Israeli Sports

Building a squad capable of competing in the Premier League after promotion was no simple task. Last season, Hapoel had to significantly reshape its roster, including adding eight foreign players.

The yellow-and-blue have featured in the Europa League in each of the past two seasons and will look to make it three years in a row in the continent’s second-tier competition.

The delegation is part of the Jewish Agency’s Partnership2gether initiative and was made possible through the collaboration of community leaders and volunteers from both Israel and South Africa.

The Super Cup was presented by the League Administration Chairman Erez Kalfon, together with Eldad Maman, a Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter.

The achievement follows the two bronze medals recently won by Israel’s Open and Mixed Pairs teams at the European Championship for senior national teams.

After starring in high school and local youth leagues in Israel, women's basketball player Yarden Garzon was recruited by colleges in the United States and chose to attend Indiana.

The 25-year-old point guard (1.90m), who grew up supporting Maccabi, joins the Israeli League and State Cup champion under head coach Oded Katash.

"If you can see people, for example, with kippah on the street, with tefillin or tallit, it’s like to be inside of the synagogue, a big synagogue. It’s amazing to be here.”

Alongside Belaga, the U20 team features other talented players, such as Oren Sahar and Yaron Goldman.

Ayala Oren helped cut the gap, but France center Sarah Cisse dominated the paint during that stretch to give her side a 44-31 advantage at halftime.