Israel’s women’s box lacrosse team brought home a gold medal from the inaugural European Box Lacrosse Championship, which concluded in the Czech Republic on July 4.
The squad—made up of players ages 17 to 28—advanced through pool play against England, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands before defeating Ireland in the semifinals and Germany 10-1 in the championship game.
But the team’s athletic success was only part of the story.
“It felt hostile,” Ian Kadish, CEO and executive director of the Israel Lacrosse Association (ILA), told JNS in a phone interview from his home in Ashkelon. Also participating in the interview was ILA Board Chair Dan Kraft.
Kadish, a former college lacrosse player and member of Israel’s national team who made aliyah in 2018, recounted numerous uncomfortable incidents throughout the tournament.
“There were chants of ‘genocide,’ people wouldn’t shake our hands after games, and some people wouldn’t stay inside for the national anthems,” he said.
Despite the hostility, Kadish stressed that the team never felt physically unsafe, crediting what he described as “top-notch security”—the most extensive he has experienced in his years as both a player and coach.
He believes some of the animosity also stemmed from Israel’s reputation as a powerhouse in international lacrosse.
“People like to see the big dogs lose,” Kadish said.
That made the championship victory all the more meaningful.
“At a time when it feels we don’t have a lot of light and positivity, it was awesome to win the tournament, against all odds,” he said.
Dan Kraft, ILA’s board chair, is the son of philanthropist and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots. The Kraft family has long supported sports initiatives in both the United States and Israel, including donating millions of shekels toward a new sports complex in Kfar Galim. The family also funded Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem’s Gan Sacher and facilities at Sportek in Jerusalem’s Emek Arazim. The Daniel Kraft Family National Lacrosse Center in Ashkelon is the only lacrosse-specific facility in Europe and the Middle East.
Kraft said the experience ultimately strengthened the players.
“Experiencing what they did helped bring the team closer together,” he said. “It helps with the chemistry of the team and it helps them perform. It was us versus the world—symbolic of what the Jewish people have experienced for more than 3,000 years.”
From a Nazi past to Olympic dreams
The tournament venue itself carried historical significance.
“The box lacrosse tournament has been held here for the last 10 or 15 years,” Kadish said. During a previous visit, a local resident pointed out that the arena occupies the site of a former municipal building used by the SS as a staging ground and operations center during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Kadish and Kraft shared two photographs taken at the same location—one showing Nazi troops assembled outside the building during World War II, and another showing Israel’s women celebrating their European championship victory in front of the same structure.
“You can clearly see the same building behind the marching soldiers, and our Israel women winning the European championship in front of it,” Kadish said. “Quite jarring.”
Today, the site has been converted into the LCC Radotín box lacrosse arena.
With the tournament behind them, the players have returned home and are setting their sights on qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where lacrosse will return to the Olympic program.
Kraft explained that traditional field lacrosse features nine field players and a goalie, while box lacrosse is played with five field players and a goalie in a faster-paced indoor format without faceoffs after every goal.
“We still have to qualify in the next 12 to 18 months,” Kraft said. “The fact that they won in such dominant fashion is promising. We are the inaugural European champions. As chairman, I love what it represents.”
Meanwhile, Kadish and the ILA continue expanding the sport across Israel through outreach to schools, camps and physical education programs, particularly in Ashkelon and communities near the Gaza border.
“Lacrosse has been the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. over the last 20 years in terms of participation,” Kraft said. “Kids in Israel want to do what is cool.”
Israel’s next generation of players
One example is 17-year-old Alma Shabatov of Sderot, who first encountered the sport in middle school and has since developed into a national team player and youth coach.
“I knew it from the TV show Teen Wolf,” she recalled with a laugh. “That is why I joined. Apparently a lot of us in Israel did.”
She quickly fell in love with the sport.
“I loved my coaches and teammates, and I’m staying with it,” she said.
Rachel Rosen, Israel Lacrosse’s director of women’s programming, invited Shabatov to join the senior women’s national team while also beginning a coaching career.
“Alma is the most passionate and resilient woman player in a long time,” Rosen said. “It is a pleasure to watch her play, grow and always be happy to be there. She sees this as the greatest opportunity ever.”
Kadish, Rosen’s fiancé, agreed.
“She picked up an unfamiliar sport and stuck with it through the worst of times,” he said.
Shabatov admitted she was nervous entering the European tournament.
“I am one of the few Israelis, I am the youngest and I was hesitant at first,” she said.
She also encountered repeated anti-Israel and antisemitic abuse.
“It is not the first time I have experienced antisemitism in lacrosse abroad,” she said. “People hate us just for wearing the flag. They were shouting at us during the opening ceremony: ‘F*** you. Go to hell. We hate you. Die.’”
She quickly refocused on the competition.
“I realized we don’t need anyone—just ourselves,” she said.
Shabatov recently moved into an Israel Lacrosse apartment in Ashkelon and hopes to earn elite athlete status during her IDF service.
Rosen said the organization has supported Shabatov through individual coaching, transportation to practices and travel assistance. She noted that Shabatov is one of several players from Gaza Envelope communities participating in the program.
“We definitely get kids who gravitate to lacrosse from the south—from Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Be’er Tuvia and Beersheva,” Rosen said. “We bring a different perspective to sports and share it through school visits.”
Although thrilled by the gold medal, Rosen said she was not surprised by the result.
“We prepared on and off the field. We were a close-knit group of girls,” she said. “When we got to Prague, we said, ‘This gold is ours, and someone will have to take it from us.’ I knew we could win gold, and I’m super proud of our efforts—and glad we could make Israel proud.”
Looking back on the ILA’s growth since its founding 15 years ago, Kraft said the championship reflects the organization’s three core missions: strengthening Jewish identity and connections to Israel among Diaspora Jews, growing the sport within Israel, and competing successfully on the international stage.
“This championship checks all three of our tenets,” he said.
