.  Shachar Eyelon scored a hat-trick, Eyal Chen a brace and Tamir Glezer and Ari Yitzhak added the other two in the one-sided rout.

Head coach Ori David's Under-14 Team South came from behind to beat Hapoel Petch Tikva 1-5 on second-half goals by Bar Cohen (hat-trick), Eden Silam and Roy Benvenisti. Head coach Nissim Dvash's Under-14s Team North also won handsomely, a 4-0 home triumph over Hapoel Ra'anana courtesy of goals by Ofir Scayek, Dan Lugasi, Raveh Asayag and Asaf Hershko. Head coach Asaf Profeta's Under-13 Team South squared off against one of the other strong sides in the nationwide U13 League Central District, Hapoel Rishon Lezion, and the result was a 3-3 draw.

Another victorious Saturday for Maccabi's youth teams, with the U17s and 16s ...

Maccabi's Youth Division teams all attend to league duties on Saturday, with the U19s and 17s already into round two

Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" finished off the first round of their national U19 Premier League matches with the wind in their sails, winning their last four matches at home and away and building a seven point lead at the top of the table. They now enter round two and will look to maintain that distance with their fifth consecutive victory, away against Hapoel Rishon Lezion at their Superland playing field at 10.45am. The club's Under-17s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", will also enter round two of the national U17 Premier League season, trailing league leaders Maccabi Haifa by a solitary point. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's squad will also be playing away, on the artificial pitch at Hapoel Petach Tikva at 12.45pm.

Maccabi's Under-16s have yet to finish their round one engagements and will travel to the country's capital on Saturday to face Beitar Jerusalem at the Bayit V'gan playing field at 10.30am. Head coach Shlomi Mitelka's lads have won ten of their first twelve league outings but still trail league leaders Maccabi Petach Tikva by one point. Nationwide U15 Central District League leaders Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under 15 Team 1, welcome Hapoel Kiryat Ono to the artificial pitch at the Kiryat Shalom training ground at 10.15am. The Under-15 Team 2 travel to Maccabi Barkai for a 2.30pm kick-off.

Maccabi's Under-14 Team South are facing a difficult away encounter at Hapoel Petach Tikva at the Moshava training ground artificial pitch at 10.30am, while the Under-14 team North host Hapoel Ra'anana at Kiryat Shalom at 8.30am. The club's Under-13 Team North will visit Ironi Modi'in at 10.30am and the Under-13 Team South play Hapoel Rishon Lezion on the artificial pitch at Kiryat Shalom at noon.

Maccabi U19 captain Dan Glazer, who was awarded a municipal scholarship, has donated the money to the club's Youth Division

A few months ago, the Tel Aviv municipality awarded scholarships to the city's outstanding coaches and players in all areas of sport. Arik Levy, sports director and coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv's academy in north Tel Aviv, was one of the recipients. Dan Glazer, captain of the club's Under-19s and member of Israel's Under-21 squad, was another.

For Levy, a twelve-year youth coach veteran at Bnei Yehuda before joining Maccabi nine years ago, coaching is just one of his occupations. Education is another – as form teacher and professional co-ordinator of both the physical education and the telecommunications programme at one of Tel Aviv's secondary schools. As part of his work in the physical education programme, Levi uses streaming in children with special educational needs as a means of instructing his pupils in the acceptance and inclusion of members of society who are "different" than themselves. In 2002 he was chosen as the outstanding teacher in that entire quarter of the city.

This week Maccabi's younger recipient, Dan Glazer, took the very unusual and generous step of donating his scholarship to the club's Youth Division, for the acquisition for a number of the Division's players of football boots of the "Adidas" brand, the official kit sponsor of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. Glazer, who just this season received the captaincy of Maccabi's Under-19s, came up through all the teams at the club's academy. This season he took his first tentative steps on the senior team and just scored his first goal last week in Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" 's 6-0 victory against Hapoel Ramat Gan.   

After last week's unexpected weather-related break, all of Maccabi's youth teams will be back in action

After seeing stormy winter weather undermine all but two of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division's scheduled matches last week, all of the teams are expected to return to league duties this Saturday. The Division's Under-19s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", were one of the two teams to soldier on last week and they did so in style, beating rivals Hapoel Ramat Gan 6-0. This Saturday they'll be playing their final match in round one of the national U19 Premier League, a tricky tie away at Netanya's Beitar Tubruk, a match that will be broadcast live on Israeli sports channel 55 starting at 11.45am. Head coach Ziv Arie has also learned of his team's opponent in the last sixteen of the U19 State Cup – a home encounter against Hapoel Haifa on February 14^th.

