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From the President’s Desk Haim Katz, President Another successful year is reaching its climax as all our leagues are in full swing. The חיים קץ – נשיא summer promises to be very exciting one for . We will be sending two teams Peter Kurz, Secretary General to the Tuscany series tournament in Grossetto , we will again be holding our summer clinics for the younger players, and the icing on the cake will be hosting the 18’th Maccabia פיטר קורץ - מזכיר כללי baseball tournament. Ephraim Keren, National Director On another note, the IAB has entered into an agreement with the Field of Dreams LLC to explore the possibility of creating a new League in Israel. We are אפרים קרן Yaron Erel, Treasurer very excited about working with Marv Goldklang, Jeff Rosen and their partners, “Marv’s experience with minor and independent professional leagues and Jeff ‘s proven record of גזבר success withthe Maccabi Heat team which in just one year climbed from the Miriam Fima, Office Administrator doldrums of second tier Israeli basketball to prime time recognition in the premier league, .indicate that we are on the verge of a new era in מירים פימה - מנהל אדמינסטריבי The Pittsburgh Federation has made it easy to make your tax Mel Levi, Sharon Regional Director deductable donation to the IAB. Just surf to רכז השרון www.ujfpittsburgh.org and click on donate now. Scroll to the Simon Pack, Regional bottom of the page and type “ Israel Baseball” in the comments field. Director We would also like to thank Arye Zacks for our new website. The name is easy to remember – www.baseball.org.il . It includes continuous updated information, scores and רכז ירושלים stats. Haim Katz ([email protected]). Maccabiah Baseball – July 10 – 22 Sportek The Maccabiah baseball Junior divison by Howard Knieval and Craig Dunning tournament (ages 15‐18), will respectively, have been preparing for commence on July 12 with four teams over a year, with many of the the ‐ Israel, USA, and ‐ players having faced off last summer competing for medals. The 18’th in the Freeport “For the Love of the will be held in the Game” tournament. Mexico will make Sportek Tel Aviv. Veteran USA its first appearance in the Maccabiah Dennis Weiner held several tryouts baseball games. The IAB and the 1Canadian Coach Howard Knievel acceptin g silver medal at 17’th Maccabiah games throughout the USA to attract the top Maccabiah organizing committee plan Jewish baseball prospects. The to make this a memorable event. Canadian and Israeli teams, coached Dodger Owner Jamie McCourt to Attend Maccabiah Games Baseball Featured Sport at Maccabiah

The organizing committee of the the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 18th Maccabiah has designated the Maccabiah organization plans to opening baseball game as the create a atmosphere feature sporting event for the for the games and the Dodger games. We expect a large organization will be supplying attendance for the opening game plenty of Dodger souvenirs for all which will include Mrs. Jamie the fans and players. The IAB also McCourt, the owner and CEO of has stepped up to the plate and

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will make a major facelift to the interested in advertising or Add pricing is below: Tel Aviv Sportek field. With help promoting in the booklet please • Full Book Sponsorship 8,000 NIS from the JNF’s Project Baseball contact Barry Spielman at $2,000 Fund, the infield and outfield will [email protected]. • Back Cover 3,200 NIS $800 be improved and new dugouts and David Schenker is the tournament • Inside Covers 2,000 NIS $500 a batting cage are to be installed. chairman. Anyone interested in • Full Page (Color) 1,600 NIS $400 In addition the IAB will produce a assisting with the organization of • Full Page (B&W) 1,200 NIS $300 • promotional program similar to the tournament please contact Half Page 800 NIS $200 • Quarter Page 500 NIS $125 [email protected]. the one produced in 2005. Anyone David at • Greeting 200 NIS $50

IAB's 2009 Summer Fun baseball clinic at Kibbutz Gezer. The IAB's annual summer baseball clinic will be held again this year at Kibbutz Gezer from Weds. July 1 until Friday July 10. (No sessions on July 4, Shabbat or Thursday July 9) .

This program will be run by IAB experienced coaches. It is geared for boys and girls born in 1997, '98, and '99 who have some experience playing baseball. Drills, game situations, and 'scrimmages' will be used to teach and practice the fundamentals of the game in a serious but fun manner.

