The Maccabiah Games takes place every four years and is a multi sport competition for Jews throughout the world. Maccabi Tel Aviv had a number of scouts under the auspices of the Club’s Performance Director Patrick van Leeuwen that observed the football tournament which consisted of youngsters from all around the world. Those who made their mark were invited to join the Youth Department’s training sessions by age group as connections for the present and future were made with many different individuals and organizations.
The Under-19 team has been training for two weeks and was joined by 8 players from the Maccabiah. The Under-17 side which began training last week, had 4 Maccabiah players who took part in their sessions, while tomorrow the Under-16 club starts their 2017/18 preparations and will have a few more Maccabiah players as well. The youngsters who are on trial have come from countries such as South Africa, Canada and across the United States.
Interestingly enough one of the players from Canada has the same last name as owner Mitch Goldhar, however after a quick check it was determined that there was no relation between the two. All of the players had an enjoyable time as one of them commented: “It was a lot of fun to take part in the training sessions and it was a big honor as well. The hospitality was amazing and the facilities of the club were very high quality.” 
Ran Elias who heads the Scouting Department and was responsible for the project explained: “A few months ago we analyzed which players would be coming to play in the Maccabiah, specifically looking at the 16-18 age range. Over the course of the tournament we saw many players from various countries and those who made their mark and lasting impression were invited to join the Maccabi Youth Department training sessions. Of course we are working in full cooperation with the coaches and the delegation heads. The idea here is to create relationships, follow the players progress and potentially have them join the Club should they meet our requirements while helping them immigrate to Israel.”
