Local hoops: Anda Ramat Hasharon mulls Monarchs invite

The Israeli team is already due to make basketball history by becoming the first European club to take on a WNBA side.

By ALLON SINAI
ramat hasharon 88 (photo credit: )
ramat hasharon 88
(photo credit: )
Anda Ramat Hasharon is set to add another date to its North American tour next May after receiving an invitation to play the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs. The Israeli team is already due to make basketball history by becoming the first European club to take on a WNBA side when it faces the Washington Mystics in an exhibition on May 13. Anda chairwoman Rachel Ostowitz was surprised by Sacramento's offer and requested a few days to ponder over the financial and professional implications before officially agreeing to play the exhibition. The game against Sacramento, which is expected to be played sometime between May 14 and 19 after the end of Ramat Hasharon's 2006/07 season, will serve as a preseason tuneup for the 2006 WNBA runner-up. The Monarchs reached the WNBA Finals this season, but lost in five games to the Detroit Shock. The Israeli embassy in Washington had a hand in arranging Anda's game against the Mystics in the US capital as part of its efforts to present Israel differently than how the country and its citizens are usually presented in the US media. Mystics president Sheila Johnson has announced that the proceeds from their game against Ramat Hasharon will go to abused women centers in the US and to help in the fight against cancer.