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Football is played for 90 minutes, and at the end there is an exit Israel today

2022-07-08T20:36:13.183Z


The success of the Israeli football team up to the age of 19, and the huge sums of money paid in world football, ignited the imagination of many parents when it comes to their son's career • But in practice, to become a successful athlete, money is required in most cases


Last weekend, the Israeli youth football team (up to the age of 19) managed to make history and finish in second place at the European Football Championship.

This is a record achievement for the young football in the country, and one of the greatest sporting achievements in our history.

Of course, no one knows what will happen to the young stars, but the expectation that some of them will be sold for tens of millions of euros to clubs across the European continent - can testify above all that this success is first and foremost about money, a lot of money.

This is how it is in the commercialized age of world sports in general, and in football, the popular sport in the world, in particular.

"In the age we live and work in today, you can find yourself having a conversation with a 15-year-old boy who is already equipped with an entire hive that runs him, usually headed by his father," explains Hapoel Tel Aviv football representative Boaz Toshav.

"Of course you do not know what will happen to the child and if he eventually becomes a professional player, but for him he is here because he is sure he will become a player who can play in Europe. "Of the youth team, which only increases and increases the appetite. Looking at everything related to children and youth in many cases is completely business, as if it were an investment in a start-up, for example."

Football is the leading sport in the world, and as a result has become a real industry in the last millennium;

One that locates players around the world at a young age using all the means at its disposal, to determine if the athlete can become a star that will yield millions of dollars.

The competition is great, so most parents - who once made do with the football coach who will do all the work - now hire their own personal trainers, fitness coaches and nutritionists, not forgetting the mental aspect either.

"I guess the boy has cost me respectable sums of money so far," says the father of a young football star in his teens who is already familiar to football fans.

"I do not think there was another option for us. What the basic framework knows how to give is not enough. Think that most youth footballers do not become players, and the vast majority will not go far in football and will not earn large sums of money.

"To go out and play in Europe, you have to invest a lot more. What does it require of me? Two very significant resources: time, to accompany it to all training and games from a very young age, and of course money. Not all parents can invest that time and money. By the way, it I do not mean that it is a sure recipe for success, but without it, the chances are even smaller. "

So does football, which has given birth to Cinderella stories like Maradona, Pele, Messi and Ronaldo, also close the door on the lower classes?

Not yet.

"I think the Israeli national football team is the essence and refinement of Israeli society, and as is well known, football has the ability to identify social processes," explains Prof. Yair Galili of Reichman University.

Manor Solomon, Photo: Alan Shiver

"You have players in the team like Nehorai Yifrach who come from the periphery, from a very clear socio-economic background, and you have players who come from north Tel Aviv, and also Arabs. There is representation for Israeli society as it is now.

"Israeli football still knows how to give the opportunity for social mobility and that is its uniqueness. You see the amount of Arab players in it, and due to the fact that it is available to everyone, it is of course different from individual sports. In individual sports you need more money naturally. Different accordingly, in relation to the one who turns to football or basketball. "

Ride to success

A quick look at Israel's medal winners, including our all-time successful athletes in modern times, reveals a very clear picture: most of them came from economically established families, those who encouraged the family members to pursue a sporting career and made it possible thanks to the necessary economic strength.

In Israel, unlike many places in the world, the connection is very noticeable.

A girl in Israel needs a supportive family: both mentally and materially.

"But it's not just in football and not just in women. All Israeli sports have changed, and that is of course related to the processes that have happened here in the country," explains Gil Maayan, head of the Wingate Academy of Excellence, where the future generation of Israeli sports is being developed.

"You read articles with past athletes who tell how they rode buses and rides to the Wingate Institute just because they did not want to miss training. Today there are no such stories, because everyone comes to Wingate by car or public transportation from anywhere in the country, and of course the Israeli economy has changed.

"In boarding school I can not diagnose something common to all that is related only to the material issue, but mainly to family support and internal drive. It is clear that if an athlete chooses a profession like sailing, tennis or in extreme golf, they must come from a family that can afford the expensive equipment. "Once you have this distinction related to family support and financial means, naturally there is already a selection of who goes to which sport."

Israeli sports, then, have become an expensive business, just like life itself.

But one of the interesting things that emerges when we momentarily differentiate between football and basketball and the Olympic disciplines, is family support.

While in most families in Israel, when the son announces in the home living room that he is going to the soccer club, the father jumps for joy - it seems that a similar message from the daughter in the family will be received with less enthusiasm.

And yet, when we look at the socio-economic context, we can already understand that there is a connection between things, especially for female sports.

"Individual sports are inherently more expensive than team sports. In every city you have a soccer field or a basketball court, but when you talk about infrastructure for other sports, you find that we are in a completely different situation from what is happening in the world," explains Dafna Lang.

