“Formally I began playing football in Buenos Aires when I was 19 years old. Eventually I played in three Maccabiah Games. I made aliyah and now I play with the Beitar Jerusalem Football Club,” says Yael.
“Aliyah is a process. I lived in a small town. Salta has a Jewish community of approximately 100 Jewish families and you had to make an effort to be identified as Jewish. It wasn’t simple. I felt different. Often when I was home with my family for Shabbat dinner, some of my friends were out together,” explains Yael. “We are a traditional family and the chagim, the holidays, were always part of my life. We celebrated my brother’s bar mitzvah in Israel.”
The only Jewish contact outside her family and the only possibility of a Jewish education was through Tenu’at Noar, the Zionist youth movement. From the age of five, Yael belonged to Habonim Dror, where she made friends, studied Jewish traditions and felt a sense of belonging.
After graduating from high school, Yael came to Israel for the one-year gap program called Habonim Dror Shnat Hachshara, together with peers from South America and from all over the world. They were preparing to become leaders in their local communities in order to promote idealistic, Jewish values and an appreciation for immigrating to Israel. During her year on Shnat Hachshara, classes were given to her group in Spanish and Portuguese. She immersed herself in the study of Judaism, Zionism, Jewish history, geography and Israeli culture. Travelling throughout the country brought her face to face with the beauty of the land. Encounters with Israeli society and volunteer work allowed her to develop ties with people.
The year was 2014, and in July the Gaza War broke out.
“We were in Beersheba and were told we had to travel to the North because of the dangerous situation. We were welcomed by Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek and given a safe home,” remembers Yael. “I realized that I had come from a peaceful country that was not at war, and I began to feel that I now have a new family in this country, a family that is in danger. My aliyah began then.”
After a year in Israel, Yael returned to Argentina to study economics at the Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires, where she received a BA degree. At that time, Argentina was still in the process of building a space for women in sports. In 2015 she joined Hebraica, the first Jewish women’s football team in Buenos Aires.
FOOTBALL IS 90 minutes of transcendental communication between the beloved team, the fans and the nation. Simultaneously, because of the broad internationalism of the sport, there is a feeling of communicating with all nations, all diverse cultures. There is a bond of friendship, a universal language, a shared experience of the joy and beauty of the game.
Yael represented Argentina in three Maccabiah Games, in 2015, 2017 and 2019, in Chile, Israel and Mexico. Playing in the Maccabiah Games in Israel was memorable for Yael. She saw Jewish people from around the world joining together, united by their love for sports.
In January 2020, Yael made aliyah from Buenos Aires to Jerusalem. Her family supported her decision. She studied Hebrew in Ulpan Etzion for two semesters, made new friends and reconnected with her friends who had made aliyah before her. Yael now works as a coordinator in Machon L’Madrichei Chutz La’Aretz, the Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad, the very place she herself attended during her gap year.
“I love working in the Machon LeMadrichim. Now after six years, after experiencing a lot, I am on the other side. I am in the position of guiding and supporting young people far from home who are in the process of defining their identity, their goals, their commitment to their communities and to Israel. It is challenging. At the same time I am learning along with them. It is a place for me to continue to question myself, my own development, my beliefs,” says Yael.
Before making aliyah, Yael injured her knee and could not play football when she arrived. As soon as she recovered and as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, she looked for a team and joined Beitar Jerusalem.
Yael has closely connected with people on the Beitar team who make her feel part of Israeli society.
“I’ve improved my playing, and I am so happy to have this possibility to continue to do what I love with people who are doing what they love,” she says. “We train twice a week and play a match once a week. You score a goal, it’s a beautiful play, it’s teamwork, it’s euphoria. We share a passion.
“Before a match I train with concentration, excitement, anticipation,” says Yael. “When I am playing on the field, I am living in the moment. In Spanish we say, Futbol es mi cable a tierra, lo que me conecta con la realidad – Football is my ground wire, my anchor, which connects me to reality.”
Another essential grounding factor in Yael’s life is her community of friends, new immigrants, olim chadashim.
“I am in an environment of people integrating into a new society. To have these friends who support you, who listen to you, is necessary to adjust to a new life. Here in Jerusalem we made a family far from our families.”
Yael Katz sees the path.