Israelis, Palestinians catch up in Eilat at the International Catchball Games

Catchball is known as Newcomb ball in Australia, Canada and the US, while in Latin countries the game is called Cachibol.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
Updated: MARCH 22, 2016 19:53
Israeli and Palestinians at Catchball tournament in Eilat (photo credit: Courtesy)
Israeli and Palestinians at Catchball tournament in Eilat
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A joint team of Israeli and Palestinian women (above) participated successfully in the International Catchball Games held in Eilat over the weekend. The annual tournament is organized by the Israel Catchball Association which was founded in 2009 and has been running nationwide leagues since. These leagues are run at different levels of skill and include national, regional, work-place, youth leagues and tournaments, with more than 10,000 woman of all ages currently playing the sport in the Israeli leagues.
Catchball is known as Newcomb ball in Australia, Canada and the US, while in Latin countries the game is called Cachibol. The main difference between Catchball and Volleyball is that in Catchball, the player catches the ball before passing it to the next player or over the net. While called ‘kadur reshet’ in Hebrew, Catchball is not the same sport as Netball. The Peres Center for Peace assembled a squad of players from Israel and the West Bank for the first time this year, with the women training together ahead of the event.
‘The team’s participation in the tournament shows the importance of coexistence and the power of sport and the use of sport as an international language,’ said the Peres Center in a statement. Over 2,000 players from around the world took part in this year’s event in Eilat.