Kahan Tournament Winners

The finals of the annual Anna and Michael Kahan Tournament Circuit took place at the Larry and Mary Greenspon ITC-Ramat Hasharon on September 27^th.  The winners of the three tournament circuit were  Ben Fattal and Lina Glushko. Each winner was awarded a scholarship of 100,000 NIS! 🏆🎾🏆

The prizes were donated by Michael Kahan, a Holocaust survivor from the United States, who established a fund at the Israel Tennis Centers Foundation to develop future tennis champions representing Israel on the world stage.

Among the top scorers in the men, Fattal, is ranked #2 in Israel. He won a 3: 6, 6: 3, 3: 6 victory over top-ranked Mor Bolis. Yishai Oliel beat Ran Amar. Lina Glosko, won the girls’ final over Maya Tahan 2: 6, 6: 3, 2: 6 and won the Grand Prize. Nicole Nadal finished third in the competition.

A big thank you to Michael Kahan, the organizers of the competition, the Ramat Hasharon Municipality, ITA and of course the audience that came to watch the future generation of Israeli tennis.

Jill & Alan Schantz

Our family was thrilled at the opportunity to host the ITC team in August 2016 during an exhibition in Hastings, NY. We first connected with the ITC because our son, Hudson, was becoming a Bar Mitzvah in March 2017. Since Hudson has been an avid tennis player since he was very young, he wanted to support the ITC through any way possible. He found out about the ITC because his grandfather was one of the original supporting members in 1976. When Hudson and his brother came home from camp and heard we were hosting some of the members of the team, they were so excited and had no idea what to expect. The fun began when we were greeted by the most gracious, appreciative, polite and communicative tennis players. The excitement continued when Hudson got to participate in the exhibition. Then the fun heightened when we went to a local falafel restaurant that 15 of us could barely fit into at one time. We had such a blast hanging out, eating and laughing. When we got back to our house with Noam, Shadi, Gabi and Yoni, the fun continued with a ping pong tournament and ice cream sundaes. After a delicious breakfast the next morning, we were so sad to say goodbye to our new Israeli friends. We managed to meet up with them again at the US Open a few days later to share some more laughs. It’s so special knowing that when we visit Israel, we will have a warm and loving welcome from our friends.

Ron Weisberg

Louisville, Kentucky. Elaine and I have hosted four Israel Tennis Centers exhibitions at our home. 1989, June 1993, May 1995 and June 2000. It was very rewarding for us and for our children. We very much enjoyed having the exhibitions. All the kids would stay at our house. It is such a wonderful program. We have several photos of the children and wonder how they are now besides being older!

Debra Kramer

Jerry and I were thrilled and ‘over the moon’ when the Israel Tennis Centers asked us to host Noam (with no ‘H’ as in ham, according to his parents), Gabi (with his big laugh and monstrous Chinese noodle appetite) and Shadi, who were here from Israel for an ITC exhibition. They were all so wonderful. We were thoroughly ecstatic to be around these fabulous, polite and intelligent boys, including Peanut, our beloved Yorkshire Terrier. Our only regrets were that 1) we could only house three of the children and not the entire ITC team and 2) they were only here for one night. Next year, if all is well, we’ve invited the group to our home on Shabbat for poolside R&R and a backyard BBQ. Until then, we three – Jerry, Peanut and I – shall miss our kids!

Minna Williamowsky

My husband and I hosted one of the Israel Tennis Centers coaches named Rakefet (or Rocky to her friends) who had traveled with a group of ITC kids for an exhibition. She asked if there was a place nearby where she could have an ‘energy-run’. There was a beautiful park with running and bike paths behind our home where my husband rode his bike for exercise every morning. They set out…he on his bike, and Rocky flying along. After about ½ hour, she had run ahead, and as he pedaled to catch up, she started back toward him and said, “Quick! Find that young lady who passed me in the other direction. I think I know her!” He pedaled back, caught up with the runner, and convinced her to stop as Rocky was catching up. Their reunion was amazing. Rocky and the other runner had attended San Diego State University (CA) on tennis scholarships 8 – 10 years earlier! The reunion was very moving. Clear across the world they had not seen each other since they were classmates!