The 15-year-old Ashtamkar, who was the youngest player named to the Israel U-19 Men’s National Team, was denied participation in the World Championships by the FIL due to the minimum age rule, which does not allow players under the age of 16 to compete due to player safety concerns. The Israel Lacrosse Association launched unsuccessful appeals to both the FIL Board and the FIL Membership in an effort to overturn the decision.
Undeterred, Ashtamkar has continued to improve not only as a player on the field, but as an upstanding members of the Israel Lacrosse community, as he recently recruited and has begun coaching a team of U-11 boys in his hometown of Ramla.
On the field, Ashtamkar has been competing all season alongside North American players who are nearly twice his age in the Israel Premier Lacrosse League. He has two goals in six games for Ashdod LC this season.
The Award was accepted in Vancouver this weekend by midfielder Zachary Ornstein. Ashtamkar will be presented the award in person by his teammates at the 2016 IPLL Championship Game on Wednesday in Tel Aviv.