Theumim honored for lifetime of soccer development
The Mifalot program is the largest and most diverse sport for development and peace organization in the Middle East.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFFMoshe Theumim 311(photo credit: Courtesy)
Moshe Theumim was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame for 2010 at the Wingate Institute on Monday.The chairman of the board of Israel’s GITAM/BBDO and the PORTER NOVELLI Company, Theumim was part of a management group which purchased the floundering Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club in 1997 and was recognized on Monday “for expanding the club’s professional activities to include a comprehensive program directed at employing soccer as a tool for social change.”Theumim and then-co-owners Sami Segol and Moti Orenshtein set up 350 soccer schools in poor neighborhoods, serving 20,000 children in all sectors of Israel – including new immigrants, Arabs and Druse, those with special needs, boarding schools, and sheltered workshops for at-risk youths.The Mifalot program is the largest and most diverse sport for development and peace organization in the Middle East, with youth in Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan participating in its projects each year.Mifalot aims to promote peace and coexistence by creating bonds of friendship between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians and is viewed by its funders, supporters and partners as a sincere and effective use of sport to promote social development and peace.The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame initiated its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 and past winners include Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball President Shimon Mizrahi and Israeli IOC member Alex Giladi.
