South Africa comes back to overcome Israel

Second day of Maccabi netball matches kicked off with the junior South African and Israeli netball teams up against each other.

By LARA GREENBERG
maccabiah promotion 248 (photo credit: )
maccabiah promotion 248
(photo credit: )
The second day of Maccabi netball matches kicked off on Wednesday with the junior South African and Israeli netball teams up against each other on the courts of Olam sport, Hayovel school, Herzliya. The first half had supporters on the edge of their seats as the girls fought it out on the court and matched each other goal for goal, with Israel eventually taking a four point lead by half time. South Africa hit back in the second half and built up a substantial lead with Israel working hard to close the gap. The game closed with 31-19 to South Africa. The background dynamics of the game were interesting - although the Israeli team play proudly for the Jewish homeland, they (or their families) all originate from South Africa, Australia or Britain. For some, playing in the Maccabiah means playing against their birth countries. Netball Israel was started in 1993 by two former South Africans and the game débuted in the 14th Maccabi games that same year but without an Israeli team. Since then, Israel has taken part in all and this year, is proud to be the hosting country. Three teams are competing in the senior competition: Israel, Australia, England. four teams are competing in the junior competition: Israel, Australia, England, South Africa.