Team Israel Lacrosse – Aliyah In Action – Dec. 16th Exhibition Game
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
All Photos courtesy of Larry Palumbo / Coyote Magic Photography – Thanks!
Aliyah – the Hebrew term for the emigration of Jews from the Diaspora back to the land of Israel. The return to the Jewish Holy Land has been a long-held concept for the Jewish people ever since Biblical days. An interesting sub-section of Aliyah is that of the American Jewish athlete that seeks to dip their toes into the water by participating in international competition under the flag of Israel. Which brings us to the topic of this article . . . the establishment of Team Israel in the world of international lacrosse and its’ long term desire to make their mark in a sport that historically has had quite a number of successful Jewish athletes play this sport in this country.
Yeah, I can hear the snickers out there; after all how many of us have heard the joke about the shortest books ever written including Great Jewish Athletes? Not in this sport.
Just look at the coaching staff.
Head Coach Bill Beroza (on the right) is in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame too. I have a personal connection to Bill although he didn’t know about it until a few weeks ago. In the spring of 1977 I sat in the stands at Boswell Field in Geneva, New York watching Bill set the all-time record for saves in an NCAA tournament game THAT STILL STANDS. He then went on to represent the U.S. on the national team.
Assistant Coach Mark Greenberg (in the middle) actually achieved more. National Player of the Year as a defenseman for three-time national champion Johns Hopkins from 1978-80; multiple first team All-American and a member of the U.S. national team. One of the all-time greats.
Assistant Coach Jeff Goldberg (on the left) is better known locally as the coach of the St. Andrew’s dynasty, setting team records for state championships that will likely never be matched. But what gets lost in that record is Jeff’s record as a player, starring at North Carolina State while that program still existed and playing in the forerunner of Major League Lacrosse, the NLL.
And look at the recent past of NCAA play; Max Seibald winning the Tewaraaton Trophy at Cornell, Adam Ghitelman, the starting goalie for the Virginia Cavaliers, Jordan Levine of Albany, Doc Schneider, the goalie from UMass (any reason why so many Jewish goalies Coach Beroza?), Duke attackman Jordan Wolf and so many others fit the bill. Not bad for a group that some look down on.
This coming Sunday Team Israel will play an exhibition game at Miami Country Day School in North Miami against a hybrid team composed of FIU supplemented by some more experienced players from around the area. The starting time is set for 6:00pm. This exhibition game is the first in a series of games to help Team Israel get set for their inclusion in the 2014 FIL Men’s World Championships, which will be held in Denver, Colorado this summer at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the home of the MLS’ Colorado Rapids.
What will make this summer interesting is how Coach Beroza will utilize this time frame to build a Team Israel culture going forward. In discussions with me he strongly indicated his desire to steer Team Israel in a direction that will favor Jewish athletes who are willing to commit fully towards Team Israel, particularly with the American Jewish lacrosse player. He wants to utilize that platform to also build the grass roots of lacrosse in Israel so that future youth teams will eventually feed Team Israel rosters.
A number of the players listed above will have to face an interesting decision (Seibald has already played for the U.S. National Team in a World Championship so he is not eligible for Israel in 2014); do they want to try out for Team USA or do they want to commit to Team Israel? Coach Beroza believes strongly that he wants only those players who truly want to represent Israel as their first choice, not as a consolation prize if they fail to make Team USA.
Coach Beroza also needs to look at the long term growth of the sport in Israel and how it might be turbo-charged by the access to American Jewish players, particularly if the player commits to Aliyah themselves. So the roster for the exhibition game focuses on that long term goal too, with the inclusion of a number of high school students and recent high school graduates for the game, to give them a taste of what Team Israel will be all about.
One local connection to the team will be the debut of Boca Raton raised Lee Coppersmith. Coppersmith is coming off a successful playing career for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, after leading St. Andrew’s to a number of state championships. Coppersmith was featured in the Inside Lacrosse Magazine issue last season (actually pictured on the cover!) that focused on how much speed is influencing the college game. Lee performed as a high scoring midfielder and scored a number of key goals for the Blue Jays through his career. Lee then was drafted into the MLL and was recently traded to the new Florida Launch franchise that will start play next summer.
