Maccabi players volunteer For the "ZuZu" project to help raise awareness of the importance of regular sport activity for children
Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club put their weight behind the fight against the phenomenon of child obesity by joining a national project recruiting Israeli athletes to encourage physical exercise among Israel's children. This morning eleven Maccabi players went to four different schools in Holon and Azor to promote the project. Guy Haimov, Moshiko Lugassi and Barak Itzhaki went to Yoseftal school, where they spoke to pupils about the importance of sport activities and played a match with them, with Itzhaki and Lugassi strengthenening their respective sides and Haimov acting as referee. Roi Kahat and Avi Strul went to Hashivaa school and spoke, as home grown players, about their beginnings in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s football school and at the Club.
At the same time, six other players went to two other schools in Holon. Yoav Ziv, Omer Vered and Dor Micha were hosted by Ben-Zvi school and Gal Alberman, Eli Zizov and Klemi Saban visited the Weizman school. The players filled the pupils in on the latest statistics and the alarm bells they've set off. Israeli pupils watch television and surf the internet longer than in any other country, and one in four children suffers from obesity. The players recommended that the youngsters should choose sport activities they enjoy and stick with them. The activities don't have to be competitive of course, but should be practised at least one hour per day, four times a week.
Goalkeeper Guy Haimov talked about his past as an overweight child. For him, physical activity was much more than a hobby, so he welcomes the initiative of the project: “I really identify with the problem. When I was a child I was overweight and managed to change my eating habits thanks to sports and training at Maccabi Tel Aviv. I feel so fortunate that it helped me. The ZuZu project is very important for children – it gives them food for thought as well as exercise. At the end of the activity, one of the children came up to me and asked me what he should do to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle."