Much like their older counterparts, Maccabi's Under-17s will also be playing their final round-one league encounter away at Beitar Tubruk, at 9am in Netanya. Now ranked second in the national U17 Premier League, head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads will be out to finish the round unbeaten and perhaps regain the top spot in the league. The Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", will return to league duties at home against Ironi Bat Yam at 8.30am at the Kiryat Shalom training ground. Both of the club's under-15 teams will face opponents from Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad" away at Maccabi Haifa Nahalal at 12.30pm and Team 2 at home against Beitar Haifa at 12.15pm on Kiryat Shalom's artificial pitch.

Saturday's derby will be at Kiryat Shalom at 10.20am when Maccabi's Under-14 Team South face arch municipal rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Under-14 Team North will travel to Shapira Field for a tricky away tie at noon with Maccabi Netanya while the club's Under-14 Team North head south to Reiser training ground for an 11am encounter with Hapoel Beer Sheva. Maccabi's Under-13 Team North will welcome to their Hadar Yosef home Sektzia Nes Tziona for a match starting at 10.15am.

After last week's unexpected weather-related break, all of Maccabi's youth teams will ...

On Saturday Maccabi's U17s registered another victory, but the big star was the weather

Football aside, this weekend it was the stormy winter weather that stole the attention of most of the country. Apart from Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s, who won their home tie against Hapoel Ramat Gan by an impressive margin of 6-0, only the Under-17s' scheduled encounter against Hapoel Rishon Lezion at the Kiryat Shalom training ground survived the deluge. All the remaining Youth Division matches were postponed.

Despite the weather, Maccabi's Under-17s put on a convincing display to win 3-0 and maintain the status quo at the top of the national U17 Premier League. Defender Ran Vaturi opened up the scoring in the first half with his first goal as part of head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's U17 squad. Before the break striker Omer Lakao doubled Maccabi's advantage with his sixth goal of the season. Another striker, Almog Eylon, added "Oded"'s third in the dying moments of the match, his tenth of the season playing for both the club's U17 and U16 teams.

The win keeps Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" in the second spot of the national U17 Premier League, just one point behind league leaders Maccabi Haifa. 

On Saturday Maccabi's U17s registered another victory, but the big star was ...

On Saturday Maccabi's Youth Division teams will have their eyes set on advancing in the State Cup competition

After opening up a four-point lead at the top of the national U19 Premier League, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" will take time out this Saturday to turn their attention to State Cup duties. Their first tie will be a home encounter at 11.30am at the Kiryat Shalom training ground against Hapoel Jerusalem, one of the leading sides in the U19 second division Southern District title race. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", the club's Under-17s, have already begun their run in State Cup competition. After successfully reaching the second round, head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's charges will now face fellow U17 Premier League opponents Maccabi Petach Tikva at 10.45am in a tricky away tie for a ticket to the third round. Like the Under-19s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", the club's Under-16s, will have their maiden encounter in the competition when they travel to the "Safari" football ground in neighbouring Ramat Gan to face fellow league compatriots Hapoel Ramat Gan at 11am.

The Under-15 State Cup competition is already entering the round of the last sixteen, and both of Maccabi's teams, "Eldad" and Team 2, are still firmly in the race. Both teams will be on the road this Saturday, "Eldad" at Maccabi Kfar Yona at 9am and Team 2 at Hapoel Nazareth Elite Jezreel Valley at 1.30pm.

Into the third round are Maccabi's Under-14 Team South, who attempt to reach round four at the expense of Maccabi Emek Heffer on Saturday at 9am on the artificial pitch at the Kiryat Shalom. The Under-14 Team North on the other hand will play away to fellow U14 Sharon District League competitors Maccabi Herzliya at 10.45am. The club's Under-13 Team South will enter their State Cup fray in round three when they host Hapoel Mata Asher on Kiryat Shalom's artificial pitch at 11am. Maccabi's Under-13 Team North will make the short journey to Herzliya for a chance to advance to their State Cup competition's last sixteen, facing Maccabi Herzliya at 1.30pm.

Other matches:

Under-12 Team North – Hapoel Tel Aviv (Hadar Yosef, 9am)

Under-12 Team South – Hapoel Kfar Saba (Kiryat Shalom, 1pm)

Under-11 Team South – Maccabi Netanya (Kiryat Shalom, 8.30am)

Under-11 Team North – Hapoel Mata Asher (Hadar Yosef, 11am)     

On Saturday Maccabi's Youth Division teams will have their eyes set on ...