Something good is happening to Israeli basketball at a young age in recent years.
The successes of the Israeli national teams are the result of good work being done in the basketball association, but beyond that it is a positive in-depth process that also goes through the various associations and clubs.
Hapoel Emek Hefer is one of the best examples of the development that many of the clubs have undergone at the level of professionalism and thoroughness.
Until a few years ago, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Gilboa / Springs, Maccabi Rishon LeZion and other associations stood out and excelled in their youth, and recently Emek Hefer also joined the top group.
We will get a good example of this on the eve of the finals, which will be held on Tuesday in the new hall in Hadera, where the club's youth team will face Hapoel Gilboa / Maayanot and the boys' team will meet Maccabi Tel Aviv in an attempt to win two trophies.
The work done at the club is reflected first and foremost in achievement.
The youth team won a double last season under the guidance of Yehu Orland, who is successful in his debut season in coaching seniors at Hapoel Hevel Modiin.
Also this season, under the guidance of Amit Ben David, the youth team leads the table after victories over all the top teams, and as mentioned will try to defend the trophy tonight.
The first team of coach Ramon Wolfson will also play in the cup final, and in the league it is in first place.
Team B is in first place in Leumit B, as well as the other teams in the division are ranked at the top of the leagues in which they play.
Hefer Valley.
Achievement Club, Photo: Yoni Scherzer
Last summer, after leaving Orland, who also coached the youth and also served as the department's professional director, the club's leaders closed with Adi Amos, who in recent years served as the coach of the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team and also works for the young Israeli national teams, as a replacement, but at the last minute Oren Aharoni decided To go to Herzliya, and Maccabi put a lot of pressure on Amos, who will also take over the coaching of the youth team and the position of professional manager of the yellow department.
In a short time, the heads of the Hefer Valley closed with Amit Ben-David, who is known as one of the smart players who has played in Israel in recent decades and in recent years has worked as an assistant coach and head coach in the Premier League.
As mentioned, even under the new professional-manager-manager, the level of achievement and player development continues.
Beyond achievements, the most important goal of the youth departments is to export players, and here too Emek Hefer does a great job - the reserve team coordinator Shoham Gat, succeeds this season in the Modiin region under Orland who coached him in Emek Hefer, Noam Yaakov excels at the prestigious Wheelerban Academy The Israeli, Eviatar Mor Yosef who is also prominent in Leumit and other players.
After the departure of Yaakov last summer, one of the key players in the youth team this season is Ben Sharaf (15, 1.96m) who grew up at the club.
The guard recently received a prestigious summons to the "next generation" team of Europe coached by the legendary former star Vasilis Spanoulis in the Euroleague youth tournament.
One of the great prides of youth departments is how many players they provide each summer to the various teams.
Over the years the senior clubs we mentioned above have provided the most players to the teams, however this summer it seems that almost all teams (from the ages of 14-15 to the reserve team) will have between two and four players from Emek Hefer.
Anyone familiar with adolescence knows that this is an impressive figure.
To help the young players get ready for their professional careers, the club has a senior team that plays in the national league and until this season was made up of five senior players who came from outside and the rest of the club's youth team players in both the youth and national leagues, under the same coach.
Only recently have they qualified for the playoffs in the National League.
According to the plan, from next season the team in the national league will be exclusively for the youth department graduates aged 18-23 who will play in it for a season or two before they feel ready to continue their professional careers.
In addition, the club operates within the framework of the Association for the Promotion of Sports in the Hefer Valley, managed by Philip Simon and under the Emek Hefer Council and Council Chairman Dr. Galit Shaul, operates a basketball academy at Ramot Yam School in Mikhmoret with a boarding school and a school envelope provided by the school principal. Also as chairman of the Volleyball Association.
"We understood that management and the method of work are the things that can take us to the next level and also preserve what we have achieved," says club director Lior Kaplinsky.
“We are working with a book of procedures that we have built in accordance with some 9001 (a series of international quality standards, defined by the International Organization for Standardization, JM).
"We have built a vision and from it comes a work plan for all levels in the club. This vision depends on every training hall and every office in the club, because a visionless organization may succeed, but can not stay on top for long. All our managers and coaches are committed to the club 24/7. The club and the community, and they are the foundation for success. "
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