Israel national American football team

Israel ישראל
Home	Away
Association	AFI
Region	Europe (EFAF)
Founded	2012
IFAF Affiliation
Colors	Blue and White
Head coach	Yonah Mishaan
General manager	Neria Granevich

The Israel national American football team is the official American football senior national team of Israel. The team formed in 2012 mainly of Israeli Football League players and coaching staff.

First Game

The first international American football game played by Israel was played 17 May 2012 in Baptist village near Petah Tikva, when the Israeli national team met Maranatha Baptist Bible College.^[1] For Israeli players it was first ever game on 100 yards field in 11 players team. In the IFL American football is played on 60 yard fields by 9 player teams (in 2012, the IFL played with 8 player teams). The game finished with a 49 - 6 Maranatha win.^[2]

Competitions

The first official game in EFAF competitions took place at 30 August 2015 in Madrid. The opponents was Spain national American football team from EFAF C Group European Championship. As a new entry Israel could earn its way into Group B.^[3] Israel won the game 28-20.^[4]

Current Playing Squad

2015 Israel National American Football Team Playing Squad (vs Spain)
Quarterbacks  5 Matt Kauffman (Haifa Underdogs) 13 Alex Swieca (University of Michigan Wolverines) Running Backs 33 Isaak Saslavsky (Tel Aviv Pioneers) 34 Ndavyah Williams (Haifa Underdogs) 41 Yuval Penta (Kfar Saba) Wide Receivers 10 Binyamin Shultz (Jerusalem Lions) 11 Yonatan Curran (Ramat haSharon Hammers) 19 Nimrod Smith (Haifa Underdogs) 80 Cameron Simmonds (Tel Aviv Pioneers) 88 Gideon Reiz (Judean Rebels) Tight Ends 82 Amit Kolton (Haifa Underdogs) 84 Shmuel Halpern (Jerusalem Lions) 89 Adam Davis (Ramat haSharon Hammers) Offensive Linemen 51 Yonatan Eliyahu (Judean Rebels) 60 Aviram Cohen (Raanana) 68 Erez Pahima (Judean Rebels) 72 Amir Nakar (Haifa Underdogs) 75 Elad Ohana (Ramat haSharon Hammers) 76 Ehud Sharon (Judean Rebels) 79 Yaniv Kovalsky (Judean Rebels)		Defensive Linemen 47 Sandro Kalandadze (Beer Sheva Black Swarm) 50 Leon Gikher (Haifa Underdogs) 65 Eyal Franfurter (Judean Rebels) 67 Avia Shermak (Tel Aviv Pioneers) 78 Uria Loberbom (Judean Rebels) 97 Evyatar Hacohen (Rehovot Silverbacks) 98 Idan Melchior (Beer Sheva Black Swarm) 99 Yizhak Manshuri (Petah Tikva Troopers) Linebackers 42 Or Shalom (Tel Aviv Pioneers) 52 Asaf Katz (Tel Aviv Pioneers) 53 Niv Medlinger (Haifa Underdogs) 56 Jeremiah Jelski (Judean Rebels) 64 Noam Dalal (Tel Aviv Pioneers) Defensive Backs 20 Dani Eastman (Judean Rebels) 21 Ariel Back (Judean Rebels) 22 Ehud Klein (Beer Sheva Black Swarm) 23 Ori Rafaelovich (Jerusalem Lions) 24 Jason Hess (Judean Rebels) 28 Guy Halberthal (Haifa Underdogs) 31 Mica Allon (Haifa Underdogs) Special Teams  7 Gal Mesika (Tel Aviv Pioneers) K/P

All time results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Final Score	Competition	Result	MVP
30 August 2015	Spain	Prado de Santo Domingo, Madrid, ESP	28 - 20	EFAF European Championship Qualifier	Win	Dani Eastman [5]

See also

• American football in Israel
• Israeli Football League

References

1. Tepper, Greg (16 May 2012). "In ‘grass roots miracle,’ Israel national team to play its first football game". Times of Israel.
2. "Israel's American football team debuts". Foxsports. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
3. "Israel’s national football team heads to Spain for first int'l showdown". Jerusalem Post. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
4. Israel's Football Team Defeats Spain in First International Game
5. "Israel Beats Spain In First International Game to Qualify for IFAF Europe’s Group B". American Football International. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.