Sports in Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sports in Israel, as in other countries, are an important part of the national culture. The Israeli sporting culture is much like that of other European countries. Israeli athletics go back as far as before the establishment of the state of Israel. While football (soccer) and basketball are considered the most popular sports in Israel, the nation has reached many achievements in other sports, such as handball and athletics, and Israelis are also involved in a wide variety of other athletic activities.
When it comes to sports in Israel, the emphasis has traditionally been on participation rather than the production of elite athletes. Part of the reason for this is the necessary compulsory military service that almost all Israelis perform after turning 18 years old. Another reason may be in the Jewish ethos and psyche that has tradtionally considered it important to have a healthly mind and healthy body, but has not always endorsed athletic pursuits as a form of competition. This can be seen in the story of the Maccabees (and Hanukkah) and their rejection of the Ancient Olympic ideals.
Nonetheless, many modern Israelis follow football and basketball sporting teams almost as ardently as many other Europeans do. In the Olympic Games, Israel has won medals in judo, canoeing and sailboarding.
From a participatory perspective, many Israelis enjoy non-competitive activities such as swimming, going on tiyul (hiking trips) and playing Matkot on the beach. A game that is particularly popular at junior level is an Israeli form of dodgeball known as Ga-ga.
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[edit] Popular sports in Israel
[edit] Football (Soccer)
The main sport in Israel is football (soccer), which is played amongst Israel's teams, both Jewish and Arab. Football was played in Israel even before the state of Israel was established, back when the British were governing the area. Israeli football is governed by the Israel Football Association. The most popular and crowd attracting matches are played in Israeli's Premier League - Ligat ha'Al.
Football in Israel is played by men and women, though the women football league is much less popular among Israeli football fans.
[edit] History of Israeli Football
As Israel developed politically, soccer teams have affiliated themselves with political parties, such as Hapoel, Maccabi, Beitar and others. These are still frequented by their respective political party leadership. For instance, it is likely that someone would see party leaders from the Likud party at Beitar Jerusalem soccer games. That said, the political aspect has become less prominent in recent years.
American Football in Israel is based at Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem. Currently there are four leagues playing American Flag Football. The largest league in 2007 is men's contact and it includes 57 teams which compete for the annual Holyland Bowl championship. The women's league is the WAFI which has 13 teams. The Yosef Goodman High School League has 12 teams, and the Tuesday Night co-ed league has 5 teams. Some 1000 players are involved in weekly football activities
[edit] Basketball
Basketball is considered the second most popular sport in Israel, after soccer. The Israeli basketball team of Maccabi Tel Aviv is among the top teams in Europe, and has won the European championship 5 times, in 1977, 1981, 2001, 2004 and 2005. Recently, the team was able to defeat NBA team Toronto Raptors.
[edit] Handball
Handball is also becoming a popular sport in Israel. Israel's National Handball Team participated in the 2002 European Men's Handball Championship in Sweden. Hapoel Rishon Lezion qualified to the Quarter Finals of the EHF Champions League in 2000.
[edit] Ice Hockey
- See also: Israel Ice Hockey Federation
Israel has a small following of ice hockey, a sport which reached Israel in 1986. Recently, Israel was relegated to the 2007 Ice Hockey Division II World Championships.
[edit] Baseball
There are around 2,500 baseball players in Israel and in the summer of 2007, the Israel Baseball League is set to debut. It will be the first ever professional baseball league in the Middle East.
[edit] Tennis
Tennis is increasingly popular in Israel with professional players placing higher and higher in the professional ranks. Highly ranked players include Amos Mansdorf, Anna Smashnova, Shahar Pe'er (ranked #15 by the WTA on January 29, 2007) and the doubles team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich (world #7 team in 2006) - all of whom have trained at the Israel Tennis Centers.
[edit] Athletics
Track and field athletics in Israel are mainly focused around the Maccabiah Games and the international Olympic Games, where Israel have achieved notable successes during its short history.
[edit] Maccabiah Games
The Maccabiah Games is an international Jewish athletic event, similar to the Olympics, held every four years in Israel. The first games were held in 1932.
[edit] Olympic Games
- See also: Category:Israel at the Olympics
Although Israelis have won several medals over the years, Israel is most commonly remembered for the incident at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, where Arab terrorists stormed the Israeli team residence, took 11 hostages, and later murdered them all. Gal Fridman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
[edit] Sports media in Israel
Sports have been a major part of Israeli broadcasting since the early days of organized sports in the country. The media's influence on Israeli sports has increased considerably in recent years, which is most evident in soccer and basketball, where team budgets rely largely on payments from television networks who bought the rights to broadcast sporting events[citation needed].
Television, radio, newspapers and news web sites are the major channels where Israeli sport is analyzed, broadcast and discussed. Generally, football attracts the major attention of Israeli media, which is evident on all of the above channels.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Sports Associations in Israel - List containing links and phone numbers
- The Israel Football Association
- El El Israel - Israel's national football teams
