Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv officially opened the 2011 – 2012 season with its traditional gala press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv. Plans for a Maccabi Hall of Fame were unveiled.
By Amy Samin
The Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv basketball club officially kicked off the new season with a gala press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv. The highlight of the event was the revelation that a Hall of Fame would be established in the near future, in honor of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the founding of the club.
In attendance at the event were the players, the professional staff, the club management, members of the directorate, representatives of the club’s sponsors, former players, honored guests, and members of the media.
Following a dinner buffet, the festivities got underway with opening remarks made by the club’s spokesman, Nitzan Feraro, who first introduced those sitting on the stage: club chairman Shimon Mizrahi, head coach David Blatt, and assistant coaches Guy Goodes and Derrick Sharp. Next came the first official presentation of the players of the season, with a special video clip featuring each player, including Alon Stein, who trained with the team last season and now joins the roster.
In his remarks, Shimon Mizrahi said, “Derrick Sharp is sitting here as part of the professional staff, and that is a very important thing for the club, and shows how much of a family Maccabi is. He was a player who gave everything he had to the club and will now continue to do so as an assistant coach.” After his words for the former captain of Maccabi, the chairman addressed the new season: “We will be playing in three leagues and we will be under a lot of strain. The Euroleague has been strengthened and improved by the addition of many NBA players. It will be a long and exciting season of excellent basketball.”
The next order of business was the official presentation of Tal Burstein as the new captain of the team. A special presentation of Tal’s career with the club to date was screened; he is now starting his eleventh season with the team.
Former captain and current assistant coach Derrick Sharp was asked how he likes his new job. His reply: “I’m having fun. I’m getting experience. It’s a new direction in my life. It was important to me to stay with the club. I’m comfortable with my role and I get help from others.”
The club also announced some organizational changes in management, the introduction of an official scouting department, the continuation of the partnership with farm team Hapoel Yokneam Megiddo, and the many types of community service projects performed by the organization. Later, Yaki Vadmani, CEO of Electra, Maccabi’s main sponsor, introduced the Electra Bar, a water cooler bearing the Maccabi logo.
The next speaker was head coach David Blatt, who also was honored with a special clip that summarized his achievements last season with Maccabi, as well as those he has earned as head coach of the Russian National Team and other teams. “Maccabi is much more than a team,” the coach said. “The team’s achievements didn’t just come from nowhere, they came from an enormous and very real sense of responsibility on the part of those who lead the organization: the management and the professional staff, and others who contribute and make sacrifices on behalf of the club. Also of course the players, who invest a great deal and give of themselves both on and off the court.”
“This season, there are high expectations of Maccabi, and I’m happy to say that we have all of the tools and support necessary to succeed. I’m not just talking about playing in three leagues, but also of the opportunity to play high quality basketball in as many games as possible, and to offer our fans good basketball.” Blatt continued, “Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv succeeds because of the people who make up the organization, and I hope we’ll continue with the same sense of responsibility that there has been in recent years.”
The highlight of the evening was the unveiling of an enormous project involving the long and great history of the organization that will be inaugurated in the near future, and which will take the form of a Hall of Fame in honor of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the founding of the club.
