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From the President’s Desk Haim Katz, President Last year was a very busy year for : We continued our efforts to expand Peter Kurz, Secretary General baseball to new frontiers in Israel such as Ofakim and the Galilee, Four national teams represented Israel in tournaments in Europe and the US,. New coaches received their Nathan Pomerantz, Vice President certification, New players were attracted to our Premiere League , The field in Kibbutz Gezer got a significant face lift and over 1000 Israelis participated in our activities.. – Yaron Erel, Treasurer Accomplishments which could not have been made without the generous support of our friends. Miriam Fima, Office Administrator Next year will be a critical year for baseball in Israel, where the seeds we have planted Mel Levi, Sharon Region over the past few years will hopefully sprout. Our Senior National Team has blossomed to the point where it is strong candidate to qualify for the European championships. Simon Pack, Region The seeds of a sustainable Pro Baseball League through the Field of Dreams are likely to sprout. We hope for crop of over 2000 baseball players. We can’t do this alone. We Ephraim Keren, Shfela Region call upon you our friends for your continued support to enable us to reach new towns and neighborhoods, improve and expand our facilities, and help us give Israeli baseball www.baseball.org.il a presence both in Israel and in Europe. שנה טובה Haim Katz President IAB

The Pittsburgh Federation has made it easy to make your tax deductable donation to the IAB. Just surf to www.ujfpittsburgh.org and click on donate now. Scroll to the bottom of the page and type “ Israel Baseball” in the comments field. Donate Now Eight New Baseball Coaches Join IAB Ranks What limits the popularity of baseball in Israel? – a. The game is too slow for Israelis, b. There is no baseball culture in Israel c. There are not enough fields in Israel d. all of the above, While these are the most common reasons put forth, the answer is e. none of the above. The primary limiting factor in getting more Israeli’s to play baseball is the lack of coaches, particularly certified coaches. The little league model, which encourages ‘Dads’ to coach local baseball teams only works where there is an unlimited pool of Dads who either almost made it to the big leagues, or if given the chance could do a lot better than the idiot managing [placeholder for the nearest major league team not in first place]. In Israel, the ‘Dad coach’ model works in neighborhoods where there is a concentration of North Americans such as Raanana, Jerusalem, Kibbutz Gezer and the ‘new’ centers of North American Bet Shemesh and Modiin. But for the rest of country places like Ofakim and Arad in the Negev, Misgav region in the Galil, and even towns and neighborhoods in the center of the country, like Jaffa and Shoham, there just aren’t any Dad’s available to coach baseball. The problem of recruiting coaches is compounded by the government regulation that all sports coaches must pass a 240 hour course

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approved by the Ministry of Sport to receive certification. Add the $1500 tuition fee to such a course, and we have a formidable obstacle for expanding baseball to the masses. This summer the IAB with the help of the Ministry of Sport and a grant from the US Embassy in , took a small but significant stride towards overcoming this obstacle. Eight new coaches were certified after completing an intensive month long coaches course at the Wingate Institute. The course was led by Leon Klarfeld and approved by the Ministry of Sport. Four coaches are from the Galilee and the Negev where the IAB has expanded its activities in the last year. Two of the new coaches have never had any previous exposure to baseball, a first for the IAB. The students lived at the Wingate institute for 4 weeks, studying 5 hours of theory and 5 hours of practical baseball lessons every day for 5 days a week. The 240 hour curriculum included anatomy, physiology, sports psychology and coaching theory, along with practical aspects of teaching baseball mechanics and rules, These coaches will now be able to work in community centers and schools throughout the country and increase the number of kids playing baseball. U-Bank Comes to Bat for IAB U‐Bank, the leader in personal banking in Israel, is now the official sponsor of Raanana Baseball. The Raanana baseball program currently has about 150 players age 8 and up playing in various leagues of Israel

Association of Baseball (IAB). “U‐Bank is a perfect fit for the IAB.” States Haim Katz, IAB president. “U‐Bank is the leading Israeli bank when it comes to customer service, and baseball is the number one sports product in Israel (as determined by Uri Scheffer, the Director of the Israel Sports Ministry).” Part of the FIBI group, U‐Bank specializes in private banking services and professional financial consultancy since 1934. U‐ Bank's philosophy is personal, discreet and professional service with high standards that is unparalleled in Israeli banking. U‐Bank Raanana branch manager, Gerry Livnat, was looking for means to penetrate local Anglo community. He consulted one of his clients, ‘Coach’ Stu Schapiro. “If you’re looking for the Anglos in this community the best place to find them is on the baseball diamond. Look at your current clients, they’re all baseball coaches!.” Shapiro was referring to fellow coaches Scott Tobin and Seth Cogan who supported Stu’s assessment. “We see a lot of synergy, coming from this relationship. U‐Bank will increase its presence in the English speaking community, and the IAB hopes to leverage U‐Bank’s support to convince other Israeli corporations to looks beyond our numbers into the quality of the community playing baseball in Israel.” [Katz] stated. The sponsorship will be used to improve the presence of baseball in Raanana, both in terms of equipment, and in terms of expanding the program.

