03 Oct Israeli baseball team secures 2020 Olympics spot
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Israeli Baseball Team Makes History With Olympics 2020 Spot
Jake Rosenberg, a Philadelphia native who made Aliyah last year, had no idea when he moved to Israel that he’d get to play on the national baseball team -- and that they’d be headed to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The crack of a bat and smell of leather are engrained in Jake’s memories, having played baseball since the age of three. An outfielder, Jake started in little league and played throughout college, continuing even after graduating, and venturing into coaching as well.
When he decided to make Aliyah, he knew he wanted to keep playing baseball in Israel, but didn’t know he’d be selected to play on the national team. And in order to play on the national team, he had to become a citizen, which Jake was able to do thanks to assistance from The Jewish Agency for Israel.
“I was excited to move to Israel because it’s such a beautiful place and it was the start of a new adventure, but also a little nervous at the same time. Moving to another country where I did not speak the language at all was very difficult, but luckily everyone spoke English,” recalled Jake. “But after all the paperwork was done and I obtained my citizenship, it’s been great. And living here has definitely made me prouder of being Jewish.”
Being able to say we are headed to the Olympics is one of the best feelings ever.”
And now, Jake’s move to Israel has gotten even better as Israel’s baseball team nabbed a highly selective spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s honestly impossible to put the feeling into words, knowing we are headed to the Olympics. It will be an experience of a lifetime and I’m very excited about the next step in this journey,” shared Jake. “Just being able to say we are headed to the Olympics is one of the best feelings ever.”
Only six countries qualify and Israel has never qualified to play baseball before. But after starting the baseball tournament in the second-tier pool, based on the team’s past performance, they had to win at that level to move on to the first-tier pool.
After that, the team had to secure a spot in the top five to move on to the Europe/Africa Olympic qualifiers. They played five other teams in a round-robin tournament, with the team with the best record making the Olympics. After winning their first three games against Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, they lost the fourth game to the Czech Republic. Then it all came down to the game against South Africa, which Israel soundly won, nabbing a place in the Olympics.
“None of this could be possible without the work of the president of the Israel Association of baseball, Peter Kurz, for putting together a great group of guys to get the job done,” Jake said. “We had a great coaching staff and an even better group of guys that all came together for one common goal, to reach the Olympics representing Israel baseball. And that is just what we did.“
