Two Championships, four League Cups and a whole host of young players whose abilities have improved from week to week. Another successful season at the Youth Division of Maccabi Tel Aviv
The 2012/2013 season has finally come to a close, not only for the Championship senior squad but also for all the teams in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division. And once again, the Youth Division can look back upon a season of successes: Two Championship and four League Cup plates now line the shelves of the Youth Division trophy cabinet while the list of talented youngsters improving their abilities grows ever longer.
Teams of all ages shared in those successes, with only the Division's flagship side, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", failing to fulfill their title aspirations. Having harvested three titles (two championships and one league cup) in the past two years, Maccabi's Under 19s had a season characterised by inconsistency, just missing out on the chance to go into the record books by winning three championships in succession. In losing their first three matches, head coach Amir Turgeman's lads had a difficult task ahead of them in making up lost ground throughout the rest of the season. A second round record of 13 wins in 15 matches nearly brought about a change at the top of the table but still left them a point behind the ultimate title winners, Maccabi Haifa. Still, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" boasted three outstanding goal scorers who divided the work quite evenly among themselves. First in line was striker Dor Jan, whose excellent form last season carried on into this one with 14 league goals. Close behind was midfielder Guy Cohen, also in his second season with the Under 19s, with 12 goals, a 300% improvement over last season. The third Under 19 to get into double figures this season was midfielder Sharon Ziso, whose 10 goals was also a significant advancement over last season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 17's (the class of '96) ended the season with an impressive League Championship, finishing 17 points ahead of their nearest rival Hapoel Tel Aviv in the National Under 17 League South. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" also finished with the league's best offence (114 goals) and defence (only 12 goals conceded), completing an almost perfect season of 24 wins to only one draw and one defeat all year. Three of Maccabi's Under 17 players finished at the head of the league's goal scoring table: Midfielder Yonatan Cohen (brother of Under 19 Guy) with 24 goals, striker Sohil Armeli, who came to "Oded" at the beginning of the season from Youth Club Nesher , with 21 goals and midfielder Matan Hozaz with 20 goals in the 2012/13 season.
Another title earned in Maccabi's Youth Division came from the Under 16s, who won the League Cup. In all six of their ties in Cup competition, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" conceded just one goal, and their impressive 3-0 Cup final victory over Maccabi Haifa came courtesy of goals from Omri Haramati, Ayalon Yerushalmi and Raz Yitschak. A second League Cup added to the Youth Division trophy cabinet was provided by Maccabi's Under 14 Team South (class of '99), who thoroughly outclassed their opponents in the final, Ashdod FC, by a score of 4-0. A second Championship trophy was added to the Youth Division Cabinet by the class just one year behind them, the Under 13 Team North, under the able leadership of Adi Somech. They secured the title with one match to spare by beating Maccabi's Under 13 Team South 2-0 in an intra-club derby.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's class of 2001 retained the League Cup for the third consecutive year thanks to Under 12 Team North. Head Coach Asaf Propheta's youngsters beat Hapoel Rishon Lezion 2-1 at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan to become Maccabi Tel Aviv's first title winners of the 2012/13 season. The match was held as part of the Israeli Football Association's Open House that featured a second final as well, one in which Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 10 Team South also celebrated a 2-1 victory over their opponents Maccabi Petah Tikva.