ASHKELON, ISRAEL – Israel’s Ministry of Sport and the Ashkelon Municipality have approved the Israel Lacrosse Association’s request to re-open the National Training Center, on a limited basis and with significant precautionary measures. As of Sunday, May 10th, the Israel men’s and women’s national teams will be permitted to hold expanded practices in groups of 15.
Under the updated measures, practices will continue to initially be non-contact and with two meters of distance between players at all times. Among other precautions, athletes are expected to travel to the facility in private vehicles, temperature will be taken prior to each practice, and use of the facility showers are not permitted.
The Israel Lacrosse Association is relaxing measures roughly two weeks behind the nation’s top-level football and basketball associations.
In addition to the National Training Center in Ashkelon, the ILA may utilize fields at the Wingate Institute in Netanya, which hosted the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship.
“We’re grateful to the Ashkelon Municipality, Wingate Institute, and Ayelet (The Federation of Non-Olympic Competitive Sport in Israel) for their support in getting us back onto the field,” said David Lasday, Israel Lacrosse’s Chief Operating Officer. “This is a great step for us, and we’ll continue the process of safely returning the sport gradually to routine as quickly as possible in compliance with the regulations as directed by our Ministry of Health and Ministry of Sport.”
The updated 15-player rosters submitted to the Ministry of Sport, which may not be adjusted or intermingled during this period, are below.
Israel women’s national team
G Assayag, Lielle – Netanya
F Atiya, Liri – Kfar Yona
F Baglay, Nikol – Ashkelon
G Brager, Riley – Ashkelon
M Dahan, Leeann – Mefalsim
M Gobolev, Elian – Ashkelon
M Gorobets, Yulia – Ashkelon
D Haim, Neta – Ashkelon
M Kalimi, Nofar – Shibbolim
F McDonough, MacEllen – Netanya
M Mekenon, Atsede – Ashkelon
M Meisenberg, Sarah – Ashkelon **Acting player/coach
M Shteinfer, Leah – Ashkelon
M Tadmor, Tal – Tel Aviv
M Zvroskia, Dayana – Ashkelon
Israel men’s national team
F Abramovich, Ronen – Ashkelon
M Bar David, Ori – Netanya
M Flapan, Matthew – Tel Aviv
M Geva, Dolev – Ashkelon
F Hagbi, Oren – Sha’ar HaNegev
D Hazon, Omer – Sha’ar HaNegev
M Hevri, Gal – Be’er Sheva
G Lederman, Yonatan – Be’er Sheva
M Mahler, Seth – Tel Aviv
D Pak, Kristophser – Sderot
M Rihter, Lazar – Ashkelon
M Silberlicht, Jacob – Ashkelon **Acting player/coach
M Trojano, Samuel – Ashkelon
M Yefrach, Ronel – Nehora
D Yuffa, Daniel – Ashkelon
Per ILA policy, no other groups are permitted to practice at this time, and all domestic matches and league play remain suspended.
Although tryouts for the upcoming national team events have not yet been scheduled, the Israel women’s national team has qualified for both the 2021 World Lacrosse Championships in Baltimore, Maryland, and The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Israel men’s national team has also qualified for The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, with the rest of the men’s international calendar still taking shape following a domino-effect of postponements. It is presumed that the European Championships in Wroclaw, Poland will be rescheduled for 2021.
ILA leadership hopes to expand to additional groups of 6-15 athletes, with an initial focus on high-performance, and is continuing to evaluate on a week-to-week basis.