A few other college players will also make their team debuts on Sunday. Three names that caught my eye were Jeremy Tissenbaum (Jeremy has already made his debut in 2012), Matt Opsahl and Mike Grosz (Mike has already played in 2012 too). Tissenbaum is a three-year starting middie for Jacksonville, having transferred from Hobart College after his freshmen year. Opsahl just finished his freshmen year at Hobart after being a highly recruited attackman from the Bullis School. Grosz is a middie and face-off specialist from Robert Morris, an up and coming program in Division I. Add Kyle Bergman from Drexel and Alex Wilson of Detroit Mercy and St. Andrew’s (Detroit almost pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA Division I tournament in May against high-seed Notre Dame) and there is some nice talent to start to build on.
A number of players are also currently playing for Tufts up in Boston or are graduates and are no strangers to high level competition as Tufts has had one of the best Division III programs in the country the last five years, including winning the national championship in 2010.
The high school contingent carries an understandably local contingent with many players from the area’s high schools as can be seen in the projected team roster below:
Team Israel will be announcing its’ official roster for the World Championships in January and it is likely to include an approximately even breakdown of American and Israeli players.
Team Israel looks forward to this event and hopes the local population will come out to support their efforts. Those interested in helping to contribute their time or financial support to the team is urged to contact Team Israel through their web site http://www.lacrosse.co.il/get-involved/donation-info/
Head Coach Bill Beroza (on the right) is in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame too. I have a personal connection to Bill although he didn’t know about it until a few weeks ago. In the spring of 1977 I sat in the stands at Boswell Field in Geneva, New York watching Bill set the all-time record for saves in an NCAA tournament game THAT STILL STANDS. He then went on to represent the U.S. on the national team.
Assistant Coach Mark Greenberg (in the middle) actually achieved more. National Player of the Year as a defenseman for three-time national champion Johns Hopkins from 1978-80; multiple first team All-American and a member of the U.S. national team. One of the all-time greats.
Assistant Coach Jeff Goldberg (on the left) is better known locally as the coach of the St. Andrew’s dynasty, setting team records for state championships that will likely never be matched. But what gets lost in that record is Jeff’s record as a player, starring at North Carolina State while that program still existed and playing in the forerunner of Major League Lacrosse, the NLL.
And look at the recent past of NCAA play; Max Seibald winning the Tewaraaton Trophy at Cornell, Adam Ghitelman, the starting goalie for the Virginia Cavaliers, Jordan Levine of Albany, Doc Schneider, the goalie from UMass (any reason why so many Jewish goalies Coach Beroza?), Duke attackman Jordan Wolf and so many others fit the bill. Not bad for a group that some look down on.
This coming Sunday Team Israel will play an exhibition game at Miami Country Day School in North Miami against a hybrid team composed of FIU supplemented by some more experienced players from around the area. The starting time is set for 6:00pm. This exhibition game is the first in a series of games to help Team Israel get set for their inclusion in the 2014 FIL Men’s World Championships, which will be held in Denver, Colorado this summer at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the home of the MLS’ Colorado Rapids.
What will make this summer interesting is how Coach Beroza will utilize this time frame to build a Team Israel culture going forward. In discussions with me he strongly indicated his desire to steer Team Israel in a direction that will favor Jewish athletes who are willing to commit fully towards Team Israel, particularly with the American Jewish lacrosse player. He wants to utilize that platform to also build the grass roots of lacrosse in Israel so that future youth teams will eventually feed Team Israel rosters.
A number of the players listed above will have to face an interesting decision (Seibald has already played for the U.S. National Team in a World Championship so he is not eligible for Israel in 2014); do they want to try out for Team USA or do they want to commit to Team Israel? Coach Beroza believes strongly that he wants only those players who truly want to represent Israel as their first choice, not as a consolation prize if they fail to make Team USA.
Coach Beroza also needs to look at the long term growth of the sport in Israel and how it might be turbo-charged by the access to American Jewish players, particularly if the player commits to Aliyah themselves. So the roster for the exhibition game focuses on that long term goal too, with the inclusion of a number of high school students and recent high school graduates for the game, to give them a taste of what Team Israel will be all about.
