{"id":44161,"date":"2025-08-05T01:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44161\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T01:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:26:10","slug":"playing-from-behind-israeli-flag-football-draws-up-a-hail-mary-for-olympic-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44161\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing from behind, Israeli flag football draws up a Hail Mary for Olympic kick-off"},"content":{"rendered":"

With flag football set to make its debut at the 2028 Olympic Games, Israel\u2019s national teams have their eyes on competing in the inaugural tournament on the world\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

But with the United States as the host country automatically qualifying in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions, that leaves only five spots for the rest of the world in each six-team tournament \u2014 making the road to the Olympics quite the challenge for the blue-and-white.<\/p>\n

As of now, the Israeli men\u2019s team is ranked eighth in the world. The women\u2019s team ranks 17th.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re aiming at 2028, so we have to pour everything into our men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams for now,\u201d says Steve Leibowitz, co-founder and president of American Football in Israel (AFI).<\/p>\n

For Leibowitz, reaching the Olympics would be the ultimate achievement after promoting the sport in Israel for over four decades. In 1988, Leibowitz co-founded American Touch Football in Israel. What began as a grassroots project has since evolved into AFI \u2014 a nationwide flag football program with multiple tackle and flag leagues for men and women, over 2,000 players, and dozens of certified coaches and trained referees.<\/p>\n

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Flag football is just what it sounds like \u2014 a fast-paced, non-contact version of American football in which, instead of tackling a player, opponents pull one another\u2019s flags. While relatively not well known in Israel, where the most popular sports are soccer and basketball, gridiron football is played by 20 million people in 76 countries.<\/p>\n

This means that Israel\u2019s national teams are up against some competition in the race to the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Illustrative: A Team Israel men\u2019s player dodges a defender at the IFAF European Flag Championship 2019. (Courtesy AFI)<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams are now gearing up for the Euro Flag competition in Paris, set to take place in late September. Making the top five at the Euros would boost Israel\u2019s chances at the World Championships next year and, ultimately, at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery opportunity that we have is a shot for us to continue to rack up points and seed higher, which is what we need to qualify for the Olympics in 2028,\u201d says 35-year-old Jordana Weinberg, defensive captain of the women\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

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Jordana Weinberg at the IFAF 2024 World Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Courtesy of Talia Haiat)<\/p>\n

In addition to qualifying for the Olympics \u2014 a challenge faced by all teams worldwide \u2014 the Israeli squads have another challenge facing them: political instability and a global rise in anti-Israel sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports are supposed to transcend politics and are supposed to be a place where we can represent the best of the world and the best of society,\u201d says Weinberg, a Dallas, Texas-born personal trainer who is based in Tel Aviv when she isn\u2019t representing Israel on the flag field.<\/p>\n

But the politicization of sports dates back to ancient Greece, and Israeli teams have long felt its impact through exclusions, boycotts and anthem-related controversies at international competitions.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s youth frisbee team was barred from competition in Ghent, Belgium, in August 2024, reportedly due to concerns of safety for all competing teams; this past April, the second-place Swiss fencing team turned its back<\/a> on gold medal-winning Israel while the Israeli national anthem was played in Tallinn, Estonia; and Israel\u2019s LGBTQ inclusive rugby team, comprised of both Arabs and Jews, was banned<\/a> from participating in the International Gay Rugby Union Cup in Oslo earlier this summer because the Norwegian team refused to compete against players who they claimed served as military reservists in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Swiss under-23 fencing team (left) turn their backs during the playing of \u2018Hatikvah,\u2019 Israel\u2019s national anthem, after an Israeli victory in Tallinn, Estonia on April 26, 2025. (Screen capture via Ynet)<\/p>\n

Most recently, after the women\u2019s water polo team beat Sweden at the European Championship qualifiers in Slovakia, organizers claimed they couldn\u2019t find the recording of Israel\u2019s national anthem, prompting the team to sing the anthem themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics inevitably mixes in sports,\u201d says Leibowitz, adding that \u201cthe involvement has to do with raising our flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Israeli flag football teams haven\u2019t directly experienced antisemitism at tournaments, the tension is real. At a June 2024 flag competition in Walldorf, Germany, the women\u2019s national team felt ill at ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly was difficult to be there looking up at all the flags and seeing where there was an obvious gap in the flags when they took Israel down,\u201d says Weinberg, who joined the national team in 2021.<\/p>\n

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Steve Leibowitz, co-founder and president of American Football in Israel. (Courtesy of AFI)<\/p>\n

In addition to tensions at competitions, training during war has added another challenge for the Israeli flag players. This June, both teams were supposed to train in Los Angeles alongside other national teams. Then, Israel\u2019s 12-day war with Iran broke out, and flights were canceled as the country\u2019s airspace closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would have been a great opportunity for our team, our players, who are just really starting to get this experience, to just add to that and learn more,\u201d says Elissa Sagoskin, head coach of the women\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

Blue-and-white football<\/p>\n

The road to the Olympics has been in the making for almost 40 years. It didn\u2019t start with stadium lights or roaring crowds, but with a group of American immigrants and a little bit of chutzpah.<\/p>\n

In 1988, Leibowitz was working at the Government Press Office, which shared its building with much of the foreign press, when the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS), a broadcast service for American soldiers stationed overseas, put a satellite dish on the roof.<\/p>\n

