Thursday, March 7, 2013

Tel Aviv Part 2!


Hello dearest family and friends from down under,

Weeks 2 and 3 in Tel Aviv and Wingate have been crazy. As we delve ourselves into the exciting world of sports science and sports business, I think we are all developing more of an idea of how we can help the Maccabi and sporting community when we return home to Australia (or America) at the end of our 6 months here in Israel.




Week 2 started with a 3km orienteering trail through an exotic nature park located south of Netanya. In pairs we walked, ran, hiked and crawled through trees and bushes, navigating our way across the course in competition for the MSLP orienteering title. Well done to the victors Lewis and PJ.





Our week continued at Wingate with an educational course designed to give us an insight into the world of sports science. We learnt about physiology, anatomy, sports doping, nutrition and sports psychology with a plethora of science experts here at the Wingate institute. We were taken into their laboratories and offices all designed to help the Israeli athletes perform to the absolute best of their ability.



After our exciting mornings at Wingate, we toured Tel Aviv and continued to help out at the Spivak sporting facility for the disabled in the afternoons. We assisted Spivak at their annual Purim party, helping the children through various activities, putting a smile on their faces and creating memories which we will remember forever.  On Tuesday night, we were blessed to be able to witness the national wheelchair basketball final, featuring the team from Spivak versus a local Tel Aviv team. At first we were shocked by the aggression and physicality of the athletes, falling out of their chairs on a regular basis. In the end Spivak came out on top in the 3 game series, well done Spivak!





Purim seemed to continue for 4 days here in Israel. After 2 days of partying and smiles in Tel aviv, Adam and Dion took us to Jerusalem to experience Purim from a more religious point of view. We went to a party in the old city filled with music, food and laughter. You cannot imagine the excitement in the streets at this time of year, everyone dressed up in various costumes and continuously singing and dancing for half a week.





Back in Tel Aviv, our very own Tamar Simai organized a truly unforgettable experience. On Wednesday night, all 14 of us went to the inaugural blind restaurant in Israel, ‘Black Out’. We experienced a 3 course meal without being able to see any of our dishes, served by blind waiters and waitresses. The food was sensational, also cooked by blind chefs, giving us all an insight into life without sight.



Week 3 at Wingate showed us the business and marketing side of sport. We had classes on sports business, management, marketing and media, intertwined with physical activity and coaching lessons. I personally enjoyed learning about the enormity of the spectacle of sport, from domestic associations all the way to the professional leagues. It is unbelievable what sport can do to an economy and the politics involved in organizing any type of sporting league.  We even had a marketing challenge through social media, where we all created logos to brand ourselves and posted them online. The logo with the most likes got a special prize, won of course by yours truly.

The week ended with a trip back east for the Jerusalem marathon. 12 of us competed in the 10km fun run, working ourselves to the absolute maximum up and down the mountains of Jerusalem. Well done to all those who completed the excruciating course, I think it is safe to say everyone had a great time doing it.




Now we are getting ready to finish our course at Wingate and move back to Jerusalem for a leadership seminar coming up next week. We hope life in Australia is going well because life here in Israel can’t get much better!!!

Lots of Love

Zoe D