One local connection to the team will be the debut of Boca Raton raised Lee Coppersmith. Coppersmith is coming off a successful playing career for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, after leading St. Andrew’s to a number of state championships. Coppersmith was featured in the Inside Lacrosse Magazine issue last season (actually pictured on the cover!) that focused on how much speed is influencing the college game. Lee performed as a high scoring midfielder and scored a number of key goals for the Blue Jays through his career. Lee then was drafted into the MLL and was recently traded to the new Florida Launch franchise that will start play next summer.
A few other college players will also make their team debuts on Sunday. Three names that caught my eye were Jeremy Tissenbaum (Jeremy has already made his debut in 2012), Matt Opsahl and Mike Grosz (Mike has already played in 2012 too). Tissenbaum is a three-year starting middie for Jacksonville, having transferred from Hobart College after his freshmen year. Opsahl just finished his freshmen year at Hobart after being a highly recruited attackman from the Bullis School. Grosz is a middie and face-off specialist from Robert Morris, an up and coming program in Division I. Add Kyle Bergman from Drexel and Alex Wilson of Detroit Mercy and St. Andrew’s (Detroit almost pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA Division I tournament in May against high-seed Notre Dame) and there is some nice talent to start to build on.
A number of players are also currently playing for Tufts up in Boston or are graduates and are no strangers to high level competition as Tufts has had one of the best Division III programs in the country the last five years, including winning the national championship in 2010.
The high school contingent carries an understandably local contingent with many players from the area’s high schools as can be seen in the projected team roster below:
| NO | POS | NAME | HOMETOWN / COLLEGE |
| 1 | M | Sam Cohen | Miami Beach, FL / Miami Country Day School |
| 2 | M | Max Waldman | Key Biscayne, FL / Ransom Everglades School |
| 3 | M | Mack Shoer | Miami Beach, FL / Ransom Everglades School |
| 5 | M | Ben Saperstein | Hewlett, NY / Tufts University |
| 6 | M/FO | Josh Bernstein | Boca Raton, FL / St. Andrew’s School |
| 7 | M | Alex Wilson | Boca Raton, FL / University of Detroit Mercy |
| 9 | G | Mark Chaplin | Miami Beach, FL / University of Miami |
| 10 | F | Jordan Karp | Miami Beach, FL / Miami Country Day School |
| 13 | F | Zach Nisson | Long Grove, IL / Manhattan College |
| 15 | M | Daniel Young | Gulf Stream, FL / St. Andrew’s School |
| 16 | M | Cody Levine | Purchase, NY / Cornell University |
| 17 | M/FO | Marc Woolf | Boca Raton, FL / Pine Crest School |
| 18 | M | Jonathan Segal | Miami Beach, FL / Pine Crest School |
| 19 | D | Eytan Saperstein | Hewlett, NY / Tufts University |
| 22 | M | Jake Bernstein | Boca Raton, FL / St. Andrew’s School |
| 23 | M | Lee Coppersmith | Boca Raton, FL / Johns Hopkins University |
| 24 | LSM | Alec Bialosky | Moreland Hills, OH / Tufts University |
| 26 | D | Chris Friedman | Freeport, NY / Briarcliff College |
| 30 | G | Jacob Reiner | Farmington, CT / Clark University |
| 31 | D | Mark Jutkowitz | Bethesda, MD / University of Maryland |
| 33 | D | Cole Borg | Boca Raton, FL / Lynn University |
| 35 | M | Ross Koenig | Potomac, MD / Dickinson College |
| 36 | F | Brad Neuman | Woodbury, NY / Georgetown University |
| 37 | F | Jeremy Tissenbaum | Miami, FL / Jacksonville University |
| 43 | M | Kyle Bergman | Toronto, ON / Drexel University |
| 91 | F | Matt Opsahl | Potomac, MD / Hobart College |
| 96 | M/FO | Mike Grosz | St. Louis, MO / Robert Morris University |
Team Israel will be announcing its’ official roster for the World Championships in January and it is likely to include an approximately even breakdown of American and Israeli players.
Team Israel looks forward to this event and hopes the local population will come out to support their efforts. Those interested in helping to contribute their time or financial support to the team is urged to contact Team Israel through their web site http://www.lacrosse.co.il/get-involved/donation-info/