Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, Schunat HaTikva, 15:00
Guy Tzarfati will man the Yellow & Blue sidelines for the first time, as his club heads to Schunat HaTikva for a match against their city rivals in Orange. The Under-19 team will look to build on their fine performance from last week when they defeated Rishon Le’Zion 6:0.
Maccabi “Yoni” Netanya – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, Shapira, 08:30
Following his team’s win on Matchday One, Eliezer Ben Aharon and his Under-17 side will head to Netanya to play their counterparts from the Diamond City.
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv – Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv, Schunat HaTikva, 08:30
In an additional matchup at Schnunat HaTikva between two of the youth department clubs, Alon Brumer’s charges will look to continue their winning ways in the “Little Derby” after defeating Beitar Ramle last Matchday.
Hapoel “Dani” Jerusalem – Maccabi “Eldad”, Kiryat Yovel, 12:30
The Under-15 South side will visit Kiryat Yovel in the capital city on Saturday for a matchup against the young Yellow & Blue’s counterparts. Uri David, who will be coaching the team spoke about the new season that will open up this week: “I’ll be continuing with youngsters that I coached last season. Last campaign was successful but now we are beginning anew. Patrick’s philosophy has changed everything and we’ve worked with the players on the new path and direction that we will be going on. The squad is very talented and I hope that we can raise our level a few steps prior to the two Under-15 sides being combined at the end of the season.”
Feelings towards the upcoming season:
“For me personally, I’m beginning my ninth year with Maccabi and it’s still very exciting. I think that we’ve started the year very well and that we are headed in the right direction. Patrick brings a tremendous amount of knowledge that will dramatically help the youngsters as well as the coaches. We feel that with hard work, we will all help bring the whole youth department to new heights.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv North – Beitar “Oren” Tubruk, Kiryat Shalom, 10:00
The North Under-15 club will begin their season with clash against Beitar Tubruk at Kiryat Shalom. Amir Sofer joined the club in the middle of last season and has had a nice amount of success in his short time so far at Maccabi. He’ll have a new challenge in front of him as the players Sofer will be coaching are all brand new: “Just like every season, we are excited to get started and I hope that I”ll have the same feelings if I am still coaching 30 years from now. Starting a new season is not only a challenge because of the new players but also because of all of the other changes in the youth department system. This will also be challenging for the players. Things continue to improve from practice to practice and are looking good. It will still be some time until we get to where I want the club to be but we are making very good progress.”
Sofer also expanded on the fact that he’s starting his first full year at Maccabi:
“There’s no question that that’s the best way to come into a new team, to be there right from the get go. Working with the players from the beginning of the year will certainly make a big difference and it helps the coaches conceptually as well. Patrick has given us a lot of new information that we are learning and then giving over to the players. There’s also a learning curve on the philosophy of Maccabi for the coaches. I’m really enjoying the fact that the players are happy about the changes and that they are learning a whole new philosophy.”