Richard Kania Returned for Summer Clinics The IAB held one of its most successful summer baseball clinics for 10‐12 year olds, the first two weeks of July at Kibbutz Gezer. Joining an all star local coaching staff led by head coach Ziv Kerem and Administrative director Gil Siegel, were special guest coaches, Richard Kania and his son, from the Czech republic. Over 40 players took part in this intensive baseball experience which took place at the recently enlarged Gezer field (with the help of the JNF). The players spent considerable time honing up on their baseball skills while still finding some time to enjoy themselves in the Gezer pool. Richard is a very resourceful, and positive coach who likes to generate confidence to the players. His standard opening remarks to the players: “I would like you to take a little test. Fill your bathtub, and try to stand on top the water. If you can stand on the water without getting your feet wet, then you have the potential of being a perfect baseball player. If your feet hit the bottom of the tub, then you will make mistakes playing baseball, and our job is to help you get better, and to learn from the mistakes.” The girls who attended the camp enjoyed the benefit of a scholarship from the Meredith Wright’s generous gift from her Bat Mitzva Project.

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Baseball / Building on the (not-so) foreign legion College players strengthen Israel's core. By Steve Klein Haaretz 23 July, 2010

Peter Kurz clearly sees the silver lining in Israel's sixth‐place finish at this week's Prague baseball week. "We met all our goals to gain experience in international tournaments," the secretary general of the Israel Association of Baseball told Anglo File Sports on Wednesday. "You have to play six games in five days, which is very intensive. "We are used to one to two a week. It wears on you physically, psychologically. It's important to know how to do that mentally and physically." The friendly competition in the Czech Republic served as a training tournament for the seven teams. Croatia, Austria and Russia ‐ which are literally out of Israel's league ‐ tuned up for the Photo by: Sarah Gopher senior European championship in Stuttgart in two weeks. Israel, which finished 1‐5, used Prague as a practice tournament for the 2011 qualifiers preceding the 2012 European championships. Kurz says a core of teammates playing college ball in North America give reason to be optimistic that Israel will improve on its third‐place performance in the previous European qualifiers, which was a good finish but not enough to advance. "We've got five guys in college ‐ Ophir Katz in junior college in California, Oren Gal in Canada [York University], Daniel Maddy‐Weitzman in Philly [Haverford], Guy Stevens in California [Pomona‐Pitzer] and Alon Leishman, who is going to junior college [Cypress] in January," says Kurz. "Alon was our best player in this tournament. We were very close in every game." Maddy‐Weitzman and Gal, a Team Canada member at last year's Maccabiah Games who was the Israeli team MVP two years ago, were unavailable for the tournament, indicating that the team could have been more competitive. Pitching is Israel's strong card, and all four whom Kurz refers to as "top‐level pitchers" are past, present or future college players in North America. Besides Leishman, who grew up in Kibbutz Gezer, the rotation boasts Stevens, 19, who grew up in California and has an Israeli mother; Shlomo Lipitz, who grew up in the Tel Aviv system, went to University of California, San Diego and lives in New York; and player‐coach Dan Rothem, who grew up in Israel and played Division‐1 at Gardner‐Webb University in North Carolina. The foursome gives Israel a "solid pitching core for a short tournament," says Kurz. Israel's hitting in Prague was better than two years ago but was still weak, says Kurz. The hope is to find foreign legionnaires with a blue‐and‐white connection, he says. "We're looking for a couple of more guys who are children of yordim with Israeli passports," says Kurz, referring to Israelis who have moved abroad. One prospect is Eitan Maoz, a catcher from Canada who bats .400. Kurz says that although Maoz didn't play in Europe, the Israel Association of Baseball is talking to him about playing in next year's European qualifiers. Some of the children of Israelis living abroad are more than just hired hands, says Kurz. Playing for the national team and seeing how the game is developing in the Holy Land has them thinking about moving back to Israel. Kurz says his goal to improve the offense is for every senior national team member to get in 700 swings a week of batting practice over the next 12 months. "The only way to make them better hitters is to swing," he says. The team will also be looking for more tournaments to improve its endurance and be better able to play day after day. He adds that Israel is seeking to host a tournament of its own in March. As his association prepares to meet next week to plan out a strategy for the coming year in preparation for next summer's qualifiers, the budget remains a key concern. "We got enough to fund the past trip, but we need about $50,000 to $60,000 for the coming year to do everything that we want to do," says Kurz. "We've got about 10 percent raised."

