The Israel Basketball Association has undergone a number of changes over the past year as many of the longtime mainstays moved on, with new blood coming into key roles. Amos Frishman was appointed as the Israel Basketball Association’s Chairman one year ago, and on the occasion of the anniversary, he addressed numerous issues that needed attention as he worked on streamlining the organization while slowly but surely putting his mark on it as well.
“I believe in transparency, we’re not hiding behind anything,” Frishman began. “I received the association in a difficult state, with a lack of vision and organized work plans, but after a year, we built this vision. We are in the process of building an efficient, modern association with transparency and public accountability, new technology, and we will place a strong emphasis on values through sports and education toward excellence. We appointed Attorney Ron Skital as the CEO, and he is doing an excellent job. We are in the midst of a recovery plan, reducing the deficit and launching a growth initiative.”
“The first announcement,” Frishman continued, “concerns Ariel Beit-Halachmi [the Israel National Team Head Coach], who this coming year will not coach any club team and will serve as our professional director, replacing Pini Gershon. I don’t want to say it’s a full-time position, but it essentially is. He will be fully dedicated to basketball. He is an experienced coach and the right person in the right place and time. I hope we can keep him here for many years, and for now, it’s at least for the coming year.”
One of the areas that needs more attention is that of working with coaches at all levels and accompanying them in order to help them improve their skills and professionalism, explained Frishman.
“We will select about 15 coaches from the Youth Premier League, the Leumit League, and the Premier League, and for two years, we will accompany these coaches every three weeks and provide them with a comprehensive framework that includes everything needed to make them better coaches. Whether through the integration of global knowledge or through a thorough program on how to build a team and cope with pressure, it will be a two-year professional development process, significantly subsidized by the association.”
Another area that the IBA will help out in is that of professional and sports directors, which has gained a lot of traction over the past few years, with many teams bringing someone on board to fill the role.
“Another program is a professional directors’ course,” Frishman said. “Teams are starting to appoint professional directors, but has anyone really asked what the job of a professional director is? We will open a program and launch a professional directors’ course starting this October. It will be mandatory for all youth departments and also in the Leumit League. Within two years, every team in these leagues will be required to have a certified professional director who has completed the course here at the association. This has been approved by the board, and I’m glad it’s happening.”
There are various different unions and organizations that the Israel Basketball Association is working with in securing agreements for long-term labor peace.
“We’ve reached a six-year agreement with the players’ unions,” Frishman added, “and we’re in advanced negotiations with the referees’ association, and I hope we will soon have good news. Regarding the agreement with the league administration, we are exchanging drafts, and I hope it will be signed soon. The goal is to reach multi-year agreements so we can focus on the professional advancement of basketball rather than on recurring negotiations.”
Frishman, association working on including disciplinary courts
Other areas Frishman and the basketball association are working on include the disciplinary courts, as well as ensuring that penalties levied will be consistent, as that has not been the case up until now.
One of the biggest issues that has played out over the past month is the merging of Hapoel Afula and Hapoel Eilat, which would see the former disband and merge with Hapoel Gilboa Galil to become Hapoel HaEmek, while the latter will take Afula’s place in the top division. While the initial approval has been made, Elitzur Netanya, which had been relegated at the end of this past season, is challenging the decision, as they would want to avoid playing in the Leumit League.
“With all due respect to Netanya, they are not in the picture,” Frishman said. “Netanya was relegated and is not relevant, despite the fact that they are trying to find a way to stay up. Eilat did not request to be promoted to the Premier League, and they are trying to find a loophole in the bylaws that would allow such a merger, thereby remaining in the top league. I personally don’t like this merger, but if the bylaws allow it, then the Basketball Association must honor it.”
“We are going to amend the bylaws, which is critical, and that will happen at the next board meeting,” he added. “I will recommend to the board that either all mergers be banned completely or that very clear criteria be established, such as a maximum distance of 20 kilometers between merging teams. The bylaws are outdated. I’ve been in this position for a year, learning as I go, and when I discover something that needs fixing, I do not hesitate to fix it. This issue, too, will be changed and corrected. But not only that – we are reviewing the entire set of bylaws and working to update them.”
One of the most recent phenomena has been the exodus of young Israeli players to US colleges to play basketball and also earn money from the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals that university sports can offer them. In most cases, the NIL funding is significantly more than the salary they could earn with an Israeli team, and playing time would increase as they would not be behind a foreign player as well.
“This is a major issue,” Frishman remarked. “We are working on changes to the bylaws to support clubs in this matter, and they will also need to adjust their contracts. Colleges don’t request player releases [as professional teams do], and the teams will need to adapt. We are also consulting with legal advisors regarding military service status. Players in Israel receive military status through the Israel Basketball Association, including being an active athlete, outstanding athlete, or elite athlete. We are discussing this with legal experts, the military, and the Ministry of Sport – that once a player receives such a status, he will be required to sign an agreement. I say this cautiously – just as we grant them the ability to avoid military service for three years to focus on being a player, they will have to sign a document stipulating that if they leave for college, certain sanctions may apply.”
Frishman continued: “There will be mutual responsibility if a player leaves. It doesn’t make sense for a player to receive three years of support, be exempted from the army, and then just leave. Our league suffers when there aren’t enough Israeli players, and we want to see as many Israelis as possible playing here and not leaving for the US just for big money.”
Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, there have been no European games held in Israel, and that looks to unfortunately continue into the upcoming months and possibly the next year. With that, the blue-and-white have had to play their home games abroad, as well as warmup clashes and exhibition games in a number of countries in order to prepare for each age group’s respective competition.
In addition, club teams such as Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv, along with Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon, will also not be able to host European games in the Holy Land as well.
Frishman opened up on the matter.
“The most difficult thing was that some people tried to persuade the Basketball Association not to have Israeli teams participate in this summer’s European Championships, and offered to keep us in Division A if we withdrew this year. I absolutely refused. I said no matter what, we will participate, even if we don’t have warmup games. Participation and Israeli pride are essential. As for the club teams, I’m not optimistic. There are still missiles being fired by the Houthis from Yemen, and events like that set us back months. Europeans don’t see things the way we do, and in their eyes, there is a war. Our global standing is weak, and at every opportunity, they want to exclude us from international activity. Right now, I don’t see games returning to Israel unless a formal ceasefire is declared, and even then, it will take weeks.”
Finally, Frishman spoke about the biggest upcoming goal heading into his second year at the helm of the basketball association, which is always complicated by the availability of players due to the club teams playing in Europe as well as injuries that may come up.
“Our goal is the World Cup. We will do everything to ensure all players are available for these campaigns. This is a clear national objective. The national team must participate in the World Cup, and we’ll do everything to make sure the players are there.”