15.5.2022

On Sunday morning, May 15, 2022, a walking football tournament was held for the first time in Israel with the participation of 6 teams that have been training for several months in Kiryat Ono, Raanana, Petah Tikva and Kiryat Bialik.

The tournament took place at Sportek Kiryat Ono, the host city of this historic tournament. The players are over 60, with the oldest being 77 years old.

The new sport, Walking Football, was founded in 2011 in England and brought to Israel in 2021 in Raanana by a group of new immigrants from England, led by Benny Last, captain of the team called Raanana Rangers. The team has about 25 players and has been playing together for over a year.

The municipality of Kiryat Ono and especially the director of the sports department, Dudi Mor, immediately recognized the inherent potential in team sports for seniors that allows them to play the game they loved and had to stop because of age and founded a team in November of last year where about 20 players are currently training.

The municipality of Kiryat Bialik also joined, and already about 20 people play in the team every week at the initiative of the team captain, Arie Meidan.

An exciting twist happened in Kiryat Ono - a former player of Maccabi Petach Tikva, Simon Davidson, came to several training sessions, realized the potential, called his friends, the former Premier League players to join, and they started coming. After a short time, with the help of the Petach Tikva municipality, he established a team of all the graduates of the city's elite teams, Maccabi and Hapoel. The group is called "Old Boys Melabes".

Former international referees volunteered to judge the tournament -Jacob Shiner and Eyal Tzur.

The tournament is hosted and sponsored by the Municipality of Kiryat Ono, the Israel Football Association, the Maccabi Center, and the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Football State NGO carries it out.