Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv Continues with One Team

By Amy Samin

For the third season in a row, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv will be playing an active role in the Euroleague community service project, One Team. Nineteen clubs from all over Europe participate in this project, which is a volunteer program focusing on aiding children and youth, especially those from troubled neighborhoods or those with special needs, seeking to provide them with important life and social skills through basketball and to help them integrate into community life. The project is not designed for teaching basketball, but rather to learning values through basketball.

In September, Maccabi’s project manager Carolyn Dreyer and one of the project coaches, Oded Shalom, flew to Istanbul to take part in a training workshop; they are now preparing to kick off the club’s third season with the project. Representatives from all of the clubs took part in the workshop, as did organizers of similar projects from around Europe.

This year, the plan is to involve as many institutions as possible and to recruit as many volunteers as possible in order to reach as many children as possible and to expand the range of our project. The project will entail weekly meetings of one and a half to two hours in length for a period of three months, possibly more. During the meetings, the coaches create exercises which convey important messages to the children which will help them develop life skills.

For the last two years, within the framework of the One Team project, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv has worked with the Ben Galim Hostel and Shanti House. At the end of the process we could see a huge improvement in the group – which became unified and focused, as the members learned to persevere and to help and communicate with one another. During the course of the project, we also try to create unforgettable experiences – practices at Nokia Arena, get-togethers with the players and coaches, invitations to games, etc.

Our main goal for this year is to involve our fans in this project. You do not need to be a basketball coach to participate.

We would be very happy to have your participation.  Please contact Carolyn at 03-605-9333 extension 6 or by email at Carolyn@maccabi.co.il

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