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IAB Pony Team Rides under a dark cloud in Prague

For the first time in history, the IAB had a representative team in the European Pony League Championships which took place in the Czech Republic in April 2010. The winner of the tournament was invited to participate in the Pony League World Championships held in the Lafayette Indiana in August. The Israeli team finished in 7’th place of 15 teams who participated. The coaching staff headed by Amit Kurz and manager Yaron Erel was considerably enhanced by the senior Czech coach, Richard Kania who assisted them at the tournament. They started the tournament strong, winning two of their first 3 games, (The only loss was to the German National Team, the eventual 3rd place champions)‐‐ Mt. Eyjafjallajokul, Iceland giving them the right to complete in the 1‐8 place bracket. The subsequent loss to the tournament winners, the Czech national Team, sent them to the 5‐8 place bracket where they lost the first game to Austria and regrouped to beat a Belarus team to take 7’th place overall. The team did not have only baseball over its head during the 4 day tournament, they literally played under a dark cloud which jeopardized their ability to return to Israel. On the second day of the tournament Mt. Eyjafjallajokul erupted after a 2 century sleep in Iceland, resulting in every airport within 10 hours of Prague to be closed. With the help of our true friend Richard Kania and the savvy of our team Manager Yaron Erel, the team made it home in time for the Independence Day B‐BQs, after a 20 hour bus ride from Prague to Rome, and a 12 hour wait in the Rome airport.

Hall of Fame Trip by Cadet National Team By Amit Kurz The Cadet National Team set their sights high by participating in the Cooperstown Baseball World tournament. Their they faced formidable opposition such as the Florida and California state champions. In order to meet the challenge, the 16 player team (age 13‐15) trained intensively for 6 months. They were led by a unique blend of coaches both older and younger. Head coach Amit Kurz was assisted by his fellow SNT members Alon Lecihman and Ronen Korenberg and veteran coach Aryeh Klein and super manager Yaron Erel. The training paid off as many of the players improved to the point where they were invited to practice with the Senior National Team. The team led by key players Ori Gutin, Tal Erel and Ilan Klein played exceptionally well but fell a little short when playing the top tier of the tournament. The team went pitch for pitch with the Florida Pumas losing the game in the final inning. The team won 2 of their 8 games, and for the lack of a key hit or two would have placed in the top four teams of the tournament. Going into this adventure, the players and coaches were somewhat doubtful if our players can compete against the more experienced Americans teams. They left the tournament, however, knowing that they represented Israel with pride, and could compete with the best of the teams.

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Juveniles Capture Gold Medal in Tuscany By Arye Zacks The IAB sent our Juvenile National Team to the Tuscany series for the third straight summer participating in two tournaments, one in Arrezo and the second in Sienna. This team demonstrated the best that the IAB has to offer, both on and off the playing field. The bottom line ‐ the team won 10 of 12 games in including the championship game in Sienna. In six games in Sienna the team was undefeated relinquishing only 5 runs. They dominated Grosseto in the gold medal game winning8‐1.

The team was coached by the legendary Israeli coach David Schenker, and assisted by Marc Tobin and Arye Zacks. Players came from Modiin, Bet Shemesh, Raanana, Tel Aviv‐Jaffa, Kibbutz Gezer, Oranit and Jerusalem. Avy Schwartz won the MVP trophy in Sienna, and Yair Bauman won the top pitching trophy in the same tournament. In the first tournament held in Arrezo, the team started well, winning the first two games rather easily. On Friday, however they lost the first two games of a triple header, before battling back to win the third game of the day. On Sunday morning, they faced the Italian team from San Lazzaro for a battle for the bronze medal. The game was scoreless for the first 5 innings. S.L. scored 3 runs in the top of the 6’th and final inning and were 3 outs away from the bronze medal. The scrappy Israelis did not despair. The boys rallied to make the score 3‐2. With 2 out and 2 on, Ori Wachspress stepped to the plate and cleared the bases with a walk off double, clinching third place in Arrezo tournament The national team began with tryouts which over 40 IAB players tried out for 25 domestic program slots. 17 of those players made the travel team.

IAB Joins PCA

The IAB has become the first sports organization outside the North American continent to join the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). Since the PCA was founded by Jim Thompson as a non‐ profit organization in 1998, they have helped create a positive, character‐building youth sports environment for more than 3 million youth athletes. The IAB’s goal is to bring to Israel PCA’s face‐to‐face group workshops which: • Train coaches to become Double‐Goal Coaches®, whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more‐important goal is teaching life lessons through sports; • Develop Second‐Goal Parents, who focus on helping their youth athletes learn those life lessons; • Cultivate Triple‐Impact Competitors, youth athletes who strive to improve themselves, their teammates and their sport as a whole. Beyond the intrinsic values of positive coaching, the board of the IAB sees an added marketing benefit from formally aligning with PCA. Pat Doyle, the MLB envoy coach has already introduced the concept to the IAB general meeting and we a looking for assistance in financing the PCA seminars.

