Despite weather forcing a move indoors to the TCO Performance Center – the training facility of the Minnesota Vikings, more than 100 people showed up to cheer on Israel’s under-17 Flag Football as they took on their counterparts of Team USA.
And while the result wasn’t what the Israelis hoped – USA won – the experience goes beyond the results.
“I want the guys to understand that [while] it’s winning and losing, there’s the benefits that we get from this journey,” said Mikey Kozadayev, one of the team captains. “It’s not just the football and all that. I mean, we’re playing in the Vikings facility. It’s insane. It’s beautiful here. We’re meeting awesome people, we’re doing stuff with the community, and we just want to play football. We want to score. And at the end of the day, it’s about the impact that we have on the community.”
Among the spectators were members of the Vikings leadership team, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Lester Bagley and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Miller, former Vikings and Yinam Cohen, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, who was in town for meetings and had to make the trip to Eagan
Yinam Cohen, the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest talks with Carey Fried, one of the trip organizers from American Football in Israel, at the Israel U-17 flag football game against Team USA in Eagan. (Lonny Goldsmith/TC Jewfolk)
“This is very exciting for us, and especially seeing an Israeli team here, especially in the atmosphere of today, it is something that really makes me very proud,” Cohen said. “For me, these kids are the face of Israeli resilience. In a couple of years, they’re going to be serving in the IDF. Many of their peers in Israel have been under a lot of mental health issues and pain over the past year and a half, and the fact that they’re finding the strength not only to be the European champions, but also to come to America and play against Team USA.”
Cohen pointed out that Israel has no football heritage or history like the Americans do. But the Israelis were not intimidated by the Americans – even when one of them broke out of their pregame huddle with a standing backflip and starting down the Israeli sideline.
“It takes much more than American players teasing them to actually scare them,” Cohen said.
Also in attendance was former Viking and Chicago Bears tight end Brent Novoselsky, who has been working as an ambassador for American football in Israel.
“I got goosebumps watching them,” he said. “You’ve got the Vikings logo (on the field), you’ve got a Jewish team with all these kids watching them. Kids on the sideline throwing football with their tzitzit hanging out. It’s amazing.”
The result notwithstanding, it’s an experience Novoselsky said they can – and will – learn from.
“The key to anything is you go through failure,” he said. “You’ve got to put a heavier weight on the bar, and you’re not going to lift it, right? Eventually, you will.”
Steve Leibowitz, the founder of American Football in Israel, said the result was exactly what he expected it would be.
David Arking autographs a football for one of the kids in attendance at Team Israel’s U-17 flag football game against Team USA. (Lonny Goldsmith/TC Jewfolk).
“I knew that we’re better than anyone in Europe, and we’re not better than a lot of guys in this country. That’s the idea as we head towards the next stage.”
Dani Eastman, the team’s defensive coordinator and interim head coach, said the team met its goal of getting kids an opportunity to play.
“The goal we came into this was to get a lot of these kids quality reps versus an excellent opponent. We got that.” he said. “We’re gonna get more of it (Friday), which is great. It never feels good to put up less points than the other team, but to get out there, and a lot of these kids got an unbelievable experience, and are continuing to get an unbelievable experience.”
As time was dwindling in the game and the result out of reach, Kozadayev said the group was still positive.
“We just try to keep it positive on our sideline,” Kozadayev said. “We try to keep it positive all the time, no matter what’s going on. We’re playing the sport that we love, in a place that we love, with the people that we love. There’s nothing better in the world. Except for winning. We’ll get there.”