The daily baseball session will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. An hour of recreational , until 1:30 p.m. will follow in the kibbutz' pool, at no extra charge. The cost: NIS 1,300 for the 8 day program. Program participants will be given a NIS 100 discount on their IAB league fee for the 2009-10 regular season. IAB Announces New Pro Baseball Initiative The IAB has signed an agreement with a group of prominent North American sportsmen who are planning the development of a new professional baseball league in Israel. The group, Field of Dreams LLC, is headed by Marv Goldklang, a part owner of the and principal owner of four minor league professional baseball teams in the , Jeff Rosen, owner of the Maccabi Heat Professional Basketball Club of the Israeli Premier League and Chairman of Triangle Financial Services, and other prominent individuals involved in and other sports endeavors. The initial agreement, in the form of an exclusive option covering not less than one, nor more than two years, would permit the group to conduct due diligence regarding both marketing and facility objectives to determine the long‐term economic viability of a professional baseball league. As part of the arrangement, the group also would provide financial and other support for the Israeli and international amateur baseball programs operated by the IAB. The IAB operates under the authority of the Israel Ministry of Science, Culture Sport, which supports this new initiative to establish a viable professional baseball league in the country. “The IAB is very excited about working with Marv Goldklang and his partners,” said Haim Katz, IAB Chairman. “Marv has over 25 years of experience with Major League‐affiliated professional baseball leagues, and with independent professional leagues as well. We feel the concepts that he promotes in sports, including unique entertainment features designed to appeal even to non‐baseball fans, can revolutionize not only baseball in Israel, but other sports as well. Jeff Rosen, a prominent American businessman, is committed to promoting sports in Israel and has a proven record of success by taking the

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Maccabi Heat basketball team in just one year from the doldrums of the lower league to prime time recognition in the Israel premier basketball league.” Professional baseball was attempted during the summer of 2007 by an organization known as the (IBL), with six teams sharing three fields and completing a 46 game schedule. The IBL was not a financial success, and was unable continue its baseball operations. “The IAB has learned many lessons from its experience with the IBL and our decision to move forward with this new group was not taken lightly,” said Katz. “We feel this group is composed of high caliber, professional, experienced and very reputable individuals. They are not spending other people’s money but investing their own at this point and performing all the necessary groundwork required to protect their potential investment and develop a viable structure for professional baseball in Israel. We have no doubt that there is no better group to carry out this task and we look forward to building baseball in Israel with them.” The North American group hopes to establish a fully staffed professional baseball league in the next one or two years, depending on the results of its efforts during the initial agreement which, as noted, would include development of strategies designed to create additional and improved baseball facilities appropriate for the game at the professional level. US Charge D’Affair Supports Israel Baseball The myth that only North American immigrants play baseball in Israel, was shattered completely at the Sportek Friday May 29, in a clash of 10‐12 year olds between the North and the South (Tel Aviv). The ‘southern’ players represented by the newly formed Jaffa team under the tutelage of Ophir Katz, never held a baseball in their hand prior to last September. The ‘North’ players, the Mike’s Place Tel Aviv Comrades, coached by Amit Kurz and Dov Hammer, also were made up of primarily players who just started their baseball career. Both teams were excited to test their newly developed skills they have been learning for the past 3 months. They were greeted by the Charge d’Affairs of the US Embassy Mr. Louis Moreno who graced the event by throwing out the first ball. Mr. Moreno gave an inspiring speech to fledgling players. “You are the future, you are the next prime minister, you will be the entire cabinet, you will be the leaders. Baseball will teach you how to lead. Baseball will teach how to rely upon your teammates and how to be a team player.” Moreno played second base in high school and college. He told the captive young ears he was happy to be a 2nd baseball. Even though the shortstop got most of the attention, but if it weren’t for a good 2nd baseman, a good shortstop wouldn’t look as good. The visiting Jaffe team surprised everyone, including themselves, by scoring a run the top of the first. The Comrades came right back with to tie it. The game continued with little scoring by either side due to some excellent defensive plays and some poor base running (it takes a while to figure out you can overrun first, but not second and third) by both teams. The Jaffe team managed to break out to a 4 run lead in the last inning. The Comrades battled back but came up 2 runs short. As important the two teams shook hands after the game and partook in a sweet feast prepared by the host team’s ‘baseball moms’.

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The game demonstrated the results of the Israel Association of Baseball’s efforts to promote the game to all Israeli’s. “It’s not easy to promote sports in general and baseball in particular among youth today.” Says IAB President Haim Katz. “When the game is presented in a fun and easy to learn manner, it will attract youth looking for a challenge beyond video games.” Katz stated that the IAB’s efforts to penetrate new cultural groups in Israel has been successful in spite of its limited resources. “The local and national government have given us moral support, but the financial resources to train coaches and run the clinics have all come from the IAB’s internal resources and its generous friends abroad.” Katz also praised the efforts of David Rhode and Mark Solomon from Pitch in for Baseball who made significant equipment donations to help fuel the recruiting efforts. The European Baseball Federation has taken an interest in development model by the IAB and hopes to adapt it for promotion of baseball in all of Europe.

