{"id":76437,"date":"2023-09-07T05:35:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T10:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=76437"},"modified":"2023-09-07T05:35:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T10:35:14","slug":"an-israeli-flag-football-team-forfeited-a-game-on-shabbat-it-won-the-european-championship-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/an-israeli-flag-football-team-forfeited-a-game-on-shabbat-it-won-the-european-championship-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"An Israeli flag football team forfeited a game on Shabbat. It won the European championship anyway."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JACOB GURVIS<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Israel\u2019s under-17 men\u2019s flag football team won its first-ever gold medal at the 2023 International Federation of American Football\u2019s European Junior Flag Football Championships hosted in Grosseto, Italy, this past weekend.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_76438\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-76438\" class=\"wp-image-76438 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk.jpeg 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-76438\" class=\"wp-image-76438 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/JYPuNMHk.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-76438\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israel won a gold medal at the 2023 European Junior Flag Football Championships in Italy. (Giulio Busi)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Israeli team beat Serbia 34-14 in the championship game after defeating Italy in a close semifinal. Israel\u2019s under-17 women\u2019s team and under-15 coed team both finished fifth in their respective competitions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur first gold after decades of trying,\u201d Steve Leibowitz, president of American Football in Israel (AFI), told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. \u201cTough young Israeli players against the best young players in Europe. The moment the whistle blew\u2026 I knew we had finally arrived. Next thought, first we conquer Europe, the Worlds are next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite appeals from the Israeli players \u2014 a majority of whom are Orthodox, according to Leibowitz \u2014 Israel was scheduled to play games on Shabbat. All three teams had to forfeit, resulting in 35-0 losses.<\/p>\n<p>Leibowitz said the under-17 men\u2019s team had performed well enough to advance to the final four even with the forfeit, but that the under-17 women\u2019s team would have needed a win in Saturday\u2019s game in order to advance.<\/p>\n<p>American football is on the rise in Israel, where approximately 2,000 players, coaches and referees are now involved in the league throughout the country. The sport has made notable strides among native-born Israelis, Leibowitz told JTA earlier this year. Israel hosted the 2019 European Flag Football Championship and the 2021 Flag Football World Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Israel\u2019s men\u2019s national team won a bronze medal at the Flag Football European Championships in Limerick, Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>Leibowitz \u2014 a journalist who moved from the United States to Israel in 1974 and has spearheaded the slow but steady growth of football there \u2014 said AFI has developed enough talent to send a team to the 2024 World Championship in Finland, where finishing in the top eight would earn qualification for the 2025 World Games in China. He said the organization\u2019s ultimate goal is to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles \u2014 which might include flag football for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>After this weekend\u2019s win, Leibowitz thanked those who have financially supported the sport\u2019s growth in Israel, namely New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft \u2014 who built Israel\u2019s first football field in 2000 \u2014 as well as Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the help of the Kraft family we created a game plan and implementation is underway,\u201d Leibowitz said. \u201cIt starts with great coaches, creating stiff competition to make the team, tough Israel league competition and as much international tournament experience as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"An%20Israeli%20flag%20football%20team%20forfeited%20a%20game%20on%20Shabbat.%20It%20won%20the%20European%20championship%20anyway.\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":76438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1491],"tags":[6560,8781,8790,8788],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76439,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76437\/revisions\/76439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}