If you’re a sports fan—especially a follower of English football or soccer, as it’s often called—you probably understand the illogical metaphysics of hope. It’s not optimism, exactly. It’s not even faith. It’s more like a shared delusion fueled by the potential heartbreak that exists because the alternative is unbearable.
You have to believe the equalizer is coming in stoppage time, because if you don’t, you’re just watching people run around for 90 minutes or more waiting to be disappointed. It was a kind of eternal hope that kept the Israeli nation and the Jewish people going during the past two years of war.
Following Oct. 7, 2023, hope in Israel wasn’t just a sporting concept; it was a lifeline, an occupation and a preoccupation. It’s what’s kept a stunned nation and the Jewish people everywhere putting one foot in front of the other. It’s what made Israelis stick a piece of tape on themselves, indicating how many days it had been since Oct. 7.
This, in its own strange way, connects directly to the story of the Shu’alim (a Hebrew word which translates to “Foxes”) or Shu’alei Kfar Aza—the soccer team from Kfar Aza.
Members of the team are all survivors of Oct. 7, a day that violently redefined what it means to live in Israel or to be Jewish anywhere.
The Shu’alim were never meant to be famous. They were kibbutzniks who worked in the fields by day and played soccer at night.
But Oct. 7 took many random people and elevated them into household names. On that day, Kibbutz Kfar Aza—a kibbutz of more than 700 residents only two miles from the Gaza border—was attacked by some 250 terrorists from Gaza. At least 62 residents were murdered and another 19 were taken hostage before the IDF regained control of the area.
Master Maccabiah Games
The team is scheduled to travel to Uruguay in November to play in the Masters Maccabiah Games, a category of the Maccabiah Games for older athletes. While the players may be galaxies away from the likes of Real Madrid and Arsenal, this is often the paradox of sports: the smaller the stakes, the bigger the meaning.Its journey is not about being the best in the world; it’s about representing their kibbutz and their country. It’s also about the resilience of people who don’t have the luxury of knowing what it means to quit or lose.
The Shu’alim go way back. The team was formed in the 1980s, switched to its current name in 2014, and represents the Sha’ar Hanegev region in Israel’s B League. Its victory in the 2025 league was dedicated to those murdered and abducted, especially twin brothers and team members Gali and Ziv Berman, 28, who were among the 20 living hostages released in the deal advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 13.
For many months, the Bermans’ faces became symbols—on posters, in prayers and in the plea of a nation: “Bring them home!”
Travel to South America
Riki Kanterevicz, the deputy chairman of Maccabi World Union and president of Maccabi South America, has been one of the key people behind the trip to South America.“We’re taking this amazing delegation to the Maccabi Masters Games in Uruguay this November. It’s important because when you’re a Jew in the diaspora and you meet people like this—each with a chilling story of what they experienced on October 7—it strengthens the connection between Jewish communities and Israel, and between Israel and Jewish communities,” he says.
“Since 2007, when we first attended the Pan American Maccabi Games in Argentina with an Israeli delegation, the atmosphere of the event has always changed when the Israeli team made its entrance.”
Kanterevicz took a contingent of Israeli athletes from Kfar Aza to the Maccabi Pan American Games just weeks after Oct. 7, in one of the most iconic moments the Games have ever witnessed.
“In December 2023, we brought 74 people from Kfar Aza to be part of the Israeli delegation at the Maccabi Pan American Games,” he said. “It was the first time many of these people smiled since that day. To see some of these young kids smile like that made me cry.”
Esteban Bluvol, the president of FACCMA Argentina, said he was honored to host the team in Uruguay and excited about how its presence would impact the Masters Maccabiah Games.
“I’m so proud that we’re bringing this team to play here,” he said. “We promised to dance again, and with this celebration of Jewish life, sports, and culture, this is what we’re going to do.
Team captain
Ido Shamriz, 34, is the captain of the Kfar Aza soccer team, having taken over from Idan Berman, Ziv’s brother. Ido is the brother of Alon Shamriz, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7 and held in Hamas captivity until he and two others—Yotam Haim and Samer Talalka—managed to escape, only to be killed by the IDF in a tragic case of mistaken identity.Shamriz told JNS that soccer helped him find his way back to a routine. “It gave me something to hold onto,” he said. “When I’m on the field, I can forget—not forever, but enough to breathe.”
Following Oct. 7, Shamriz was evacuated to Kibbutz Shfayim with his wife and two daughters (another daughter was born recently). He and Yoni Peled, who lost both his parents and brother in the Hamas attacks, re-established the team.
He said the team now proudly represents Kfar Aza in Israel and around the world. “We’ve been helped by many good people, embraced and given love, and we’re grateful for everything this experience has given us,” Shamriz said.
After a pause, he added, “There have been weddings, births and funerals since that day. Too many funerals to remember. Too many friends buried. But we keep living.”
Shamriz is very excited about the tournament abroad. “I’ve never played in a competition like this, in front of other Jewish people, where I have the opportunity to represent not only my brother and my kibbutz, but also Israel.”
For Shamriz, soccer provided an escape, a form of therapy and a small sense of normalcy following the life-changing events of Oct. 7. “It was my way to get away from all the ups and downs of life—especially the downs,” he said. “After my brother’s death, playing really helped me.”
He explained that playing has strengthened the team and deepened the players’ bonds with one another. “We learned together as a team—even from those we lost—to understand that there’s healing in this. It helps us forget the bad experiences that happened to us and to our families. It also gives us a way to bring ourselves to the world and share our story.”
They came home
Now that the Berman twins are home, the symbolism of going to Uruguay is even deeper. “We are very, very excited,” he said. “For us, this is the closing of a circle after two years of fighting to bring home all the hostages.”He added, “From the beginning, we were with all the families, and it was very important to us to support them the entire time, until Gali and Ziv returned. I’m very happy for my friends from the Berman family, and especially for Gali and Ziv.”
And then—because no matter how much tragedy you’ve endured, sports logic still applies—he stated that “we’re going there to win.”
Of course they are. Because that’s what the nation of Israel does. It believes; it fights; it endures. And if you’re looking for a better definition of hope, you may not find one, because even after all is said and done, the game goes on.
And the act of believing in a goal that hasn’t yet happened, whether in the 90th minute or in life itself, is the most human thing there is.
