Hapoel Lev Jerusalem

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Hapoel Lev Jerusalem
Hapoel Lev Jerusalem logo
LeaguesIsraeli League
Founded2021; 3 years ago (2021)
ArenaMalha Arena
(capacity 2,000)
LocationJerusalem, Israel
Team colorsRed and White
   
Head coachLimor Peleg
ChampionshipsIsraeli State Cup (1)
Websitehttps://levjerusalem.club/english/


Hapoel Lev Jerusalem is a professional women's basketball team based in Jerusalem, competing in the Premier League. Founded in 2021, the team first competed in the 3rd tier Liga Artzit. The team gained two league promotions in two seasons and joined the Premier League in 2023. In 2024 the team won the Israeli State Cup.

History[edit]

The team was founded by Rebecca Ross and Dr. Netta Abugov. Ross is an American-Israeli professional basketball player, who played for several Israeli Premier League teams. Ross joined the nonprofit organization PeacePlayers International which uses basketball to bridge cultural and social divides and promote peace.[1][2]For several years, Ross coached amateur and youth teams that integrated Arab and Jewish players. In 2021, Ross teamed up with Dr. Netta Abugov, a former linguistics lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, whose daughter was on a team coached by Ross. They sought to create a professional team and founded Hapoel Lev Jerusalem (lev is the Hebrew word for "heart").[3]

Several players from PeacePlayers teams joined several players recruited by Ross and Abugov from other clubs to create the new team, which hosted games at Havat HaNoar HaTzioni. In the 2021/22 season, Hapoel Lev Jerusalem competed in the 3rd tier Liga Artzit. The team won the league's southern division and were promoted to the 2nd tier National League (Liga Leumit). In the 2022/23 season, the team won the league championship and was promoted to the Premier League. The team also won the Basketball Association cup (the 2nd tier cup competition in Israel).

After gaining promotion to the Premier League, Malcha Arena, formerly the home court of Hapoel Jerusalem B. C., became the team's new home court. In March 2024, Hapoel Lev Jerusalem won the Israeli State Cup after beating Elitzur Ramla in the final.[4] The team also reached the playoff finals, where they lost to Ramla in three games.[5]

Current Roster[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Hapoel Jerusalem roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
G 1 United States Israel Baron, Alyssa (c) 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 32 – (1992-04-16)16 April 1992
F 3 United States Richardson, Breanna 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 29 – (1994-08-04)4 August 1994
G 4 Israel Gagola, Noa 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 18 – (2006-01-26)26 January 2006
PF 6 Israel Kabada, Hodaya 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 18 – (2005-08-29)29 August 2005
G 7 Israel Kayuf, Noor 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 22 – (2001-08-24)24 August 2001
G 8 Israel Tirosh, Shir 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 24 – (1999-06-02)2 June 1999
G 9 Israel Mor Yosef, Hadar 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) 18 – (2005-10-13)13 October 2005
G/F 10 Israel Grinboim, Tamar 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 18 – (2005-10-11)11 October 2005
SF 18 United States Israel Snow, Annette 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 29 – (1994-11-16)16 November 1994
G 30 Israel Artushas, Karni 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 18 – (2005-07-11)11 July 2005
G 33 Israel Mayshar, Neta 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) 17 – (2006-12-09)9 December 2006
F 35 United States Carey, Sasha 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 28 – (1995-11-16)16 November 1995
Head coach
  • Israel Limor Peleg
Assistant coach(es)
  • Israel Yonatan Naveh
Team manager
  • Israel Rebecca Ross
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (IN) Inactive player
  • Injured Injured
Updated: May 9, 2024

Honours[edit]

  • Israeli Female Basketball Premier League:
    • Runners-up (1): 2023–24
  • Israeli Women's Basketball Cup:
    • Winners (1): 2023–24
  • Israeli Female Basketball National League:
    • Winners (1): 2022–23
  • Israeli Basketball Association Cup:
    • Winners (1): 2022–23

References[edit]

  1. ^ Masters, James (May 14, 2015). "Can hoop dreams help bridge Israeli-Palestinian divide?". CNN.
  2. ^ Kantor, Jacqueline (May 19, 2016). "The Israeli-Palestinian basketball teams that are breaking all barriers". ESPN.
  3. ^ Jaffe-Hoffman, Mayaan; Schachne, Erica (March 11, 2024). "Netta Abugov: Empowering and inspiring women through basketball". The Jerusalem Post.
  4. ^ Halickman, Joshua (March 7, 2024). "Hapoel Lev Jerusalem captures the Israel State Cup". Sports Rabbi.
  5. ^ Halickman, Joshua (April 18, 2024). "Ramle nabs 3rd straight Israel women's basketball title". The Jerusalem Post.

External Links[edit]

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