ASHKELON, ISRAEL — Israel Lacrosse has announced the launch of the Bill Mazer Scholarship fund, which will support the development of emerging Israeli athletes who have been identified as strong prospects to succeed in the box game.
Bill Mazer was a highly accomplished television and radio personality and considered a New York institution in sports reporting. He is recognized as the host of the first sports talk radio show in history that launched in March 1964. Based on his deep knowledge of sports trivia he earned the nickname “The A-Maz- In” and published several sports trivia books.
In 1997, Mazer was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Later he was also inducted into the hall of fame for the Buffalo Broadcasters Association and Buffalo Baseball.
“Sports were very important to my father, as was Judaism and Israel,” said Arnie Mazer, Bill’s son and the driving force behind establishing the fund. “I think by providing this scholarship, my family and I are paying tribute to him and honoring him by helping to advance Israel Lacrosse and Israeli lacrosse players in the world. Lacrosse specifically was also very important to my father, as it was a sport that he loved and he enjoying watching me, my niece and my nephew play the game. By doing this, we hope to enhance his legacy.”
Team Israel, which recently earned a fourth-place world ranking at the 2015 FIL World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, has ambitions to climb the world rankings and earn the first-ever world event medal for the Jewish State in a team sport.
“It is a privilege to work with the Mazer family and have Israel Lacrosse be associated with such a well-renowned figure in sports history,” said Scott Neiss, Founder and Executive Director of Israel Lacrosse. “We believe this partnership will help bring success to our athletes and Israel — two things that were significant to Bill — and we are committed to honoring his legacy by identifying passionate, hard-working individuals to advance their skills.”
The inaugural Bill Mazer scholarship will be awarded to Ori Bar David (Barak Netanya LC), Alon Bechor (Ashdod LC), Harel Ben Harosh (Barak Netanya LC) and Daniel Obreja (Ashkelon LC). The scholarship will aid the foursome in flights, equipment, meals and housing expense in Czech Republic at the European Box Invitational this April, as well as the 2017 European Box Lacrosse Championships in Finland in July, contingent upon their selection to the team.