Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar,” the club’s under-19 team, notched a vital 2-1 win over league leaders Maccabi Haifa on Saturday, a first defeat for the team from the north who have won their last eight games and drawn the other.

Maccabi, who lay third in the standings at the start of play, having won their last four matches, continued their good momentum as Rave Asayag and Shaked Navon scored the goals. Eliezer Ben Aharon’s charges remain third in the standings but have closed the gap behind the leaders to three points.

Hapoel Ra’anana 2, Maccabi Tel Aviv “Oded” 0:  The U17 went down to Ra’anana away in the ninth round of action and are in fourth place in the standings with the gap from the top at five points. The boys will look to get back on track on Saturday against Ironi Nesher in a State Cup fixture.

Maccabi Tel Aviv ” Eli Fuchs” 4, Bnei Yehuda 0: Assi Haber’s charges continued their positive momentum and notched a seventh consecutive win to maintain their position at the top of the standings for another week. Bar Lin with two goals, Oscar Gloch and Ravi Nawi scored the goals.

Maccabi Tel Aviv “Eldad” 9, Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem 0: The U15 stormed into the match after managing only to draw last week to thrash the visitors. They are fourth in their division. Goals were scored by Ron Rabinovitch (two), Nikita Alexienko, Omer Diner, Osher Bruchim (hat trick), Yosef Lior and Michael Merenstein.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s under-9 team from the southern section have been named the outstanding team of the month by the club’s Youth Academy, a prize sponsored by Pizza Prego.

Academy heads Patrick van Leeuwen and Guy Zuckerman picked the side that train at Kiryat Shalom and the boys celebrated with a meal sponsored by Pizza Prego on Thursday.

They are the second team to feature in the pick for the prize and follow in the footsteps of Under-13 South, who were the first team to win the special prize.

Each month Van Leeuwen and Zuckerman will pick their outstanding team for the period. Results were not necessarily the main factor in making the choice, rather, the behaviour of the boys and their achievements off the field of play too.

“Each month we will pick a side not only according to their results but also through their behaviour and the way in which they train. This time we have picked Juniors C South because we have been heartened by the way the boys have conducted themselves. They have shown a very positive approach and have bonded well, these will be our criteria to pick sides either from the southern base at Kiryat Shalom or the northern branch at the university,” Zuckerman said.

“Our cooperation with Pizza Prego has been very fruitful from our perspective, and we are very pleased that we can reward the kids and give them a good feeling. It helps team bonding and shows commitment by both parties,” he added.

U9S are coached by Idan Biton, his assistant is Amit Stern and goalkeeping coach is Shaul Hagaiel.

The team has played one match so far this season, a win over Hapoel Beersheba.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s youth academy held a gathering on Monday for coaches and training staff from clubs throughout the country to share its approach and system in raising young players.

Representatives from Hapoel Hadera, Beitar Ramat Gan, FC Holon, Ramle SC, Beitar Tel Aviv-Bat Yam, Ironi Gedera and Ashkelon FC participated in the session led by Maccabi’s head of scouting, Ran Elias. The event was held under the auspices of Patrick Van Leeuwen, the head of the academy.

Leon Asraf, who heads the junior academy, began with a lecture which was followed by a model training session involving Maccabi’s U12 team. Goalkeeping, fitness and technique coaches among others were all on hand to discuss aspects of their work.

Elias later talked of the meeting with colleagues and discussed plans for continued
cooperation.

“This was our second gathering to display our project, and we hosted professionals from many clubs throughout the country. We will hold these meetings once every two months at the training facility at Kiryat Shalom. This time we dealt with the younger age groups and next time we will concentrate on the older players.”

Elias said that at a later stage, Maccabi coaches will visit partner advise on training methods. The project is intended to raise cooperation with smaller outfits throughout the country and increase cooperation and share knowledge and it is hoped that more clubs will join the partnership.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s girls’ team on Monday registered an easy 5-0 win over the girls of Ramat Hasharon in their second league outing of the season and added to their victory in the first round of their league opening away win over Bnot Yehuda.

The female youth team will get their league campaign under way on Saturday when
they meet Maccabi Beersheba.

Players wishing to join the club should call Dana Nuessenbaum at 050-6300890.

The female academy is run according to a programme prepared by Patrick Van Leeuwen and the project is managed by Dana Nuessenbaum who oversees coaches and support staff working to train a new generation of players under the best possible conditions.

The academy is divided into three age groups according to year of birth: Youth (2001-05), Girls (2006-08) and Youngsters (2009-12).

Training will include three soccer sessions, physical fitness, video analysis, diet, mental coaching and medical assessment.

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s under-13 team from the southern section have been named the inaugural outstanding team of the month by the club’s Youth Academy, a prize sponsored by Pizza Prego.

Academy heads Patrick van Leeuwen and Guy Zuckerman picked the side that train at Kiryat Shalom and the boys celebrated with a meal sponsored by Pizza Prego on Thursday.

The U13 South are the first team to win this special prize, and each month Van Leeuwen and Zuckerman will pick their outstanding team for the period.

Results were not necessarily the main factor in making the choice, rather, the behaviour of the boys and their achievements off the field of play too.

“Since the beginning of the year we have been impressed by the way the boys have behaved and trained and by their demeanour when they arrive for training and when they leave at the end of their session,” Zuckerman said.

“These will be the criteria that we will use to determine our outstanding teams, whether at Kiryat Shalom or at our northern base at the university.”

Zuckerman added that “cooperation with Pizza Prego has been very fruitful from our perspective, and we are very pleased that we can reward the kids and give them a good feeling. It helps team bonding and shows commitment by both parties.”

U13S are coached by Tamir Tubul, his assistant is Tom Shalom and goalkeeping coach is Eliad Graf.

The team have registered three wins in their three league outings this season, a 2-0 away win over Maccabi Petah Tikva, a 7-0 home win over Ramat Hasharon and a 3-1 away win over Maccabi Beersheba. They also scored a whopping 9-1 win over Ironi Modiin in the State Cup.