Pat Doyle and Richard Kania Return Pat Doyle, who heads up the MLB Coaches Envoy program, and Richard Kania, a roving CEB Envoy coach from the , will return to Israel this year to conduct clinics for coaches and players. Pat has already arrived at this writing and has had a major impact in promoting the game all throughout Israel as well as improving our existing players and coaches. He will also be evaluating players as candidates for the MLB academy to be held in Italy this August. Last year Alon Leichman was chosen to participate and Dan Rothem accompanied him as an assistant coach. Richard will be coming in the beginning of July and will again assist with our summer clinics and remain 2 Pat Doyle with first time players in to help out with the Maccabiah. The IAB would like to thank the US embassy for its Acco assistance in accommodating Coach Doyle while in Israel.

Sam Pelter Elected Secretary General of CEB (European Baseball Federation) Former IAB Secretary General and long time board member Sam Pelter, was elected secretary general of CEB, Confederation of European Baseball for a 4 year term. CEB is governing body of baseball in Europe and organizes all tournaments for the 36 member European countries. Sam has been instrumental in reorganizing CEB to make it a relevant force in advancing baseball in Europe, by rewriting its bylaws and creating committees which meet the needs of European countries trying to develop baseball. “This is a notable achievement, and one of the highest elected positions of any Israeli in a European sports organization” said Uri Harlap, Head of Competitive Sports in the Ministry of Sport.

Baseball Horizens Expanded at Ofakim Over250 Ofakim children come to bat for the first time

When an Israeli baseball player exposes his avocation to another Israeli, the typical response is “What there is baseball in Israel?”. Two hundred and fifty 4’th and 5’th graders in Ofakim will now answer with a resounding “yes, there is baseball in Israel, there is baseball in Ofakim, and we like it.” The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) and city of Ofakim held a baseball clinic for the children of Ofakim in the Ofakim soccer stadium. The children received batting, fielding and base running

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instructions from 8 of the IAB’s best coaches (including 6 national team players and the two national team coaches). At the end of the session the children split up into groups and played an abbreviated game. The event was the ‘opening pitch’ for the plans of the city’s sport department, headed by Ilana Itach and the IAB to start a full fledged baseball program in Ofakim. “Baseball is a great sport that not only develops hand‐eye coordination, it’s a great vehicle to bring together the youth of Ofakim with the youth of our sister city Metro West” Itach stated as why she chose to promote baseball. Haim Katz, the president of the IAB met earlier last month with Max Kleinman, director of the Metro West Federation, to ask for his assistance for this project. Kleinman enthusiastically responded and stated “I’m 100% on your team and ready to play ball”. The IAB was also assisted by “Pitch in for Baseball” who provided the equipment for the event. The following week, the IAB sent a coach to Ofakim to conduct weekly baseball lessons. Plans for future exchanges between Ofakim and Metro West youth as well as assistance in training local phys‐ed teachers the art of teaching baseball mechanics are in the works. “We have hit a grand slam.” says Katz. “The combination of the city completely behind this program with support from the baseball association and their Project 2000 partner, can only lead to new opportunities for the youth of Ofakim.” Indicating its enthusiasm, city authorities went out of its way to put baseball on the map of Ofakim. A huge welcoming sign greeted the coaches as they entered the city. Mayor Tzvika Greenwald personally thanked the coaches in his office.

I2I Arielle Senior League Standings Team Won Lost Tied Pct. G.B. Modiin 5 2 0 .714 -- Tel Aviv 5 3 0 .625 0.5 Macabiah 3 3 1 .500 1.5 Ra'anana 1 6 1 .143 4.0

Last Word to our IAB Family We hope you like staying in touch with our growing activities The IAB has a number of projects which are in need of and with us. The love of the game is rapidly spreading funding, and are crucial to the continued growth and throughout the Holy Land, bringing more and more Israeli kids development of Israeli baseball. onto the field. While we are delighted with the popularity of The Pittsburgh Federation has made it easy the game, and the wonderful values of good sportsmanship, to make your tax deductable donation to the cultural exchange and team spirit which we are promoting, IAB. Just surf to www.ujfpittsburgh.org and click on donate the increased demands on the IAB for more teams, coaches, now. Scroll to the bottom of the page and type “ Israel Baseball” and equipment ‐ on top of our already stretched‐to‐the‐ in the comments field. maximum budget ‐ is more than we can handle on our own. So we turn to you, lovers of the game and staunch friends of Israel, to ask you to show your support and enthusiasm for Congratulations to Maccabi Heat the resounding success of Baseball in Israel by sending us a Haifa Basketball team for reaching donation that will help us plant grass on rocky fields, buy badly needed equipment, spread the gospel of baseball Breaking News: Check out the great article on Pat throughout Israel, and send our players as Goodwill Ambassadors to baseball tournaments around the world. Doyle in : The IAB is a non‐profit organization, duly registered in Israel, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090539. and dedicated to developing and promoting baseball in Israel. html

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