"One of the industries that is growing tremendously in the State of Israel and among girls and women in particular - is the field of bicycles. It is clear from the outset that this is not a cheap sport, the equipment is more expensive than the football or basketball equipment,

"On the other hand, cycling is something we all use every day, so it is familiar to us from our daily lives and has a wide range of attractions but not professionally. This sport is pre-branded as more prestigious, and not just in Israel."

Leading in the field, and in the economy

So the popular sports, as they were called in the sports press, are disappearing for them.

In old age, however, there is a huge boom in everything related to amateur sports - as evidenced by the thousands of runners, riders and also Mamant players who have reached the age where the penny and time are in their pockets, allowing them to adopt a hobby regardless of costs.

But when it comes to professional sports, it seems that Israel is closing in on very specific groups in the population.

Girls and women will do sports mainly in the center of the country and will come from high socio-economic strata in most cases;

Football leads as a male sport, and will remain the leading industry in the periphery.

And what about the Arab sector?

There, athletes are already encountering two obstacles - the traditional society that does not sanctify sports and certainly not women's sports, and of course the multiple economic means: "If you want a sore spot," explains Gil Maayan, "this is sports in the Arab sector. Since the 1970s the sector has not I did not seek to check who is to blame, but only reflects a painful point in Israeli society and sports. "And in beautiful numbers."

Prof. Galili reinforces his words: "The Arab sector is mainly integrated into the football industry for obvious reasons. It should be added that football, as a sport, is the one that provides the greatest opportunity for social mobility. It is the power of this game, so it continues to carry entire populations. It was not perceived as a sport for the rich and its image remains popular. "

"There is no doubt that in terms of social integration, football is much ahead of the society in which it operates," explains a resident.

“Nationalism is thrown out the window when it comes to football, on the pitch at the end the players play for the shirt, for the fans, and that is also the attitude towards them in most cases.

The sport has changed.

Fountain,

"They understand, for example, that they are part of Hapoel Tel Aviv for all that that implies, and the phenomena that happen in the public space often do not enter the football space. In the game, loyalty is to Hapoel and nothing else. Thus, football also distinguishes itself from other sports, of course. Individuals, in which the fact that you represent a particular country is more prominent. "

So yes, a glance at the data related to Israeli sports shows that boys and girls turn to more expensive sports, while boys and boys clearly go to football and basketball.

While for boys the horizon is wide and large, and is mainly expressed in economic dreams alongside the dreams of professional success - for girls these are short dreams, certainly not those related to livelihood.

There is nothing to talk about big dreams, perhaps due to the small number of role models that exist in women's sports in Israel.

"I think the main difference is really in how far girls dream," explains Shiri Gould, a former Israeli basketball player and currently the director of Maccabi Tel Aviv's operations department in basketball, girls and boys.

"Today we operate mainly in the north and center of Tel Aviv. The population we work with is very clear and this is due to many reasons: in the periphery there is no infrastructure, the perception of a girl or girl playing basketball is different, and a significant change is needed in most Israeli society.

"Unlike boys or boys, the thoughts here are not about the career that awaits them or how much money they will earn later. We can say that whoever succeeds on the sports field and makes a career, will later become a leading woman in the Israeli economy. This connection exists in significant numbers."

The new millionaires

Turning your boy or girl into an athlete is a pretty expensive business.

The basic costs in industries like football are 600,000 shekels until the age of 18. In industries like sailing or tennis, prices go up of course.

No one guarantees you success, and life as an athlete is short, and usually amounts to 10 years of a successful career.

A reasonable Israeli footballer in the Premier League teams earns around NIS 30,000 net a month - a contract that most of the stars of the current youth team will probably receive after waking up from the dream.


This week we were also informed that Manor Solomon, the footballer who grew up in the youth department of Maccabi Petah Tikva, signed with the English Fulham team for a record sum of seven million euros, a record sum for an Israeli footballer.

Maccabi Petah Tikva, as well as the MS Ashdod team, are teams whose entire purpose is to improve players and sell them at the highest possible price, in order to continue to maintain the club in the Israeli Premier League.


Another new star who left Petah Tikva is Liel Abda, who signed with Celtic from the Scottish league.

Those who live in the Israeli football scene know the humble family of the player from Petah Tikva;

Abda's father, Ronen, a barn warehouseman for the past 30 years, who, despite the strenuous work that begins long before the hot hawk, accompanied his son everywhere with the goal that the son would take the family to a better future, not just financially.

His mother works as an accountant in the exact same company.

When their son's deal, valued at NIS 11 million, was signed, the two shed a tear and were unable to close their eyes throughout the night.

Understandably - this is the night when they turned from a family that struggles every day for a livelihood into new millionaires, thanks to "the most beautiful game in the world". 

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-07-08

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