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Weekend Baseball Tel Aviv

It is hard to say who was more shocked: The baseball players who woke up before noon on a Saturday to come out and play or the citizens of Tel Aviv who witnessed baseball being played in the middle of their city (right next to a game of cricket).

And fun it was indeed. Approximately 25 people consisting of IAB members, Senior National Team players, softball players, former amateur ball players, and a Japanese exchange student gathered last Saturday, May 1st, at the beautiful Tel Aviv Sportek field for the opening day of newly launched initiative, "Weekend Baseball."

After some sitting around a bit and waking up and telling some jokes as is the true baseball way, everyone, magically synchronized, went to warm up with a game of catch. For some it was the first time in years that they had thrown a ball. At around noon the group gathered around the two team captains for the day as they carefully picked out their teammates. As soon as the rules (that had been made up on the spot) were explained, it was "play ball" and nobody looked back.

7 fast paced innings, 1 homerun, and one heart-warming MVP ceremony later, it was the moment everyone had waited for - the sharp "click" sound of an ice cold 0.5 liter beer can being opened in the scorching heat of a 2 PM Israeli sun. That and 8 kilograms of the cheapest yet tastiest variety of meats sizzling on the grill rounded out the day.

Everything was going smoothly until the starving ball players noticed that the hummus was depleted long before the meat was. The organizers apparently had not taken into account that despite baseball being an American sport, they were still in Israel. When asked right there on the spot to comment on the terrible miscalculation, the response given was, "*click*...*gulp*...*long sigh*...Right, much more hummus next week." If they do come through with the extra hummus next Saturday's game looks very, very promising.

This grass roots initiative continued to flourish throughout the summer, to the point where we had to start playing double headers because of the large crowd. The pick-up games led to Rookie Camp, held in the beginning of September, to acclimate the Saturday players to the rigors of PL League play.

President’s note: Over twelve players have made the transition from Saturday baseball to regular league play and we see this as a training ground for further expansion in the future. Special thanks needs to be extended to Orr Gottlieb and Josh Shulman for initiating the idea, implementing it and following through with great enthusiasm. Without them, this could not have succeeded.

U-BANK is Proud to be the Sponsor for Raanana Baseball

Raanana Branch 34 Jerusalem St. Raanana 43501 Telephone: 09‐778202 or *5661 Pag e | 8

Gezer Field Expanded A Special Thanks To: Gezer's Hombo We wish to give a special IAB thanks to our many friends Field, with the who contributed to our activities: generous support of the JNF, has US Embassy in Israel undergone Dr. Robert Meislin expansion to MLB Moshe Orenbuch outfield dimensions. In addition to the expansion (30% Eric Goldstein larger) the backstop was replaced with a large free Shalom Stone standing structure and the existing perimeter fencing was Merideth and Tracy Wright and Brian Bernstein for Girls largely replaced with high quality chain link fencing as Scholarships befits a baseball outfield fence. Along with the field Alan Derschowitz and Carolyn Colhen construction, drainage and improved landscaping Steven Schwell welcome players and spectators alike to an upgraded Howard Stansislawski playing field that can also accomodate a number of team Bob Ruxin practices simultaneously. Mark Ratner Dan Rootenberg Daniel Abraham Sarah Gopher – Stevens and William Stevens Starker Family Foundations Ari Starch/Jonathan Stefansky Jeff Rosen Marv Goldklang Jeff Royer David Rhode and Mark Solomon of Pitch in for Baseball – for their continued support in providing us with equipment for our ongoing and promotional programs. The next phase of the project will include expanding the lighting system to allow night games at the Senior level and an improved batting cage for day and night time practices, along with bullpen pitching mounds.

Come Play Ball with the JNF & IAB Jewish National Fund (JNF) has proposed a baseball players mission to Israel to occur in late May, 2011. The mission participants would combine baseball games with touring of Israel. IAB has agreed to arrange for the mission participants to play against the Senior National Team. This should be a great opportunity for IAB players to play against some strong competition. While the planned mission is still in its early stages, several former players from the have expressed interest in coming back to Israel to play. Stay tuned for The Pittsburgh Federation has made it easy to make your tax more information. More detail about the JNF baseball player mission may be obtained from Dr. Kenneth Fried deductable donation to the IAB. Just surf to ([email protected]) or Mark Rattner www.ujfpittsburgh.org and click on donate now. Scroll to the ([email protected]). bottom of the page and type “ Israel JNF has been a strong supporter of baseball in Israel Baseball” in the comments field. having, among other things, contributed significant funds Donate Now to the 2009 upgrade of Sportek and the ongoing improvements to the Gezer facility. Israel Association of Baseball www.baseball.org.il [email protected]