Leibowitz, an avid NFL fan who had difficulty catching the games in Israel, saw an opportunity knocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cA buddy and I decided to pirate a signal and rent an office space in the building,\u201d says Leibowitz.<\/p>\n

What started as a small group charging admission to watch games together sparked the idea for a league.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody in the country knew how to attach the strap to the helmet. Nobody knew how to put on shoulder pads,\u201d Leibowitz says, laughing at the memory. With a little help from Israel\u2019s future president, Reuven Rivlin \u2014 who, prior to his parliamentary career, had served in various management positions with the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club \u2014 the group found a field in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Special teams on Team Israel\u2019s flag football squad get set before a play. (Courtesy of AFI)<\/p>\n

But if Leibowitz was the architect, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, was the benefactor who helped turn the dream into reality. The Kraft family\u2019s involvement began by chance. A player who worked as a concierge at the King David Hotel spotted Kraft and told him there was football in Israel, says Leibowitz. Kraft told him to \u201chave the guy in charge get in touch with me.\u201d That simple invitation opened the door to a partnership that would change the future of the sport in Israel.<\/p>\n

In 2000, the first official field opened next to Jerusalem\u2019s Gan Sacher Park with the help of a donation from Kraft.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Team Israel player Daniel Eastman drives upfield at the IFAF 2024 World Championship. (Courtesy of AFI)<\/p>\n

Around that same time, word got out about a group of men in Tel Aviv and Haifa trying to play tackle football.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were playing without equipment. No helmets, no pads, no brains,\u201d Leibowitz says, during a recent interview at the renovated Kraft Field in Jerusalem, which will host AFI games beginning this fall.<\/p>\n

American high school football coaches visiting Israel stepped in to help run clinics by invitation from the AFI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were Christian, and they were pro-Israel and wanted to, and they were football guys,\u201d says Leibowitz. \u201cAnd they could. So, they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

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New England Patriots owner and philanthropist Robert Kraft (center, blue blazer) with most of the 18 NFL \u2018Gold Jackets\u2019 in Israel and at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in June 2017 for Israel\u2019s first full-size American football field, part of the Kraft Family Sports campus in Jerusalem. (Jessica Steinberg\/Times of Israel)<\/p>\n

Leibowitz says he approached Kraft again for funds for league operations.<\/p>\n

But Kraft\u2019s reply, according to Leibowitz, was: \u201cI\u2019m not sponsoring this. Do it yourself for a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A season later, with pictures and progress to show, Leibowitz was able to get Kraft back on board. Kraft\u2019s support led to new turf to improve the facilities.<\/p>\n

Taking pride in the blue-and-white jersey<\/p>\n

For players, wearing the Team Israel jersey is a meaningful way to express their Jewish and Israeli identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve always appreciated the pride and passion that we represent the country with,\u201d says Sagoskin, who joined the national team as a player in 2006, two years after the women\u2019s team was created. Today, she coaches and works as a personal trainer.<\/p>\n

She says pursuing athletic excellence in Israel is not always easy, as the country\u2019s flag football infrastructure doesn\u2019t match the giants of Europe or North America, making Israel quite the underdog when it comes to the sport.<\/p>\n

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Elissa Sagoskin, head coach of Israel\u2019s national women\u2019s flag football team. (Courtesy of Talia Haiat)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development\u2026 isn\u2019t on par with the rest of the world,\u201d Sagoskin says, noting that while domestic leagues like the Women\u2019s American Football in Israel (WAFI) and the Jerusalem Men\u2019s League exist, they\u2019re mostly amateur and don\u2019t reach the level of professionalism seen in other countries.<\/p>\n

That said, both teams have had successes over the years.<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s team won gold in Germany in 2013, silver in Copenhagen in 2017 and bronze at the European Championship in Ireland in 2023.<\/p>\n

In 2005, the women\u2019s team won gold in their first-ever international tournament. In 2009, they won bronze at the European Championship in Belfast and another bronze in 2013, in Germany.<\/p>\n

For Leibowitz, bringing American football to Israel was his dream project. Now, to see Israel play flag football at the 2028 Olympic Games would be \u201csomething that would be written and recorded and kept as my legacy that I\u2019ll be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Israeli teams, every international tournament counts.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jordana Weinberg breaks up a reception in a game against Czechia in this undated photo. (Talia Haiat)<\/p>\n

While the women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams are both vying for an Olympic spot, \u201cthe men\u2019s shot is better because the amount of improvement that\u2019s needed in a short period of time is going to be tough to overcome for the women,\u201d says Leibowitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs good as they are, we can\u2019t win internationally with only religious players from Efrat [who cannot play on the Jewish sabbath]. We reached out and recruited a number of strong female athletes from other sports,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positive thing is that we\u2019re on our way up,\u201d says Sagoskin, whose team is made up of athletes with backgrounds in multiple sports, such as basketball, soccer, rugby and CrossFit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a small country with limited resources and limited exposure to this specific sport,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when you light the fire of, \u2018Is this possible,\u2019 the country that we live in always answers yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report was written as part of the Art of Journalism seminar at the Communications School, Reichman University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With flag football set to make its debut at the 2028 Olympic Games, Israel\u2019s national teams have their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-44161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}